Urban Bush Women to Hold Dance Workshop at UT April 20

Internationally renowned dance company Urban Bush Women will visit The University of Tampa April 19–20 for a planning meeting and workshop in anticipation of a week-long community engagement residency in Spring 2014. All events will be held in the Edison Building at 214 North Blvd.

On Friday, April 19, at 4 p.m., there will be a planning meeting between members of the Urban Bush Women (UBW) and the UT and Tampa communities to explore the 2014 residency.

Then on Saturday, April 20, at 11 a.m., UBW will hold a workshop, Dance for Every Body. Embracing the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency, the goal for the workshop is for every “body” to find their level of challenge and comfort, participate according to their abilities and come away with an appreciation of the group’s diversity as an attribute to the community. Participants will explore UBW’s technique, with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response, and polyrhythm. The workshop is free and open to the public, and no prior dance experience is required.

Also on Saturday, UBW will host a Collaboration Lab for UT students. During the lab, UBW will facilitate artistic creation based on themes that emerge from the group. Using various artistic genres — dance, music, creative writing, visual art — to process, synthesize and communicate, participants will create an artistic product reflecting both their learning and their vision for community. This event is free and open to UT students.

For more information on the planning meeting as well as the Dance for Every Body workshop, contact Susan Taylor Lennon at (813) 257-3745 or staylor.lennon@ut.edu.

Urban Bush Women was founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the Nancy Smith Fichter professor of dance and Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University. Based in Brooklyn, Urban Bush Women uses art to address social issues and encourage civic engagement. For more information, go to www.urbanbushwomen.org.