Urban Bush Women Dance Company Gives Performance

Urban Bush Women (UBW), which is based in Brooklyn, gave a performance for the Westminster community in Werner Centennial Center April 15 as part of the Graham Gund ’59 Visiting Artist Series.

 

Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, who was named a 2021 MacArthur Fellow, UBW seeks to bring untold and undertold stories to light through dance.

 

The show featured a modified version of its program “Legacy + Lineage + Liberation,” which celebrates the power of women+ in a collection of classic works that transcend genres and amplify the voices of women+ of color.

 

The works included performances of “I Don’t Know, but I Been Told, If You Keep on Dancin’ You Never Grow Old,” which is an energetic mashup of different dance forms that came out of Black neighborhoods and features a live drummer; “Give Your Hands to Struggle,” which lyrically honors leaders from the civil rights era; “Girlfriends,” which treasures the bonds women+ share in friendship; and “Women’s Resistance,” which fuses power and grace in a call to collective action around truths that bind everyone.

 

During the performance, members of the company talked about how they got involved with dance, invited the audience to practice some movements and responded to questions. Following the event, Westminster dancers participated in a workshop with the performers.