Guest Artist: Urban Bush Women

Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women (UBW) seeks to bring the untold and under-told stories to light through dance. As UBW celebrates its 38^th Anniversary year, they continue to use dance as both the message and the medium to bring together diverse audiences through innovative choreography, community collaboration, and artistic leadership development.

Urban Bush Women’s classic repertory work Give Your Hands to Struggle (choreographed by Founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, with music by Bernice Johnson Reagon) is a tribute to civil rights leaders whose work contributed to a better future for all of us. The title is based on a speech by Adam Clayton Powell “What’s In Your Hands.”  This lecture-demonstration will encourage audiences to examine their own lineage and those who have inspired them through an archive viewing, dialogue, and embodiment.  Audiences will get to dig deep into the work by exploring the choreographic inspirations of the piece and portions of Powell’s speech. After viewing the piece, they will reflect upon its themes of legacy and lineage, while considering their own impact and the greatness they contribute to other people’s lives. Audiences will then be led in a movement embodiment of these ideas as well as movement they witnessed in the piece.

This engagement of Urban Bush Women will be led by Christal Brown (Mother, Artist, Educator, Disciple, Coach, founder of INSPIRIT, project: BECOMING, and CVO Steps and Stages Coaching). Read more about her work at christalbrown.com.

This engagement of Urban Bush Women is made possible in part through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. www.midatlanticarts.org