At Urban Bush Women auditions, prospective dancers are told that they must have a lot of formal dance training, preferably in modern or jazz styles, that complements practice in some form of non-mainstream dance, ideally African-American street or non-concert dance forms.

The stipulation is important because of the body attitude that the dancers will bring to their movement--not a strict, unidimensional sense of line and "technique," but an awareness of the varied ways in which these ideas can be understood, and the multiple aesthetics that can inform movement.
They must also be ready to sing, act, and speak on stage, though they need not necessarily be highly proficient in music and theater. Training in these channels of artistic expression is part of the regular preparation of the company. According to Zollar, it takes a trained dancer at least two years--working with movement and trust exercises (because the work probes personal issues and often takes performers to vulnerable places emotionally) and learning vocal, theater, and performance techniques (to sharpen their ability to make instantaneous decisions and react intelligently to unforseen situations on stage)--to reach the level of excellence and body-mind integration for which the company is known.