Urban Bush Women

Something is coming... 🙂‍↕️✨

Shop now at urbanbushwomen.org/shop.

Featuring:
Brooke Rucker
Grace Galu Kalambay
Rochelle L. Phillips
Keola Jones
Gayle Fekete
Cameron Jade Harris
Sade Morgan
Mikaela Sinclair Brandon
Gozi Ogbonna

Photos by Ed Marshall

Urban Bush Women presents ROOTING in Practice: Punk World-Building and Rage as Portals led by Kayla Farrish

With inspiration from punk movements and maroonage, Kayla Farrish is working to hold a practice for our feeling, our untaming, our audacity, our aliveness, and our belief in the creation within us. This workshop will shift through improvisation, dynamics and textures of movement, storytelling, arc/scene, and voice.

• How can we activate our world-building between us?
• How can we invite hushed emotions like rage to make portals for truth and reimagined present?

Additionally, participants may work with relationships and partnering with options of contact and no-contact. With open curiosity, mess-making, you’re encouraged to bring your voice to the questions and directives and we will discover possibilities.

Tuesday, Nov 3: 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM ET
Mark Morris Dance Center | Brooklyn, NY
Movement practice/experience required
Resgistration Fee: $75

Learn more and register now by visiting the or bit.ly/ROOTkfarrish

Photo credits: (1) Sarah Annie Navarrete; (2) Elyse Mertz

“… through every piece, Urban Bush Women adamantly invoked and celebrated the African Diaspora – traditions and ancestral memory that shape present-day realities and collective futures.” Oregon ArtsWatch

We bring history, we bring culture, we bring risk. Memphis, are you ready?

Secure your tickets for Friday, October 23 at urbanbushwomen.org/calendar.

Join us in person or virtually on November 6 as we celebrate Urban Bush Women’s impact for over four decades!

This symposium invites participants to activate and access the organization’s archive through reflection and community engagement. Grounded in the understanding of the body as an archive, participants will discover the evolution of the UBW Archive, exploring how knowledge, stories, and traditions are carried, remembered, and shared through Urban Bush Women’s rich history.

Participants can expect an exclusive screening of never-before-seen performance excerpts and a community talkback led by Urban Bush Women staff. Following that will be an archival activity led by archivist Zakiya Collier and an unveiling of the UBW Digital Archive led by Archivist Camille Lawrence and Archives Assistant Whitney Christopher.

Panelists and participants include UBW Founding Artistic Director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Interim Executive Director Michelle Dorant, UBW Archivist Camille Lawrence, and Archivist Zakiya Collier.

Visit for RSVP to attend in person or virtually.

On September 22nd, 1988, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “Shelter” had its U.S. premiere at The Kitchen inside the evening-length work titled “Heat.”

“I moved to New York City from Tallahassee, FL in 1980. The sheer numbers of those who were living on the streets, many African American, angered me. The themes of displacement and dislocation became the central point of investigation for “Shelter,” created in 1988.

“Shelter” explores the contemporary and the historical relationship of people affected by displacement... I have remounted “Shelter,” dedicated to those affected by natural and unnatural disasters, systemic poverty, and inadequate government response.” — Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founding Artistic Director

This truth-telling work returns to the stage Saturday, October 17th at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Celebrate the U.S. premiere with 20% off tickets until Wednesday, September 23rd, 10 PM CT with code SHELTER.





Photo credits: (1 + 5) Stephen Cohen Photography; (2) Cylla Von Teidemann; (3-4) Kirk Richard Smith

(2) - Urban Bush Women in Shelter. (l to r) Treva Offutt, Beverley Prentice-Ryan, Maia Claire Garrison, Christine King, Valerie Winborne, Terri Cousar
Photo by Cylla Von Teidemann

Our Family is out here doing that WERK! (Part 1)

Swipe to see upcoming engagements and performances.

Angela’s Pulse , Co-founded by Paloma McGreor
Courtney J. Cook
Brooke Rucker
Kashia Kancey
Du’Bois A’Keen
Maria Bauman

Join us in wishing UBW BOLD facilitator and former company member Roobi Gaskins a Happy Birthday!

We celebrate your voice, your movement, your truth. May this next chapter deepen your connections, widen your possibilities, and affirm the power you hold in shaping the world around you. Thank you for your continued work pushing our mission forward and sharing your artistic brilliance in community.

ABOUT ROOBI

Roobi Starla Gaskins is a NYC-based artist specializing in dance, choreography, and wearable art. While she has always had a passion for dance, her movement foundation was shaped by 14 years of competitive figure skating, during which she competed internationally as a member of the Puerto Rican national team. After an injury, she redirected her career path and began formal dance training at Bard College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a focus in Africana Studies. She toured nationally as a company member with Urban Bush Women and has performed with artists and companies including Abby Z and the New Utility, Brownbody, Houston Grand Opera, Marjani Forte-Saunders, and LaJune McMillan. In addition to performing, she coaches figure skating and teaches house dance in the NYC area.

Photo by Maria J Hackkett

! Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are .

We are thrilled to head to Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, for two upcoming performances of THIS IS RISK, an energetically charged evening featuring live music.

PERFORMANCE DATES & LOCATIONS:

Saturday, October 17, 2026
Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC)
Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Nashville, TN

Friday, October 23, 2026
Buckman Performing Arts Center
Buckman Performing Arts Center
Memphis, TN

Visit urbanbushwomen.org for tickets and more information.





Photo credits: (1) Stephen Cohen Photography, (2) John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

“...Where UBW been?” We cookin’... 🙂‍↕️

SAVE THE DATES — UBW kicks off a new professional development series this Fall 2026 in Brooklyn, NY: ROOTING In Practice!

Tuesday, November 3rd: Kayla Farrish
Tuesday, December 1st: Paloma McGregor

ROOTING In Practice is an Urban Bush Women professional development series in creative movement studies and investigation, shared knowledge, discovery, and artistic growth for movement artists, pre-professional dancers, and theater creatives.

Registration opens Tuesday, September 29th. Stay tuned for more information and dates through 2027!

We heard it’s Virgo SZN! ♍️🙌🏾 Happy Birthday to UBW Company Member Amina Konaté!!

Thank you for sharing your profound artistry on stage and beyond! Thrilled to continue witness your growth as the phenomenal movement artist you are. We celebrate you today and always 🧡

ABOUT AMINA

Amina Konaté, from La Rochelle, France, began her dance training at the Conservatoire of Music and Dance of La Rochelle at the age of five. After graduating high school in 2019, she continued her studies at the Rudra Béjart School in Switzerland, where she performed works by Maurice Béjart, Julio Arozarena and Tancredo Tavares. Two years later, she moved to New York City to attend The Ailey School.

Since then, Amina has been performing with Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet, RudduRDance, CRDANCE, Accent Dance NYC and Ballet Nepantla. She has also danced with TORCH Dance Theatre, Felice Lesser Dance Theatre, Yaa!Samar Dance Theatre, Mason Lee Dance Theater, Borne Dance Company, as well as Philadanco 2 (D/2). Her repertoire includes works by Christopher Huggins, Jeroboam Bozeman, Djassi Dacosta Johnson, Kevin Iega Jeff, Will A. Ervin Jr., Pedro Ruiz and Ray Mercer.

Amina is also a certified Pilates instructor and teaches dance in Arts in Education programs.