Jawole Willa Jo Zollar earned her B.A. in dance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and her MFA from Florida State University. In 1984, she founded Urban Bush Women (UBW), a company dedicated to using cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. Zollar has created over 34 works for UBW and choreographed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco, and international collaborators, including Compagnie Jant-Bi. Her recent projects include Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of American Popular Music, Daniel Fish’s Most Happy in Concert, and Houston Grand Opera’s Intelligence. She is a MacArthur Fellow and recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards. Zollar also serves as the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Nancy Smith Fichter Professor of Dance in the School of Dance at Florida State University.