UPCOMING PERFORMANCES 2024

HAINT BLU

urban bush women’s Haint Blu is an ensemble dance-theater work seeped in memory and magic. Known as the color that Southern families paint their front porches to ward off bad spirits, Haint Blu uses performance as a center and source of healing, taking us through movement into stillness and rest: remembering, reclaiming, releasing, and restoring. It is an embodied look into familial lines and the movements, histories and stories of our elders and ancestors. It reflects on what has been lost across generations and what can be recovered. Haint Blu takes us to the magical place where spirits share their legacies, journey onward, and leave the thick residue of their knowing behind. conceived and directed by chanon judson and mame diarra speis.

Upcoming shows:

january 2024 @ harlem stage APAP NYC

El Niño - the metropolitan opera

El Niño tells the story of the Nativity, along with reflections on the wonders and tribulations of motherhood itself.

Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions.

The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of tony nominated director Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, and will be choreographed by award winning marjani forte-saunders.

upcoming Shows:

April 23, 27, May 5, 4, 8, 11, 17 @ The Metropolitan opera Nyc

RECENT PERFORMANCE

intelligence houston grand opera

premiered october - november 2023

The HGO-commissioned world-premiere opera  Intelligence, inspired by the little-known true story of these two unlikely spies, unfolds as Elizabeth sends Mary Jane to live in the Confederate White House. As Mary Jane uncovers the secrets of the Confederacy to share with Union military commanders, she also uncovers the secrets of her own history and identity. Shared through a fusion of music, words, and  dance, this new American epic is the creation of a powerhouse trio: composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer, and director/ choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Urban Bush Women.

The production features eight dancers from UBW and a sensational cast led by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Elizabeth, with soprano Janai Brugger making her anticipated company debut as the brilliant Mary Jane. Acclaimed conductor Kwamé Ryan takes the podium for his HGO debut.