“Walking with ‘Trane” – Urban Bush Women Presented by FirstWorks

As part of FirstWork’s Artistic Icons Series, Urban Bush Women will perform “Walking with ‘Trane” – a towering jazz masterpiece that comes alive onstage with unbridled energy, innovative choreography, and live music.

In their performance, this electrifying, all-female “unstoppable force in American dance” salutes John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” against the backdrop of a composition by Grammy Award-winning pianist/composer George Caldwell, one of modern jazz’s current pre-eminent players, who has created new music around the legacy of one of jazz music’s greatest innovators. Urban Bush Women is a Brooklyn-based dance troupe which galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. For three decades, their powerful moves have shaken theaters and inspired communities celebrating the culture of the African diaspora. As The Miami Herald-Sun exclaims, “They shimmied, shimmered, sparkled, strutted and stamped as though trying to put out a fire.”

Tickets are $18-75, including a $3 restoration fee. (*Premium ticketholders for the “Walking with ‘Trane” performance can attend the Community Renewal Event on Feb 24 or the Jazz Brunch on Feb 28 for free! Contact Annette Robinson for more information.)

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.