SCAT!... The Complex Lives of
Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar
Our feet are not in concrete. They’re jubilant. Using African aesthetics to speak about the experiences of Black folk.
Not just choreographing. Channeling.
Set in a fictional jazz club, the 2025 Bessie Award-nominated SCAT!... The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar, is a dance-driven musical that tells the love story of two people making their way during the Great Migration. Through song, dance, storytelling, and an original jazz score performed by a live band, SCAT! explores what happens when dreams encounter the realities of American life in the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Conceived & Directed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Original Music Composed by Craig Harris
Co-Choreographed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar & Vincent Thomas in collaboration with the company
Dramaturgy by Talvin Wilks
Assistant Director & Associate Producer, Cheri L. Stokes
ON TOUR
July 1 - 5, 2026
Jacob’s Pillow 2026 Dance Festival
Ted Shawn Theatre
Becket, MA
TICKETS
"SCAT is my story. It is my family’s story. It is a personal and collective story of a family and a people, moving from the Jim Crow south during the Great Migration."
— Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Director and Choreographer, SCAT!... The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar
Unearthing history requires risk. Claiming history requires risk. Making history requires risk.
Urban Bush Women THIS IS RISK
Lead commissioning support for development and creation of SCAT!... The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar was provided by the Fisher Center at Bard through Fisher Center's Artistic Innovation Fund, with lead support from Rebecca Gold and additional funding from The William and Lia G. Poorvu Family Foundation.
Lead commissioning support was also provided by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University.
Additional commissioning support is generously provided by: The Perelman Performing Arts Center, The O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, and American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works.
SCAT!... The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar is made possible in part by The Acton Family Fund, MAP Fund (supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation), National Endowment for the Arts, and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
Photo Credits: Header — Maria Baranova; Body — Courtesy of The Zollar Family, and Maria Baranova for the Fisher Center at Bard, Ed Marshall Photography