Recommended: Urban Bush Women
Urban Bush Women: Twenty Years of African American Dance Theater, Community Engagement, and Working It On, by Nadine George-Graves
Urban Bush Women: Twenty Years of African American Dance Theater, Community Engagement, and Working It On
By Nadine George-Graves
the University of Wisconsin Press, 2010
In a nutshell: The making of a groundbreaking dance troupe.
“When I first saw them perform, I realized there was something much more profound going on here,” Nadine George-Graves says of Urban Bush Women. “It’s literally movement empowering social movement.” In this 230-page text, George-Graves, professor in the department of theater and dance at the University of California, San Diego, tracks the group’s journey from Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s start in Kansas City, Missouri, through 20 years of creating and touring bold, postmodern dance.
Using the Brooklyn-based troupe’s repertoire as a timeline, George-Graves highlights the company’s advocacy in African American culture, gay rights and female empowerment. The author offers her own interpretations of Zollar’s work in easy-to-navigate passages. Black-and-white company photos are scattered throughout. Ideal for any studio library or dance history course, this book demonstrates why UBW continues to be relevant, and it provides new inspiration for modern dance students to make a difference with their dancing.
