Urban Bush Women

Urban Bush Women

Named one of America's cultural treasures by the Ford Foundation, Urban Bush Women has strived through its 37 years of existence to effect social change through the creation of art, fostering of young talents and engaging of communities near and far.

For UBW dance is both the message and the medium to bring together diverse audiences through innovative choreography, community collaboration and artistic leadership development.

The Black women-led company spent a week-long residency at the Hop in November 2021 during which they collaborated with Dartmouth faculty and students from the African and African American Studies and Theater Departments.

They also developed Haint Blu, a new work about the experiences of African American families in the South which will premiere (proscenium version) at the Hop in January as part of their 35 anniversary program: Legacy + Lineage + Liberation.

Photo: Ian Douglas

Urban Bush Women (UBW), founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, is a Brooklyn-based performance ensemble and dance company under the artistic direction of Chanon Judson and Samantha Speis. UBW seeks to bring the untold and under-told histories and stories to light through dance 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. UBW has been named one of America's Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation and one of 286 organizations "empowering voices the world needs to hear."

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