Article Courtesy of americandancefestival.org | Written by Katrin Deil

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will present the 2024 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement to Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, dancer, choreographer, and founder and former longtime artistic director of Urban Bush Women. Dean of Florida State University College of Fine Arts and ADF board member Dr. James Frazier will present the $50,000 award in Durham, NC, to Ms. Zollar on Wednesday, July 17, after the performance of Zollar’s SCAT! by Urban Bush Women.

“Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the founder of Urban Bush Women, the all-female troupe of beauty and strength, has led the way in transforming the field of dance. Her masterful and innovative storytelling that focuses on the importance of cultural identity, equity, and community engagement as well as her careful lifting up and nurturing of women choreographers of color, has had a profound impact on this art form. Her life-long dedication has moved us all forward. I am beyond thrilled that we will honor her this season,” said Jodee Nimerichter, ADF’s Executive Director.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar grew up in Kansas City, MO, and earned her B.A. in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and her M.F.A. in dance from Florida State University. In 1980, Zollar moved to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre at Sounds in Motion, and in 1984, she founded Urban Bush Women, inspired by her desire to create a company that shared values around making work and wanting to look at the folklore, the religious traditions, and the culture of African Americans and the African diaspora. The company became a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. Zollar developed a unique approach to enable artists to strengthen their involvement in cultural organizing and civic engagement, which evolved into the company’s acclaimed Summer Leadership Institute.

In addition to creating over 34 works for Urban Bush Women, Zollar has created works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco, and many universities across the United States. Her collaborations include Compagnie Jant-Bi from Senegal and Nora Chipaumire. She has recently worked as choreographer for Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of American Popular Music and Daniel Fish’s Most Happy in Concert. Zollar directed and choreographed a new Jake Heggie opera, Intelligence, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in 2023.

The company has toured five continents and was selected as one of three U.S. dance companies to inaugurate a cultural diplomacy program for the U.S. Department of State in 2010. She serves as director of the UBW Summer Leadership Institute, founding and visioning partner of Urban Bush Women, and the Nancy Smith Fichter Professor of Dance and Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.

Zollar has been a United States Artists Wynn fellow and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial fellow. She holds honorary degrees from Columbia College Chicago, Tufts University, Rutgers University, and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.

Zollar has received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, the Dance Magazine Award, the Dance/USA Honor Award, the “Bessie” Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award for her work in the field, the Dance Teacher Award of Distinction, and the Martha Hill Dance Fund Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, The Ford Foundation declared Urban Bush Women one of America’s Cultural Treasures. Zollar has recently been awarded a 2021 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellow, the 2022 APAP Honors Award of Merit for Achievement in the Performing Arts, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

By: Ansje Burdick

It’s not every day that classroom theories collide with the vibrant art scene of New York City. But for a group of Florida State University seniors, witnessing artistic processes from conception to culmination is exactly what their final semester holds. These students, who interned with Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) in 2023, are now experiencing the fruits of their labor firsthand as participants in Florida State University’s Arts in NYC program, attending the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference where several MANCC artists showcased their final productions.

During their MANCC internships, FSU undergrads (Emma E. Morris, Sophia Pfitzenmaier, Abigail Nelson, Io Ermoli, and Callee Egan), had the unique opportunity to both engage and support the creative worlds of established national artists like Dianne McIntyre, Leslie Parker, Jinza Thayer, Antoine Hunter, Julie Crothers, Faye Driscoll and Juliana May. They did research in support of the work, were engaged as crew for rehearsals, attended showings, and were even asked to stand in as performers at times as artists tested creative approaches. School of Dance senior Sophia Pfitzenmaier, spent a year and half interning with MANCC noting, “I did research for a variety of artists projects, assisted with Jinza Thayer’s installation, and was asked to participate in Fay Driscoll’s MANCC showing. I was also able to see several artists’ works in progress including that of Julianna F. May. As an Arts in NYC student, I was able to see May’s work, which was developed at MANCC, come to fruition in New York. It was not only a truly amazing opportunity but also an aid in my own artistic growth and development.”

Now, their internship experiences have come full circle as they witness the culmination of some of these same projects at APAP, a premier platform for performing arts professionals including presenters, producers, funders, artists, managers and service organizations. The Arts in NYC program has provided them access to the conference, placing them front-and-center to the culmination of the artistic journeys they were privy to as interns. Witnessing the final visions come to life on the New York stage offers them a firsthand perspective on the impact of MANCC’s contributions, reminding them that even seemingly small intern roles can play a significant part in the tapestry of creative work.

Arts in NYC Director Dr. Hannah Schwadron reflects, “Connecting with artists and works first engaged at MANCC best exemplifies the bridge nature of the Arts in NYC semester program, as students launch their own professional careers within a network of makers they admire most, noting in real time the life growth of a work from research and development phases at MANCC to production on the hippest stages in NYC.”

For these FSU students, it’s more than just attending a prestigious conference; it’s a homecoming of sorts. Their ongoing connection to MANCC, no longer as interns, but as invested audiences, enables them to carry with them their memories of collaboration and personal growth, giving them a deeper understanding of the artistic process and a sense of pride in their contributions.

While their FSU journey may be nearing its end, their connection to the artistic world, forged through the School of Dance and MANCC, and solidified via Arts In NYC, remains a testament to the enduring impact of

artistic exchange and the invaluable experiences that blossom at the intersection of education and artistic exploration.