Welcome to Broadway Stages’ Spotlight, where we feature local shops, restaurants, organizations, individuals, and venues. We encourage our readers to join us in supporting these establishments and advancing local economic growth. For Women’s History Month, we are shining the spotlight on a few of the women-owned or oriented businesses and organizations in the neighborhoods where we work. This week, we present Urban Bush Women (UBW), a ground-breaking performance ensemble.

Urban Bush Women (UBW) is a Brooklyn-based performance ensemble and dance company with a mission to bring a woman-centered perspective as members of the African Diaspora community to create a more equitable balance of power in the dance world and beyond.

When she founded UBW in 1984, choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar saw her creation as a means to tell stories. She knew there were untold and under-told histories and stories and sought to tell them through dance. Forty years later, UBW has performed on six continents and at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

She noted, “I had this vision of a rough-hewn physical approach that also dealt with theater, singing vocalizations, but was centered in movement. From the beginning, the ensemble practice always valued that the dancers would be collaborative partners.” Today, those partners include Artistic Directors Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis.

Beyond the stage, UBW tries to serve as a positive force for progress in the dance community. To achieve this, they offer programs to develop artists and their art. The Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) offers an intensive 10-day experience where artists learn and practice effective ways to deepen or begin their work. In doing this, the artists can connect dance to community organizing and progressive social change strategies.

The UNW’s BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance) workshop facilitates dialogue within an organization using a unique blend of dialogue and movement. The workshops are available in various groups and contexts, from the dance studio to board retreats.

Beginning in 2013, their Choreographic Center Initiative researches the role of Black Women(+) and female choreographers of color, barriers to entry in the field for this group, and ways the dance community could better support, foster, and build audiences for these artists.

Building off the progress of the Choreographic Center Initiative, UBW created a pilot program designed to cultivate the next generation of women+ of color producers. The Choreographic Center Initiative Producing Program (CCI 2.0) delivers collaborative learning experiences, hands-on opportunities, mentorship, and a bi-weekly stipend. CCI 2.0 also supports women+ of color movement makers who have participated in the CCI.

Their performances are in high demand, but they are prolific performers. You can follow them on Instagram and Facebook or find their tour dates here. If you are interested in New York City metropolitan area performances and national/international keynotes, lectures, and panels, contact Director of Production, Booking & Touring Michelle Coe. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, UBW only thrives through the generous support of others. If you would like to support them, you can do so by clicking here.

Broadway Stages embraces the wisdom that we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and institutions for a positive future. You can take a step in that direction by supporting Urban Bush Women and experiencing their storytelling. And when you do, tell them Broadway Stages sent you!