How We Got to the Funk – A Soundscape Through Time with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

FirstWorks presents this structured dance party emceed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Brooklyn-based dance troupe Urban Bush Women. You’ll learn various social dances spanning from Jawole’s youth in Kansas City to her coming of age in New York City. You’ll also examine the historical context that supported these trends – all this while having a great time! Doors open at 6pm, and Sweet Little Variety Show starts at 8:30pm. Registration is required. To register, email Annette Robinson at annette@first-works.org.

Urban Bush Women is an electrifying, Brooklyn-based company which galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. As part of FirstWorks’ Artistic Icons Series, they will perform “Walking with ‘Trane,” a new live music/dance event created by the in tribute to the life of legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and his seminal jazz suite, “A Love Supreme” on February 27 at the Vets.

FirstWorks’ Art Activating Community: Urban Bush Women in RI is made possible with lead support from Dance USA/The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, Brown University Creative Arts Council, RISD CSI, Carter Family Charitable Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Project is presented as a Widening the Circle initiative, a partnership with the American Dance Legacy Initiative and Rites and Reason Theatre with support from Brown’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. Additional partners include Artists and Scientists as Partners and The Rhythm of Change Festival.