“Hair and Other Stories explores the subjects of self-image, race, and gender inequality through the lens of hair, primarily that of African-American women. UBW and their audiences will journey through Curated Living Room Conversations, Truth-telling Kitchen Talk, and craft a Recipe for achieving the Extra Ordinary Self for Extraordinary Times.” – Chanon Judson, Associate Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women
“Hair and Other Stories marks the formation of an extraordinary creative team that is taking UBW’s 30+ years of art making and community engagement to new, ground-breaking and courageous places.” – Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founding Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Associate Artistic Directors Samantha Speis and Chanon Judson, working collaboratively with members of the UBW ensemble, comedy writers, and director Raelle Myrick-Hodges, will be reimagining Hair Stories—a 2001 work exploring race, gender, and cultural identity—as Hair and Other Stories. The new dance/theater work will use the visceral, intellectual, and transcendent power of UBW’s approach to co-creation to construct a live experience that includes processional performance from imagined or real spaces, such as the living room, kitchen, beauty shop and barber shop, to elicit conversations between and among the performers and audience members around the subjects of self-image, race, and gender inequality through the lens of hair, primarily that of African-American women.
Urban Bush Women are at Carleton April 10 – 12 for a variety of activities, culminating in a unique chance for the community to see their new work-in-progress HAIR AND OTHER STORIES and learn about their creative process. This special sneak-peek showing will take place Wednesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Skinner Memorial Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.