Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, who raises the issue of cultural identity and equity through dance, won the 29th Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award on Monday. The award, about $ 250,000, is given to American artists who have made significant contributions to the “beauty of the world” and the “understanding and enjoyment of life” of people, as explained by renowned actress Lillian Gish. increase.
“I’m not trying to be influential, recognized or seen,” Zorer said in a telephone interview. “I think thinking beyond myself is in my social DNA.”
The selection committee leader, Kay Takeda, said the panel received over 100 nominations and chose Zorer in response to the engagement created through community building and her creative work.
“She brought a vocabulary of movement inspired by African traditions to the canon,” Takeda, the secretary-general of the Foundation for Contemporary Art, said in an interview.
“Aesthetically, she was a pioneer,” Takeda added.
Zollar founded Urban Bush Women in 1984, an ensemble that explores black identity and systematic oppression through the movement. As she was a college student in the 1970s, Zollar said she was involved in feminists, the Anti-Vietnam War, free love, and the black power movement. Node, now and in the last few decades, has left a mark on her work.
“I’m not waving a banner saying,’This is what you’re seeing on stage,’ but people clearly have a deep analysis of the systematic suppression of racism and sexism. I was experiencing it, “she said.
The majority of Zollar’s founding members grew up in a virtually isolated city, where they shared their racialized life experiences on stage. Zorer didn’t want to erase her personality, but she said she wanted to use sound and her whole body movements to enhance her personality. She challenged the stereotypes with “Anarchy, Wildwoman, Dina”, the performer ate fried chicken and watermelon, and asked the dancer to fight and revolt on her hips with “Bati Move”.
“We had this darkness of thought and culture, and the way we didn’t have to express it,” she said. “At the same time, we also understand that we are always against something. How do you use it creatively?”
From 2005 to 2010, choreographer and member of Urban Bush Women, Paloma McGregor, said Zollar urged Zollar to quit his job in journalism and pursue dance. Despite the alienation of dance compared to other forms of art, McGregor said Zorer has unparalleled skills to turn vision into action.
In addition to her strong choreography, McGregor said, “She has promised to innovate these leadership development strategies that have benefited two generations of art leaders, including myself.”
McGregor, who has nominated Zorah several times for the Gish Award, said Zorer through the company’s choreographing center initiative to help choreographers who are women of color and a 10-day intensive summer leadership institute to develop artists. To the “frontline social justice workers” who said they had influenced people.
“Artists like Jawole are often not recognized until they leave us,” she said. She’s happy as someone in her life, “she added, but also as an indicator of the value of this work.
