The Lula Washington Dance Theatre celebrates its 30th Anniversary in 2010 with a year of local, national and international dance concerts, world premier new works by Lula Washington, Rennie Harris, Christopher Huggins, Jordi Cabellero, and by our Associate Director, Tamica Washington-Miller.

The local celebration kicked off on February 6, with a concert at the Cerritos Center for the Arts with the world premiere of “Love Is…” by New York choreographer, Christopher Huggins. This work, currently in four sections, chronicles the seach for love and features a duet; a trio; a solo; and a group section. Lula Washington’s new www.connections.2010 premiered Jan. 28 at the Kasser Theater in Montclair, New Jersey. It had its West Coast premiere at Cerritos.

LWDT’s local 30th anniversary schedule is as follows:

Premiere of “Reign” by Rennie Harris on May 15, 2010 at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. Premiere of a new untitled collaboration with jazz trumpheter Terrence Blanchard, July 7 at the Hollywood Bowl. Premiere of a new untitled work by television dancer/choreographer Jordi Cabellero (Dancing With The Starts & So You Think You Can Dance) on July 30 at Grand Performances. Tamica Washington-Miller, LWDT’s Associate Director, will also premiere a new work at the Grand Performances concert.

The dance company’s 30th anniversary year includes concerts in Philadelphia, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Russia.

The Los Angeles-based dance company is excited about its 30^th anniversary season. The beauty and fluidity of the company’s dances could most recently be seen on the big screen in James Cameron’s “Avatar”, in standing room-only performances in New Mexico and Montana, and at the International Book Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Lula is most excited about her new, light hearted work “www.connections.2010″, a dance exploring the ever changing relationship between people and technology, particularly since the explosion of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The company this year will also continue to perform “Ode to the 60’s”, which takes audiences back to an era when music made our souls feel good, “Beautiful Venus and Serena”, a dance examining the relationship between the world famous tennis players and sisters, and “We Wore the Mask”, which tackles themes of identity, slavery, and equality, all of which intertwine to make up the African-African experience.

Lula Washington choreographed ritual movement and created body language for the indeginous people, Na’vi, in James Cameron’s “Avatar”. Members of the dance company provided motion for the Na’vi people, who live on the distant planet of Pandora. Lula is credited with designing the movements and way of communication for the eight-foot aliens with a tail.

Lula and her dancers worked on the film in 2007 and 2008 in between their touring and local concerts. The dancers wore computerized body suits and a Performance Capture process captured their movements.

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre will pay tribute to its African-American roots at its 19^th annual Kwanzaa festival on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 and Wednesday, December 30, 2009. Students from the dance studio and members of its nationally acclaimed dance company will perform traditional African dance, songs, poetry, and drumming to celebrate the holiday honoring African heritage and culture.

Some of the works that will be performed are “Harambee Suite”, a high-energy West African dance accompanied by Senegalese master drummer Malik Sow, and “Taratibu”, a children’s dance about cultural pride. The two-day festival, which falls on the days celebrating the principles of cooperative economics and purpose, is the last time the company will perform this year. The company embarks on a nationwide tour in 2010, which includes three performances in Los Angeles.

The festival will be held at the Lula Washington Dance Theatre studio on 3773 S. Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90016. The program will begin at 7:30 pm on both nights. Tickets are $10 for children ages 5 to 12 years old, $15 for students and senior citizens, $20 for advance general admission, and $25 at the door. Community leaders, including the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce, will attend the event.

Founder and owner Lula Washington started producing the annual Kwanzaa performances in 1990 after seeing a need for the African-American community to embrace and celebrate its heritage. Associate director Tamica Washington-Miller says, “Being of African descent, I want to share about the African Diaspora through music, dance, and poetry. I want the children and youth to be a part of it because they are our future. We have to make sure they know their own history and culture.”

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre was founded in 1980 and is currently celebrating its 30^th anniversary. Its mission is to establish a world-renowned dance company and youth-focused dance school in the heart of inner-city Los Angeles. The company kicked off its 30^th anniversary tour in October with a three-week, National Dance Project funded tour in New Mexico. The City of Los Angeles also selected the company to represent the city in December at the International Book Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Kwanzaa is typically celebrated from December 26 to January 1 to honor family, community, and culture. The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase meaning ‘first fruits’ and signifies how African tribes traditionally came together to celebrate the harvest’s first fruits. The holiday focuses on seven principles critical to African thought – unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.