LEWISTON — The 2013-14 Great Falls Forum season opens Friday, Oct. 25, with dance artists from the nationally renowned contemporary dance company Urban Bush Women.

The company will present a talk on Building Community Through Dance and the Arts.

The lecture will be held from noon to 1 p.m. at the Lewiston Public Library, 200 Lisbon St.

Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women seeks to bring the untold and undertold histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. They approach their work through a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora community.

Urban Bush Women believes in the power of art as a means of addressing issues of social justice and encouraging civic engagement. Dance artists from the company are in a two-week residency project with the Bates College Dance Department.

One major aspect of Urban Bush Women’s work is centered around community building and they are active nationally facilitating workshops for a variety of groups and contexts from dance studio to board retreat. While they will not be directly involved in civic engagement initiatives during this year’s residency, they will enlighten the Forum audience on this work which they have done in other locales around the country.

Admission is free to all Forum events and no reservations are required. This program is a bring-your-own brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available at the library.

The Great Falls Forum is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal. For more information, call at 513-3135 or go online to www.LPLonline.org.

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