Talking the Walk: Black Dance and Social Justice – Presented by FirstWorks

Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Thomas F. DeFrantz, Professor and Chair and Professor of Women’s Studies African & African American Studies at Duke University, discuss “Walking with ‘Trane,” Black Dance in its varied contemporary manifestations, Black Lives Matter, and the long histories of dance in African American social justice advocacy. Registration is required. To register, email Annette Robinson at annette@first-works.org.

Urban Bush Women is an electrifying, Brooklyn-based dance troupe 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.