Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
SummerScape Dance 2024
Urban Bush Women
SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar
June 28–30
A New Dance-Driven Jazz Club Spectacular
SummerScape Commission/World Premiere
https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/scat/
Building upon a repertoire of bold, life-affirming dance works, Urban Bush Women celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new dance-driven jazz club spectacular that tells the story of two people making their way in Kansas City—from the Great Migration to the present.
Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar grew up performing in floor shows in Black neighborhoods in a segregated Kansas City in the mid-20th century—an era when Black businesses were booming, and there was great hope of upward mobility post-WWII.
Performed with a live band to an original jazz score by Craig Harris, this world premiere tells the powerful journey of the Zollar family and what happens when dreams encounter the harsh realities of American life in the 1940s & 50s.
Video: A Doll's House Pictures (adollshousepictures.com).
FUNDING
Lead commissioning support for the development and creation of SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar was provided by the Fisher Center at Bard through the Fisher Center’s Artistic Innovation Fund, with lead support from Rebecca Gold and additional funding from The William and Lia G. Poorvu Family Foundation, and also 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 New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
SummerScape Dance 2024
Urban Bush Women
SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar
June 28–30
A New Dance-Driven Jazz Club Spectacular
SummerScape Commission/World Premiere
https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/scat/
Building upon a repertoire of bold, life-affirming dance works, Urban Bush Women celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new dance-driven jazz club spectacular that tells the story of two people making their way in Kansas City—from the Great Migration to the present.
Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar grew up performing in floor shows in Black neighborhoods in a segregated Kansas City in the mid-20th century—an era when Black businesses were booming, and there was great hope of upward mobility post-WWII.
Performed with a live band to an original jazz score by Craig Harris, this world premiere tells the powerful journey of the Zollar family and what happens when dreams encounter the harsh realities of American life in the 1940s & 50s.
Video: A Doll's House Pictures (adollshousepictures.com).
FUNDING
Lead commissioning support for the development and creation of SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar was provided by the Fisher Center at Bard through the Fisher Center’s Artistic Innovation Fund, with lead support from Rebecca Gold and additional funding from The William and Lia G. Poorvu Family Foundation, and also 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 New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
