Urban Bush Women to Perform at Meany Hall, 2/12-14

Celebrating 30 years as an unstoppable force in American dance, Urban Bush Women continues to make visceral, politically-charged work that is electric and inspiring. With Hep Hep Sweet Sweet, founder and choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar presents an earthy and provocative new take on the music and culture fueled by the Great Migration that emerged at jazz clubs in Harlem and Zollar's native Kansas City. The program also includes black swan and Walking with 'Trane, Chapter 2, a work inspired by the life of John Coltrane and his seminal jazz suite A Love Supreme, with live music by pianist George Caldwell.

Urban Bush Women performs Thursday-Saturday, February 12-14, 2015 at Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus at 8pm.Hep Hep Sweet Sweet

Set in a fictional nightclub, this work is personal portrait drawing upon the music and culture of the Great Migration, as well as Zollar's memories from that time. This dance/theater work was created in collaboration with dramaturg Talvin Wilks and features live music performed by George Caldwell.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar describes the inspiration behind the piece: "I remember my mother dressing up, putting on Evening in Paris perfume and going out to places in Kansas City named the Orchid Room and the Blue Room. Hep Hep Sweet Sweet is a fictional club-a place of memory, rumor, myths and dreams."

Walking with 'Trane, Chapter 2
Inspired by John Coltrane's seminal work A Love Supreme, this work features an original score performed live by Grammy award-winning pianist and composer George Caldwell. This work is co-choreographed by Zollar and UBW dancer Samantha Speis.

dark swan
A striking solo by award-winning choreographer Nora Chipaumire, re-imagined as a group piece; an interrogation of how we present and represent the African female body. About the work, Chipaumire wrote the following:

"I made dark swan in 2005 in an effort to respond and acknowledge contemporary dance's debt to those Russian masters and their contribution to the art of dance. Michel Fokine's dying swan (and the phenomenal dancers who have peopled it) allowed me to tap into a known/unknown place. I also made the solo black and African in response to classic white/black swans and to celebrate my mother/African/black women who refuse to wither away and die or die beautifully.

"In its short eight years my dark swan has proved itself resilient and malleable, whether being re/gendered for nine men, reassumed by 21 women, and now reimagined by eight women. I am grateful to all the swans (men and women) who have kept this solo relevant for me, to Ananya Chatterjeaa, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, plus the numerous curators/presenters who have allowed this work to shine from St. Petersburg, Russia to Zanzibar, Tanzania. I am grateful to fellow artists Souleymane Badolo, Lacina Coulibaly and Pia Murray who have assisted me in remounting the work at various times."