Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, from Kansas City, Missouri, trained with Joseph Stevenson, a student of the legendary Katherine Dunham. After earning her BA in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, she received her MFA in dance from Florida State University. In 1980, Zollar moved to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre at Sounds in Motion. In 1984, she founded Urban Bush Women (UBW) as a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. In addition to 34 works for UBW, she has created works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, PHILADANCO!, University of Maryland, Virginia Commonwealth University, and others. In 2005, Zollar was designated a Master of Choreography by the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, and in 2006, she received a New York Dance and Performance Award Bessie for her work as choreographer/creator. As an artist whose work is geared towards building equity and diversity in the arts, Zollar was awarded the Arthur L. Johnson Memorial award by Sphinx Music at their inaugural conference on diversity in the arts. In 2013, she received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and honorary degrees from Columbia College, Chicago, Tufts University, Rutgers University, and the Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. In 2020, The Ford Foundation declared Urban Bush Women one of America’s Cultural Treasures. Zollar received the 2015 Dance Magazine Award, 2016 Dance/USA Honor Award, the 2017 Bessie Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2021 Dance Teacher Award of Distinction, a 2021 fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the 2022 APAP Honors Award of Merit for Achievement in the Performing Arts, and the 2024 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award.