Release date: Jan. 27, 2005

Emory/GSU Host Urban Bush Women Performances

Contact:
Sally Corbett, Schwartz Center, Arts at Emory: 404-727-6678, sally.corbett@emory.edu
Kara Keene, Rialto Center: 404-651-2981, kkeene@gsu.edu

Emory University's Schwartz Center for Performing Arts and Georgia State University's Rialto Center for the Performing Arts present the Urban Bush Women (UBW) in three contemporary dance performances and a special free performance for invited school children. In celebration of its 20th year, the groundbreaking dance company from New York presents "20 Years and Counting…Dare to Go There," a program fusing dance, music and storytelling with African-American spiritual traditions. The ticketed public performances are Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. in the Rialto, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. in the Dance Studio of the Schwartz Center. For tickets and information at each venue, call or go online to: Rialto Center, 404-651-4727 or www.rialtocenter.org and Schwartz Center, 404-727-5050 or www.arts.emory.edu.

The Atlanta performances include "Walking with Pearl," a new work by UBW founder and artistic director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. A tribute to African-American dance pioneer and social activist Pearl Primus, the piece traces Primus' life and seeks to preserve her history. Primus' belief in the necessity for African-Americans to study African as well as African-American dance traditions resonates strongly with the like-minded Zollar. The program also includes Zollar's "Girlfriends" and "Batty Moves," works that praise friendship and the female form respectively, epitomizing the UBW experience--bold, life-affirming works. Dance Magazine hails the repertoire as "heart-wrenching, soul-searching works that communicate the ecstasy and agony of the human condition."

Through the Emory Coca-Cola Artist-in-Residence Series--made possible in part by The Coca-Cola Foundation--the Emory Dance Program, Schwartz Center and Rialto Center are providing complimentary tickets and transportation to a UBW performance for hundreds of dance students and teachers, youth organizations and schools. Schools interested in outreach programs and residencies should call Arts at Emory, 404-727-8769 or Rialto, 404-651-4727.

Zollar was a fall 2004 Emory Coca-Cola Artist-in-Residence. Her month-long residency included a free public lecture, demonstrations and coursework with Emory dance students, and the presentation of her choreography in the Emory Dance Company Fall Concert.

Since 1980, when Zollar received her master's degree in dance from Florida State University, she has created nearly 40 dances, held residencies at major institutions, and received numerous awards, grants and commissions. Among her awards is the New York Dance and Performance Award (the "Bessie") for innovative choreography.

Founded in 1984 by Zollar, UBW members combine their formal dance training with a wide range of vocal, theater and performance techniques. This critically acclaimed troupe has performed on major stages throughout the United States and abroad, and is renowned for its rule breaking choreography and artistic virtuosity. Zollar weaves and juxtaposes various cultural-artistic forms to articulate her vision of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. A community-focused vision drives the aesthetic of UBW, and the group presents annual workshops, performances and residencies in the community.

UBW received the prestigious Capezio Award in 1994, the 1998 Doris Duke Award for New York from the American Dance Festival for "Hands Singing Song," and a "Bessie" for the body of work created from "River Songs" (1984) through "Praise House" (1990).

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