BUFFALO, N.Y. — Urban Bush Women is a dance company, with a unique touch.
As part of its 40th anniversary, the dance company will hit the stage at UB Center for the Arts on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
The dance troupe showcases performers and dancers who function as individuals, yet they are in harmony.
"We function like a jazz ensemble and every company member is an individual instrument," said Chanon Judson, co-artistic director. "The performances are mind-blowing, the way that the work is created. The dancers use our life experiences as a source of research, and so there's something about our authenticity and our truth that's present inside of the work."
When asked about the performance scheduled for Buffalo, Courtney Cook, associate artistic director for Urban Bush Women said, "It uplifts dance that happens in the community, the dance that happens in your neighborhood, in your schools, and it brings to light like those kinds of rituals that we grew up doing as black girls, you know, playing hand games...drill team, cheerleading, things like that. So you're going to see that on the concert stage."
The founder, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar put Urban Bush Women together because she realized that many women's voices and experiences were not reflected on the dance stage.
"It was Urban Bush's intention to share these stories that were untold and under-told, specifically looking at celebrating the African American diaspora, but also from a woman-centered perspective," Judson said.