Dance Preview: LULA WASHINGTON DANCE THEATRE (Ford Amphitheatre)

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by Tony Frankel on June 7, 2018

in Dance,Theater-Los Angeles

LULA’S BACK IN TOWN

The Ford Theatres presents Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) on Friday, June 8 at 8:30pm, as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. For this joyous evening of dance, three renowned choreographers — Kyle Abraham (“Hallowed”), Rennie Harris (“Reign”) and David Roussève (“Enough”) — will have their work performed by one of Los Angeles’s most beloved contemporary dance companies alongside pieces by Tamica Washington-Miller and the esteemed Ms. Lula herself.

Washington’s Open Your Eyes (2016), a suite to the legendary Earth Wind & Fire, examines the group’s feeling of love for all humanity. She uses Open Your Eyes  to send out a call for tolerance and love of all peoples, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, background or religion.  

Tamica Washington-Miller’s There Is Always Tomorrow (2016) is about being silent and “the silence” from some leaders and people while horrible things are happening around us, as if to say: “let someone else deal with it” or “don’t deal with it now…there’s always  tomorrow.”  The piece was done as an exploration of people and the choices we make to “do something now” or remain in the loop, plugged into the matrix or the choice to wear rose-colored glasses and live a “sanitized,” “normal” life, like “everyone else.”  The opening text is from Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher who challenges people to search for the deepest understandings of our own selves so we can move and navigate within this world of greed, violence, worship of money and hate.

This performance is taking place in recognition of the 2018 Dance/USA Annual Conference, the country’s broadest gathering of dance professionals, from June 6-9 in Los Angeles.  The Company, which has been touring globally and just finished a resounding stay at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, is composed of young, athletic dancers, many of whom were groomed in Lula Washington’s inner city dance studio. While Washington encourages her dancers to be excellent performers, she also emphasizes the importance of being leaders in their communities.

Lula Washington Dance Theatre
Ford Theatres, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East  in the Cahuenga Pass
(just off the 101 Freeway between Hollywood and Universal Studios)
parking info
Friday, June 8, 2018 at 8:30pm
for tickets, call 323.461.3673 or visit Ford Theatres

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