Urban Bush Women

Urban Bush Women (UBW) is a Brooklyn, New York-based non-profit dance company, that was founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. The ensemble performs choreography by Zollar and other choreographers, often with a social justice focus. UBW performances weave together contemporary dance, music and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African Diaspora, and with an emphasis on women's experiences. The company tours locally, nationally and internationally, where they perform for diverse audiences.

Founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women seeks to bring the untold and under-told histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. We do this from a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora community in order to create a more equitable balance of power in the dance world and beyond.

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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; and two 2004 Doris Duke Awards for New Work from the American Dance Festival. In March 2010, UBW toured South America as part of DanceMotion USA(sm), a cultural diplomacy initiative spearheaded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Off the concert stage, Urban Bush Women has developed an extensive community engagement program called BOLD (Builders, Organizers, & Leaders through Dance). UBW’s BOLD program has a network of over 29 facilitators that travel nationally and internationally to conduct workshops that bring the histories of local communities forward through performance. 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.

As an extension of UBW’s mission and core values, UBW launched the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center January 2016. The center will support the development of women choreographers of color and other under-heard voices.

UBW continues to celebrate over 30 years of creating dancing, engaging communities and using dance to bring together audiences through innovative choreography, community engagement and artistic leadership development.

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