| One of six
children, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Steeped in
sacred and secular aspects of African-American culture, she grew up doing
musical revues. Her first dance teacher was Joseph Stevenson, a student of
American dance pioneer Katherine Dunham. With a B.A. in dance from the
University of Missouri (Kansas City) and an M.F.A. from Florida State
University, she came to New York City in 1980 to study Dianne McIntyre,
artistic director of Sounds in Motion. After four years, she left
McIntyre's studio to establish Urban Bush Women.
Through live music, a cappella vocalizations, and movement, Urban Bush
Women explores the religious traditions and folklore of the African
diaspora. In an article entitled "Urban Bush Women: Dances for the
Homeless," writer Ntozake Shange describes Zollar's work: "The ensemble
that Jawole Willa Jo Zollar has assembled and sustained takes women's
bodies, racist myths, sexist stereotypes, post-modern conventions and the
'science' of hip-hop and catapults them over the rainbow, so they come
tumbling out of the grin of the man in the moon" (Shange 1991).
Influenced by the writings of Toni Morrison, Ishmael Reed, and Alice
Walker, Zollar creates "a sense of community on stage," often in
collaboration with other artists, such as folklorist and vocalist Tiye
Giraud, choreographer Pat Hill-Smith, and percussionists David Pleasant
and Edwina Lee Tyler. Some of her best-known works are "Song of
Lawino" (1988), "I Don't Know, But I've Been Told, If You Keep on
Dancin' You'll Never Grow Old" (1989), and "Praise House" (1990).
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar has received two Inter-Arts grants and three
Choreographer's Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her
company has toured extensively throughout the United States and
Europe.
-- Jacqui Malone
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