Urban Bush Women in Rhode Island
October 23, 5:00-7:00PM – Co-presented by FirstWorks
& the Providence Athenaeum – 251 Benefit Street
With Jasmine Johnson, Brandeis University Assistant Professor of African and Afro- American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and Julie Strandberg, co-founder of The American Dance Legacy Initiative, and Artist-In-Residence / Founding Director of Dance at Brown University.
In February, 2016, FirstWorks will present Urban Bush Women performing Walking With ‘Trane, a work emblematic of UBW’s practice of weaving contemporary dance, music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of African Americans and the African Diaspora. Join Johnson as she helps create the context for the February concert by asking: What is black social dance? What is the relationship between dance and African American’s long fight for racial equality? She will situate the history of black social dance alongside the history of black liberation, to explore some of the lessons that black social dance can teach us about freedom, community, and the power of movement.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Urban Bush Women in RI: Art Activating Community is a Widening the Circle: Intersections of Dance, Music, Community, and Social Change initiative presented by FirstWorks, American Dance Legacy Initiative, and Rites and Reason Theatre in collaboration with Artists and Scientists as Partners, Brown University, RISD Center for Student Involvement, Rhythm of Change Festival, and Urban Bush Women. Funded in part by DanceUSA/Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Creative Arts Council of Brown University, RISD Center for Student Involvement, and RI Council for the Humanities.
