Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar trained with Joseph Stevenson, a student of the legendary Katherine Dunham. Zollar holds a BA in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and an MFA in dance from Florida State University.

In 1980, she moved to New York City to study with Dianne McIntyre at Sounds in Motion. She founded Urban Bush Women in 1984. In addition to repertory for UBW, Zollar has created works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Arizona, Philadanco, University of Maryland, University of Florida, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and others.

She has been a guest teacher and speaker at Mankato State University (1993-94), UCLA (1995-96), Ohio State University (1996), and the Abramowitz Memorial Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998). She was named Alumna of the Year by the University of Missouri (1993) and Florida State University (1997).

Zollar is the Nancy Smith Fichter tenured professor in the Dance Department of Florida State University. She was prominently featured in the PBS Documentary “Free to Dance”, which chronicles the African American influence on modern dance. In June 2002, Zollar was awarded an honorary doctorate from Columbia College in Chicago.  Most recently, she was awarded a 2006 New York Dance and Performance Award, A BESSIE, for her work as choreographer/creator of "Walking With Pearl . . . Southern Diaries," a dance inspired by African American choreographer, educator and social activist, Pearl Primus.