FirstWorks Presents Urban Bush Women in Rhode Island: Art Activating Community

Posted 2/17/16

FirstWorks announces a month of programs with the critically acclaimed dance company Urban Bush Women for Urban Bush Women in Rhode Island: Art Activating Community in Providence beginning February …

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FirstWorks Presents Urban Bush Women in Rhode Island: Art Activating Community

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FirstWorks announces a month of programs with the critically acclaimed dance company Urban Bush Women for Urban Bush Women in Rhode Island: Art Activating Community in Providence beginning February 10th. The artist residency includes a series of exciting and illuminating events leading up to the FirstWorks Artistic Icon Series production of “Walking With ‘Trane”, a live music and dance salute to jazz great John Coltrane at The Vets on February 27. For tickets and more information on Urban Bush Women in Providence, please visit www.first-works.org.

“We are thrilled that Urban Bush Women can share their extraordinary talent and knowledge with Rhode Island audiences,” said FirstWorks Executive Artistic Director Kathleen Pletcher. “Through creating a consortium of arts partnerships, with American Dance Legacy Initiative (ADLI), Rites and Reason Theatre, Artists and Scientists as Partners (ASaP) and the Rhythm of Change Festival, we are able to focus an entire month on performances, salons and other activities that celebrate the culture of the African diaspora and its influence in the United States.”

The spirit of the Urban Bush Women, the first major, all-female African American dance company, comes to life throughout the city with a full month of events during their residency in Providence. Hailed as an “unstoppable force in American dance,” their hands-on workshops, profound conversations, community renewal events, as well as an interactive dance party heat up the chilly month of February.

The New England premiere of Urban Bush Women’s stunning tribute to the legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and his seminal jazz suite, “A Love Supreme.” Set to a Coltrane-inspired score that features Grammy Award-winning pianist George Caldwell playing live, “Walking with ‘Trane” is an ethereal investigation fusing Urban Bush Women’s inventive movement with Coltrane’s evolutionary, post-bop spirit that has audiences erupting with “audible gasp(s) of joy” (Brooklyn Magazine).

Members of Urban Bush Women wrap up their Providence residency with a body and soul-nourishing jazz brunch at The Dorrance, featuring live music by Rhode Island’s own Travis Colby Band.

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.

Urban Bush Women was founded by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar in 1984 when it burst onto the scene as the first major all-female African American dance company. Hailed as an “unstoppable force in American dance,’ Urban Bush Women’s powerful moves shake theaters and inspire communities, as they showcase the energy, vitality and boldness of the African American community.

FirstWorks’ purpose is to build the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of our community by engaging audiences with world-class performing arts and education programs. Launched in 2004, FirstWorks festivals and programs have attracted more than 288,000 participants. The FirstWorks Arts Learning Program works with over 30 public and charter schools across Rhode Island to provide students, particularly those from underserved communities, direct connection with world-class performing artists.

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