MEET Lula Washington: Since its inception in 1980, the Lula Washington Dance Theatre has performed across the United States and abroad in countries like Russia, China, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Kosovo and Germany. The theatre’s co-founder, Lula Washington, has worked on major motion picture sets like the blockbuster Avatar and Disney’s The Little Mermaid and was also one of the few women selected to receive the prestigious Minerva Award from California’s former first lady, Maria Shriver. As noted on its official website, at the core of the theatre’s mission is the passion to “build a world class contemporary modern dance company that travels worldwide with contemporary modern dance works that reflect African-American history and culture.”
MN: Is it true that you “stumbled” upon dance while attending Harbor Community College where an instructor later introduced you to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre? Had you never danced before professionally and what was the process of becoming a professional dancer like for you?
LW: I stumbled upon dance at a park in Los Angeles. My husband was playing basketball at the park. Down the hall from where he played, someone was counting, “five, six, seven, eight.” I wasn’t really a sports person so I went down the hall to see what the counting was about. At the end of the hall, I saw people dancing in the studio. Thelma Robinson, a close friend of Alvin Ailey’s, was teaching dance in the park. Back then there was a lot of opportunity for professional dancers to teach dance at parks and recreational facilities. Thelma invited me in and I later went on to dance with her and other local dance companies. My first formal official dance teacher, Janice Guidde, taught at Harbor Community College, the school where I started taking my first official dance class.
MN: Why did you found the Lula Washington Dance Theatre?
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LW: I founded the dance company because there was a void – a lack of opportunities for African American dancers and choreographers in Los Angeles. There were a few mainstream dance companies in the area at the time, but, I wanted to choreograph and express my own creative voice about my culture. Those other dance companies could not offer me that opportunity. I started the dance company with a partner, naming it the L.A. Contemporary Dance Theatre. However, it didn’t work out well. Over the years as the company grew at many different levels we changed the name to the Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
MN: Businesses cannot succeed without capital. What resources did you use to finance your business and how much did you initially invest in the Lula Washington Dance Theatre?
LW: We never had working capital with which to start our dance company. Our only source of income was the two jobs that my husband, Erwin, and I had. We were able to barter for rehearsal space for different locations. Costumes came out of our personal wardrobe. No one was paid.
Most dance companies don’t start up with working capital. Even after we were established for more than 20 years and had a history of paying our bills, we still couldn’t get a bank loan. Most arts programs don’t receive funding unless they are a classical ballet company. As owners of other dance companies, we go into business out of our own pocket.
Once we decided that we were going to officially be a dance company we applied for non-profit status. In the arts, they teach you that in order to be funded you have to be a nonprofit. That’s what was taught at the time. The idea of being a nonprofit is that people will donate to your company for the work that you are doing. However, the process of seeking and gaining funding is very competitive. In fact, we didn’t receive funding for about three years. Around the 10th year we started receiving some larger support from private foundations, businesses and the city of Los Angeles and the state of California.
MN: How many dancers does your company work with and do you offer classes for novices and people desiring to learn more about dance while, at the same time, not desiring to dance professionally?
LW: Of course we offer classes for novices. We also offer classes for students of all ages as well as for nonprofessional dancers. In addition, we offer classes to students who are striving to become professional. That’s part of how dance companies survive, by providing dance classes. Our goal is to give back to the community and to provide an opportunity for students to participate in the art of dance. We feel that dance is very valuable and that as an art form it helps students to excel on many levels.
MN: What was the biggest challenge you faced as a business owner? How did you overcome this challenge?
LW: The biggest challenge that we will always face is not having enough funding to do what we need to do. People don’t realize that a dance organization is a small business, but it’s a small business that doesn’t generate the type of dollars that go back into the organization the way other small businesses do. We provide scholarship classes for some of our students. With the changes in the economy a lot of foundations that had their money tied into stocks lost money and they pulled back on what they were supporting. Funding in the arts is always the biggest challenge. In addition, the African American community has many issues to tackle (e.g. homelessness, domestic violence, displaced families) that seem to take the focus away from the arts so that the arts are viewed as a “game” or like something “fun to do” and not as work and as something that’s valuable in the community, something that provides value to our communities and to our students. Many don’t see the value in supporting a dance company, even though work at dance companies supports students in our communities, providing people with jobs, scholarships and helping to keep children off the streets and out of trouble. Every day we have students who come into our company and they want to get a scholarship for their kids. This requires funding.
MN: When did you realize that you had a viable business and what did you do to celebrate this milestone?
LW: We provide a service and keep kids off the street. Kids come to our company and stay all day, participating in the arts. Some of our students have gone on to get scholarships from colleges and universities. Others have honed their skills enough to be in our professional dance company, skills that have allowed them to travel the world, do Broadway, MTV, etc.
From the beginning I knew the company would work. It’s been working from the very beginning, for 32 years. We own our own building. There are times when we don’t know where our next dollar is coming from, but a grant or donation or funding will come through.
MN: You’ve choreographed dance scenes in major motion pictures like Avatar and The Little Mermaid. How did you land these roles and were you and/or dancers from your theatre in the movies?
LW: I was referred for the movie roles by people in my field. For example, I was referred for The Little Mermaid by Bella Lewitzky. She owned the Bella Lewitzky Modern Dance Company in California. She was initially offered the job and said she was not a good fit so she recommended me. James Cameron, the director of Avatar, sent people out all across the United States, to find the right choreographer for his film. My name kept coming up everywhere his people looked. One day he called me up and asked me to do the film. Our dancers danced in Avatar. I created the movement for the film on my dancers. One of my dancers was the under study for the actress, Zoe Saldana, another was the under study for the high priestess in Avatar. We had about 8 or 9 dancers who were in Avatar.
