The images that New York choreographer/performer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar imprints on her seven-member all-woman dance company, Urban Bush Women, are those of womanly strength and boundless energy. She stratifies her dances with layers of African traditions and everyday experiences as an African-American female.
It was a coup for the Dance on the Edge series to bring the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women to Baltimore. It was a shame such a sparse audience saw them at Morgan State University's Murphy Theater over the weekend.
Opening their program of four dances on Friday was Ms. Zollar's "Hair Stories." Basically like a poetry slam, this sliver from a work-in-progress let Ms. Zollar warm up the audience like a stand-up comedian before the main act. Ms. Zollar gave a bit of rhyme, a bit of reason and a whole lot of sass as she strutted and doled out the anecdotes.
Next in line was Ms. Zollar's "Girlfriends," a warm and fuzzy theatrical dance for four women that investigated the boundaries and dynamics of friendship.
"Bitter Tongue," the most abstract work shown, celebrated the sophisticated dialogue between dancers and drummer Junior "Gabu" Wedderburn. Beginning with a cautious solo, "Bitter Tongue" builds to a finely textured crescendo of sound and movement. What held our attention was not only the interplay between drummer and dancers, but how the women's clear voices uplifted the dance. The African dance motifs and the strong unison dancing created images of struggle and a sense of unity.
"I Don't Know But I've Been Told, If You Keep On Dancin' You'll Never Grow Old" has become this company's signature work and most likely its credo. Created by Ms. Zollar to honor the most basic movement forms we all know from our school days -- the drill team, drum majorettes, double dutch jump rope groups and cheerleading squads -- "I Don't Know" has as its core a wild solo and is supercharged with high-stepping dancing that brought the audience to its feet.