Urban Bush Women announces that Executive Director Michele Kumi Baer will be stepping down from her role with UBW to take on a new leadership position in the arts and culture field.

Returning to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in seven years, the groundbreaking Black women-led theatrical dance company Urban Bush Women will present their dance-driven musical SCAT!... The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar.

This past week, the Terry Buffington foundation hosted Urban Bush Women for a week of workshops and performances on campus, culminating in a final performance last Friday at the Kenworthy Theater. 

Urban Bush Women took audiences on a prescient journey with their 40th anniversary evening of performance, THIS IS RISK, presented February 5-7 at Portland’s Newmark Theater by White Bird Dance.

Urban Bush Women dance company performances among Terry Buffington Foundation events on the Palouse next week, February 10th through 14th.

UBW company members were featured on Portland, Oregon’s Everyday Northwest ahead of THIS IS RISK performances.

The Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has won the GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording for the HGO-commissioned opera Intelligence, created by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer in collaboration with director and choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

Urban Bush Women receives a Theatre Grant from the 69th Obie Awards presented by The American Theatre Wing.

Urban Bush Women receives two Bessie Award nominations as the new company prepares to go on tour for Black History Month February 2026!

From September 2025, UBW held a powerful 3-day BOLD residency with the first-year students of the OHIO School of Dance and the OHIP University community, led by BOLD facilitators Asma Feyijinmi and Kendra J. Ross.

29 organizations around the country were selected by a renowned group of established artists—including choreographers, visual artists, performers, writers, and musicians—to receive $1.16 million in unrestricted grants for the fourth iteration of the Artist Choice program.

Leatrice Ellzy, Senior Director of Programming for The Apollo speaks with Hollywood Soapbox on UBW’s 40th Anniversary Exhibition Legacy, Lineage, and Liberation: An Examination of Urban Bush Women’s Art-Making and Community Organizing Praxis.

Urban Bush Women is pleased to announce the election of Marjorie McFarlane Lucas as the Chair of the Board of Directors.

In celebration of the company’s past, present, and future, Mellon has awarded Urban Bush Women a transformative multi-year grant.

The Urban Bush Women Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of Executive Director Michele Kumi (久美) Baer.

LA Dance Chronicle features Urban Bush Women in an article reviewing the Music Center debut of SCAT!…The Complex lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar .

In her interview with Fjord Review, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar reflects on 40 years of Urban Bush Women, sharing the inspirations behind her creative journey and her final choreographic work for the company.

UBW Project Producer for the Choreographic Center Initiative Lai-Lin Robinson explores her dynamic role as a dancer and producer with Spotlyts magazine.

Making its Music Center debut with the west coast premiere of a dazzling show set in a fictional jazz club, Urban Bush Women will be the first-ever dance company to perform at the intimate 739-seat theatre.

UBW Launches its 40th Anniversary 2024 Fall/Winter Touring Performances and Activities Across Several Cities, Oct - March 2025