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She grew up in a family of great African American influence and listened to a lot of jazz music. These both ended up being two great impacts on her dance style and rhythm.
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She moved to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre at Sounds in Motion. She later on left the studio to create her own in 1984.
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Jawole founded UBW as a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. Zollar’s dance company used live music, cappella vocalizations and movement to interpret the religious traditions and folklore of the African Diaspora. Her work has earned five grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
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Her many positions as a teacher and speaker include Worlds of Thought Resident Scholar at Mankato State University (1993-94), Regents Lecturer in the Departments of Dance and World Arts and Culture at UCLA (1995-96), Visiting Artist at Ohio State University (1996), and the Abramowitz Memorial Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998).
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She was featured in a PBS Documentary “Free to Dance” in 2001. This film shows the chronicles of the African American influence on modern dance.
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Bestowed by Columbia College in Chicago.
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She was selected as Master of African American Choreography
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Jawole received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for her work as choreographer/creator of Walking With Pearl…Southern Diaries.
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She received the United States Artists Wynn fellowship. Then received another fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial the following year.
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Jawole was invited to participate in a meeting within the White House on using creative and collaborative approaches to community building and civic engagement.
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UBW was selected as one of three U.S. dance companies to inaugurate a cultural diplomacy program for the U.S. Department of State in 2010.
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She received the highest honor bestowed by the FSU faculty on one of its own.
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In 2013, Jawole received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and honorary degrees from Tufts University and Rutgers University.
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Most recently, Jawole received the 2016 Dance Magazine award and the 2016 Dance/USA Honor Award.