Urban Bush Women's 40th Anniversary: LEGACY + LINEAGE + LIBERATION

In honor of Urban Bush Women’s 40th Anniversary, Legacy + Lineage + Liberation celebrates the power of Women(+) in an evening of new and classic works that transcend genres and amplify the voices of Women(+) of color.
This dynamic program features iconic works by Founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and a new work by Co-Artistic Directors Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis. Each of these works gives multiple dimensions of life that resonate in this time of reflection around equity and justice, and that lift up Black lives in inspiring ways. Experience UBW’s great sense of musicality, reflection inside of empathy and joy, and leave the theater energized and inspired. Works include but are not limited to: Give Your Hands to Struggle; Women’s Resistance; I Don’t Know but I Been Told...if You Keep on Dancin’ You Never Grow Old; and Haint Blu (proscenium).
ABOUT URBAN BUSH WOMEN
Urban Bush Women (UBW) burst onto the dance scene in 1984, with bold, innovative, demanding and exciting works that brought under-told stories to life under the artistic direction Co-Artistic Directors of the UBW Company, Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis. Originally founded by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the company continues to weave contemporary dance, music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African Diaspora.
UBW performs regularly in New York City and tours nationally and internationally. The Company has been commissioned by presenters nationwide, and includes among its honors a New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”); the Capezio Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance; a Black Theater Alliance Award; two Doris Duke Awards for New Work from the American Dance Festival; and named one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation. Zollar is a recipient of the 2021 DanceTeacher Award of Distinction, the 2021 Martha Hill Dance Fund Lifetime Achievement Award, and named a 2021 MacArthur Fellow. Speis is the recipient of the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer with the ensemble skeleton architecture. Judson received the APAP Leadership Fellowship and the Director’s Lab Chicago Fellowship in 2018.
Off the concert stage, UBW has developed an extensive community engagement program called BOLD (Builders, Organizers, and Leaders through Dance). UBW’s largest community engagement project is its Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), established in 1997. This 10-day intensive training program serves as the foundation for all of the company’s community engagement activities. Ultimately the SLI program connects dance professionals and community-based artists/activists in a learning experience to leverage the arts as a vehicle for civic engagement. UBW launched the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative Producing Program (CCI 2.0) in March 2022. The CCI 2.0 fellowships support the development of women choreographers and producers of color and other underheard voices. urbanbushwomen...