TU Dance Company to premiere work by visiting artist, 2021 MacArthur Fellow

By Rebecca Kirkman & Henry Basta on November 16, 2021

During an intensive week in mid-October, students in the Towson University dance and theatre arts departments had the opportunity to learn from visiting artist Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the Nancy Smith Fichter Professor in Dance at Florida State University and founder and artistic director of the performance ensemble Urban Bush Women.

Known for mixing elements from postmodern, modern and Africanist dance styles, Zollar has created a sustainable movement that centers the perspectives of Black women. 

Her TU residency was made possible by the Rosenberg Distinguished Artist Endowment, a fund established in 1998 by The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation through a multiyear commitment of $200,000. The fund supports artist residencies in dance and theatre that foster opportunities for in-depth learning and substantive artist–student interaction.

During the residency, Zollar worked with College of Fine Arts & Communication students in more than 10 classes and set an original piece for the TU Dance Company concert “Soaring… Live/Dance,” running Nov. 17–21 at Stephens Hall Theatre.

Zollar was named one of 25 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellows for “using the power of dance and artistic expression to celebrate the voices of Black women and promote civic engagement and community organizing.” She is also the 2021 recipient of the “Dance Teacher” magazine Award of Distinction. 

“She's such a visionary and powerhouse in the field,” says dance professor Vincent Thomas. “It's really amazing to get [the students] to open up and to experience a physicality that is accessible through their strong training here, as well, but it really has given them an opportunity to lean in on a particular aesthetic.”

Get Tickets

“Soaring… Live/Dance”

Nov. 17–21
Weds., Thurs., Fri. and Sat. 7 p.m.; Sun. 2 p.m.
Directed by Alison Seidenstricker and Runqiao Du

This live dance performance is a celebration of life and community. As the dancers soar back onto the stage, they live in their joy and share their love of dance with each other and their audience. Get tickets at tuboxoffice.com.

Thomas, who first worked with Zollar as a graduate student at Florida State, is a 
BOLD facilitator for Urban Bush Women. Standing for Builders, Organizers and Leaders through Dance, BOLD facilitators work with groups and organizations across the country leading workshops leveraging dance for social change.

The Rosenberg Distinguished Artist residency builds on the department’s mission of dancing for a lifetime, he says.

“This Rosenberg experience really gives students an opportunity to see more possibilities of how an artist in the field is working,” Thomas says. “She's been able to talk to the students about her work as well so that they can see that dancing for a lifetime is possible, and it's a practice.”

“Revival,” which Zollar choreographed with Thomas for the Dance Company, is part of a larger opera commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera that will premiere in 2023.

“The students here are phenomenal and they're so open and very well trained, so it's a dream,” Zollar says. Visiting TU as the Rosenberg Distinguished Artist combines two of Zollar’s passions: teaching and performance.

“I think of them as these interconnected ideas,” she says. “Teaching is generative for me. It generates ideas, it generates creativity.” In the same way, she explains, performance experiences inform her work with students. 

Working with a visiting artist prepares Dance Company students for life after graduation. 

“We want to give students a taste of what it’s like in the professional world,” says Seidenstricker, dance assistant professor and artistic director of the TU Dance Company with Du. “We're training these students in a multifaceted way to have a lifetime within this profession and career. Jawole sharing with them at her pinnacle within a lifetime of dance was just really beautiful to watch.”

For Markel Williams, a senior dance major and company member, the best part of working with Zollar was learning how her personal experiences and cultural background, as well as that of her dancers, inform the works she creates.
 
“Working with guest artists such as Jawole expands our experiences and connections to those who we will ultimately be working with throughout our careers,” he adds. “It educates and prepares us on how to come into a space and work with someone whom we have never had an experience with before, which is something that we as dancers and artists will experience a lot.”

In addition to “Revival,” “Soaring… Live/Dance” includes a new collaboration by Du, Seidenstricker and Thomas, new works by “Merge” project guest artist Robert J. Priore and ballet repertory faculty Susan Mann. 

For more arts and culture events, visit events.towson.edu.