Urban Bush Women Dance Performance at UW March 29

Urban Bush Women, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based performance ensemble and dance company, will perform at the University of Wyoming as part of the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Special Events series.

Urban Bush Women’s “This is Risk” performance is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in the UW College of Arts and Sciences auditorium.

Tickets are $23, and a nominal processing fee will be charged for each ticket. To purchase tickets, visit the Performing Arts box office, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/uwyo/6984.

Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women burst onto the dance scene with bold, innovative and demanding works that brought untold and undertold stories to life. Current artistic directors Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis continue to weave contemporary dance, music and text with the history, culture and spiritual traditions of the African diaspora.

“I have been working to bring this incredible dance company here for two years,” says Lexis Hamilton, UW Fine Arts Program manager. “I was first captivated in New York City by their performance, which was not only technically exceptional, but also was presented in such a theatrical way that it completely expanded my understanding of dance. I am beyond excited to welcome these talented dancers to the University of Wyoming.”

The tour’s latest performance commemorates the company’s 40th anniversary -- looking forward and back -- and celebrates four decades of operating at the vanguard of movement and social activism.

“This is Risk” takes the audience through intentional storytelling to the next space of collective brilliance. The energetically charged evening features an array of iconic legacy works by founders Zollar, co-artistic directors Judson and Speis, and by Urban Bush Women’s network of artists. Select works will feature live music.

The performance also is a featured event for the American College Dance Association High-Desert Conference, hosted by UW’s Department of Theatre and Dance Wednesday-Saturday, March 26-29. Festival participants will have the opportunity to work with dance company members in masterclasses and workshops.

About Urban Bush Women

The dance company performs regularly in New York City, tours nationally and internationally, and has received numerous honors. Those include a New York Dance and Performance Award; the Capezio Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance; a Black Theater Alliance Award; two Doris Duke Awards for new work from the American Dance Festival; and the company was named one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation.

The dance company has developed an extensive community engagement program called BOLD (Builders, Organizers and Leaders through Dance). The foundation for Urban Bush Women’s community engagement activities is its Summer Leadership Institute. Established in 1997, the program connects dance professionals and community-based artists/activists in a learning experience to leverage the arts as a vehicle for civic engagement.

In 2022, the dance company launched the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative Producing Program, which provides fellowships to support the development of women choreographers and producers of color and other underheard voices.

For more information, call Kathy Kirkaldie, UW Fine Arts coordinator, at (307) 766-2160 or email kirisk@uwyo.edu.