Fort Greene-based dance troupe Urban Bush
Women presents a 74-person strong show, "Place Matters:
A Look at Displacement," at Long Island University’s Brooklyn
campus on July 29.
The program, directed by UBW founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar,
will include spoken word, music and dance performed by UBW (including
Maria Bauman, pictured) as well as the faculty and participants
from their annual "Summer Institute."
This year, the Institute focused on the theme of "gentrification,"
according to the troupe’s managing director, Amy Cassello. The
artist-activists were encouraged to explore ideas about who is
displaced in events such as Hurricane Katrina, the genocide in
Darfur and the Iraq War.
UBW’s "Summer Institute" aims to connect concert professionals
and community-based artists in a learning experience to maximize
the possibilities of the arts as a vehicle for social activism
and civic engagement. The "Place Matters" participants
hail from 17 states, the United Kingdom and Canada and range
in age from 17 to 55.
The Urban Bush Women present "Place Matters" at Long
Island University’s Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts (Flatbush
Avenue Extension at DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn) on July
29 at 4 pm and 7 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $2 for children
and students. For tickets, call (718) 488-1624. For more information,
visit the Web site www.urbanbushwomen.org.
