Sandwiched between tours of Russia and China, the Lula Washington Dance Theatre will visit the Palouse for a two day residency, which will include a public performance at Beasley Coliseum on Sunday, April 3rd at 3pm and two educational programs for area students on Monday, April 4th at Beasley and at Troy High School. The residency is sponsored by Festival Dance & Performing Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Western States Arts Federation, and local assistance from the Latah County Community Foundation and the Moscow Hotel.
In addition to its recent successful tour of Russia, the Los Angeles based company has danced in over 150 cities in the United States, as well as abroad in Germany, Spain, Kosovo, Mexico, and Canada. The Russian tour follows Lula Washington Dance Theatre’s 2009 performance at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico, where some 1,500 viewers stood for an entire two-hour concert without an intermission, and then screamed for more when the dancing ended.
Company founder and director, Lula Washington is a much honored national dance treasure, who is fulfilling her vision of creating a dance company that performs the works of leading African American choreographers as well as her own pieces reflecting Black culture and history. Recently she received notice for her assistance in the movie “Avatar,” for which she created cultural/ritual movements including war scenes, hunting and large dance sequences for the motion capture technology.
Lula is admired as a teacher, leader, dancer, and choreographer with a very unique style and approach to dance. Stylistically, Lula fuses African and Afro-Haitian dance. She also incorporates the dance styles of gospel church, classical ballet, modern, street, theatrical, hip hop, while drawing from various ideas and issues. Her works have been praised by critics for their strong political and social commentary, as well as their avant-garde composition and their roots in African-American culture.
Prior to “Avatar”, Lula choreographed Disney’s The Little Mermaid movie. One of the songs that she choreographed, “Under The Sea”, won an Academy Award. Lula has been the subject of several nationally broadcast news stories including a PBS special that focused on her choreography for “Gospel Kwanzaa” – a blending of gospel and African dance in salute of the Christmas and Kwanzaa holidays.
In 1983, Lula established her own dance school that provides low cost and free dance classes to neighborhood children through an after school program called “I Do Dance, Not Drugs!” Remembering her own impoverished childhood, she wanted to make dance classes affordable for and accessible to children from low income neighborhoods, where her studio is based. Since then, the School has taught dance to over 45,000 inner-city students.
The April 3rd performance will present a wide spectrum of dance styles and themes, including the social commentary piece, “We Wore the Mask;” a jazz piece, “Thanks and Praises;” a high-spirited “Ode to the 60’s;” a tongue in cheek comment on contemporary culture, “WWW.Connections.2010;” and a breathtaking solo, “Angelitos Negros,” by legendary African American pioneer choreographer, Donald McKayle.
“We are thrilled by the opportunity to finally present this internationally acclaimed dance company for both public and educational programs,” said Festival Dance executive director, Cindy Barnhart. “We have been trying to bring them here for several years, and finally a northwest tour has come together.”
Tickets for the April 3rd matinee performance of Lula Washington Dance Theatre are available from Festival Dance office, Beasley Coliseum and TicketsWest outlets. Prices are $14 to $28, with discount for groups of 10 or more. WSU students will be admitted free.
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