Hollywood, CA.

Performance: Tamica Washington-Miller’s “12 Miles North”

Documentary film & dance premiere

The dance company performs on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, at 1 pm. It will be the first time the dance company has appeared in an exclusively jazz festival outside of Los Angeles.

LWDT danced at the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival in 2010 with trumpet player Terrence Blanchard (photo above). Lula Washington choreographed to Blanchard’s “Choices” CD using a mix of locked-in contemporary choreography with African-dance style improvisation to Blanchard’s fiery jazz trumpet sounds.

For the San Jose Jazz Festival, LWDT will bring Marcus L. Miller with his Freedom Jazz Movement band; and Kamasi Washington with his group, The Next Step. Each band will play alone and with the dancers. The two bands share Kamasi and some of the other musicians.

The dance company will perform Lula Washington’s Spontaneous Combustion, which LWDT toured to 12 cities in China in 2011. Other works include Lula’s “We Wore The Mask”; Tamica Washington-Miller’s “Beautiful Venus And Serena”; and her work, “In The Garden”.

Lula is considering reviving her work, “Om”, which is set to music by John Coltrane; and a 2001 work set to McCoy Tyner’s “Flyin In The Wind.” The two bands will collaborate on the Coltrane and Tyner songs.

Following Kwanzaa, LWDT launches into 2012 with a series of local concerts and national tours. The big question for 2012 is, how will we top our 2011 Kwanzaa concert and where will we hold it? With our growing audience, we may need a bigger space or more performances so we can serve more people. It’s a good problem to have to start the year.

Highlights for the first half of 2012 include a performance Jan. 28 in Toronto, Canada for the International Association of Blacks In Dance conference. Lula Washington Dance Theatre will perform the all male trio from Lula’s work, “The Healers”. LWDT hosted the conference in 2011 in Los Angeles.

LWDT returns to UCLA for the 12th straight year Feb. 17 with Lula’s “Reflections In Black” concert in Royce Hall. The performance is presented free of charge to school children through UCLA’s Design For Sharing program.

LWDT makes its debut Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 pm at Oxnard Community College in Ventura, CA to launch the first formal public concert of the year. A member of Oxnard College’s Administration saw Lula Washington’s “Global Village” at the Ford last year and worked to bring LWDT to the campus.

After Oxnard, LWDT heads south for concerts at Fayettville State College in North Carolina; the Carolina Theater in Durham, NC; the Buckman Theater in Memphis, TN; and the Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center in Elizabethtown, KY. This year LWDT returns to the Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk, and performs in St. Louis for the Spring To Dance Festival; and for Black Dance USA.

This past Sunday night, a concert of song and dance converged at the Ford Amphitheater to celebrate unity in diversity. Rhythm & Roots brought together a spectacular array of headlining singers and world-renowned dance companies Israeli-American Keshet Chaim’s Dance Ensemble and the Lula Washington Dance Theatre. Keshet Chaim and Lula Washington performed dance numbers that were simply riveting.

It’s difficult however to top Lula Washington’s awesome and colorful “Global Village – A Cultural Celebration” with its creative use of costumes and sheer boundlessness across the stage. High-flying and acrobatic, the women’s upraised arms sent reams of satin into the air like unfurled flags lofting high above their heads. An incredibly challenging piece physically, the number lasted a surprising ten minutes and showed no sign of slowing down as they pounded the stage.

Later, Keisha L. Clarke-Gray performed an exquisite solo piece to “Angelitos Negros” part of the suite “Songs of the Disinherited” – a four-part ballet that was breathtaking and soulful. Choreographed by Donald McKayle, this performance stood out as one of the most beautiful of the evening and Keisha L. Clarke-Gray was nothing short of pure magic.

Children at the Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) school can now take martial arts as well as ballet, modern dance, hip hop, African dance, jazz, tap, and voice.

The martial arts class is open to boys and girls, ages 5 to 10. It meets Thursdays from 5 pm to 6 pm; and Saturdays from 1pm to 2pm at the LWDT school, 3773 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016. The class fee is $50 a month for two classes a week. Prospective students can watch the class before signing up.

Hapkido is a Korean martial arts form that focuses on self defense. It also teaches students to be more self confident, focused and disciplined, said Raymond Granados, who is teaching the class. Granados is a black belt who teaches under the guidance of Songs International Hapkido studio.