Research in Movement: Running, Directing, and Funding a World-Class Dance Company

Episode Five

Special Guest: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar is in the profession of creating. Inspired by jazz from an early age, she embraces a methodology based on collaboration, strength, and finding the shared genius in the room. In Episode Five, Jawole shares how she has navigated the administrative side of running a performance company and persevered in her pursuit of arts funding, all while remaining true to her artistic vision.

Zollar is the Nancy Smith Fichter Professor of Dance at Florida State University, and in 2011 she received FSU's prestigious Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award. She earned her B.A in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and later her M.F.A. in dance from Florida State University. After moving to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre from Sounds in Motion, Zollar founded Urban Bush Women in 1984. The UBW was founded as a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. Along with creating 34 works for UBW, Jawole has also directed pieces for several dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco, and University Maryland. UBW is among only 20 companies to be honored by the Ford Foundation as one of America's Cultural Treasures.