Urban Bush Women

Our co-founder, Dr. Jim Dunn often said, “You know you have a movement when the dancers dance it, the poets write it and the singers sing it.”

Over the past 30 years, PISAB and Urban Bush Women have been building a relationship — beginning with an Artist in Residency program they completed in the Treme community in 1991. 

Now, the Undoing Racism(R) Workshop is offered during the Urban Bush Women’s annual Summer Leadership Institute (SLI). Over the ten days of SLI, the dancers and organizers examine how racism is showing up in our bodies, artmaking, communities, institutions, and performances. 

Who are the Urban Bush Women?

Urban Bush Women (UBW) galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. With the ground-breaking performance ensemble at its core, and ongoing programs including the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance) and the Choreographic Center Initiative, UBW affects the overall ecology of the arts by promoting artistic legacies; projecting the voices of the under-heard and people of color; bringing attention to and addressing issues of equity in the dance field and throughout the United States; and by providing platforms and serving as a conduit for culturally and socially relevant experimental art makers.

WIth our complimenting visions and grounding in community and accountability, the relationship between PISAB and Urban Bush Women is one of mutual support.