MN: Not only did you launch a dance company outside of New York City, one of the leading cities in the country for dance and theatre, you started your dance company in South Central Los Angeles. Why did you take on this challenge and what impact has the Lula Washington Dance Theatre had on area youth?
LW: The impact has been that of creating a positive place for young people to come to in order to participate in the arts. It was always our intent to give back. I started so late as a dancer that I wanted other young people to have the early opportunity to dance that I didn’t have. In regards to where our theatre is located, you have to remember that our city has been defined by the media. For example, when the riots came following the Rodney King verdict, South Central must have re-defined its boundaries because there were other areas, historically known as not being a part of South Central, that were involved in the riots. Additionally, when our dance theatre first opened it was considered to be in West Los Angeles even though the first rehearsal space was at Slauson Avenue and Van Ness.
MN: In addition to winning awards from organizations like the Carter G. Woodson Civil Rights Award, the Accolade Award and the Uncommon Angel Award from the LA Commons organization, you are the first women to receive the Minerva Award from the State of California. What has winning these awards meant to your career and, looking back, do you continue to think that you “stumbled” upon dance or do you believe what seemed a mere accident years ago when you walked down that park hallway was meant to happen?
LW: I truly believe that I stumbled upon dance. If I hadn’t came upon the dancers in the park I don’t think I’d be dancing today.
In regards to awards, I think awards are always good. They highlight you, your organization and your accomplishments. The Minerva Award certainly did that on a national level. It attached a value to dance. Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, had great vision for whom or what she would consider for great matriarchs of change. Women receiving the award have come from different backgrounds and skills, some are lawyers, others are active in the arts, etc. Awards are effective at bringing our theatre visibility.
MN: Tell us about three to four key marketing strategies that you use (e.g. press releases, public speaking, social media) to introduce youth and adults to the Lula Washington Dance Theatre?
LW: My husband, Erwin Washington, who works as our executive director, focuses on our marketing. Erwin comes from a journalist background. He’s always been involved in the business side of our dance company. That said, I believe in the Internet and social networking. We create Facebook pages. We used to print thousands of flyers and do thousands of mailings. Today we create flyers in-house and get people to help us distribute the flyers. Our students also create and market their Facebook pages, particularly when we have shows coming up. We’re in the process of working to gain a greater visible presence on the Internet in order to market and promote what we do and get the word out. We also market our dance company by performing in the community at major events and by touring our dance company. We keep the company visible in front of hundreds and thousands of people. They in turn tell their friends about us and the word-of-mouth acts as viral marketing. We also maintain positive relationships with news media and we keep them apprised of what we are doing. We are frequently the subject of tv, radio and print news stories. This keeps us visible.
MN: The Internet has impacted nearly every business and entertainment industry. In what specific two to three ways has the Internet impacted dance and what additional changes do you see the digital age bringing to dance theatres?
LW: The Internet is making dance more visible around the world. You can see people doing their own thing and calling it dance on You Tube. People also come to your shows and lift your work and put it on You Tube without your permission. So you’ll see your work all over the place. Now you have Dancing with the Stars. You also have dance competitions on shows like So You Think You Can Dance. However, these shows haven’t brought a lot of visibility to the cultural part of dance. They’ve brought visibility to the commercial side of dance.
MN: What can each of us do to support dance theatres, helping to continue this rich exploration, examination and celebration of physical self expression?
LW: Everybody has $5 somewhere. That’s the bottom line. If 1,000 people sent $5 to a local dance company for a scholarship . . . that can keep kids off the street, create jobs, etc. Do your homework on dance companies to find out what companies are doing. There’s an organization that has raised $100,000 by asking each person to give $1 a month. If organizations can do that, why can’t a dance company raise several thousand a month from a $5 donation from each person? I don’t believe that we can’t do anything. A small amount adds up. Students need good people to come in and volunteer. We still have to pay the light bill. We still have to raise money to give students scholarships. Just like in church, give what you can. A senior citizen comes in every month or every two months and she brings us envelopes, paper clips and ink pens. That saves us money. In addition, we have a concession stand. We also require scholarship recipients to bring us simple things like two boxes of garbage bags a month. Everyone is asked to give something. For those wishing to make donations, they can do so online at or by mailing a check or money order to: Lula Washington Dance Theatre, 3773 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016. We will send them a Thank You note in recognition of their donation.
MN: The Lula Washington Dance Theatre has performed throughout the United States as well as internationally, in countries like China, Mexico, Germany and Spain. June 2012 “Movement with a Meaning,” a documentary that captures the story of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, will appear at Hollywood’s Chinese theatres. How involved were you in the development of the documentary and what do you hope the documentary teaches, inspires or motivates viewers to do in their lives, be they dancers or not?
LW: The documentary is based on a dance titled “We Wore the Mask” that I choreographed. The gentleman who created the documentary saw us perform the dance and asked if he could do a documentary on our dance. He was very moved by the work. The dance is based off Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask.” The documentary’s creator interviewed me and all the dancers in the work. We were integrally involved in the creation of the documentary.
Documentaries are great. We’ve been involved in documentaries before. The big thing is how to get the most visibility from the documentary so it pops into people’s heads and people realize the value of dance. Most dance companies don’t have that type of visibility. The documentary was entered into the 15th Annual Dances with Film Festival; it was selected from among 1,500 entries for a screening at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. The documentary was scheduled on a line-up with other innovative film. It will run on June 1, which is a minimal amount of visibility. We hope that the documentary will receive more visibility. You value what you spend your money on.
MN: What’s next for Lula Washington and the Lula Washington Dance Theatre? Where would you like to see yourself and the dance theatre two to three years from now?
LW: Two to three years from now, hopefully the economy will have changed. I’m sure we’ll still be here. We’ll still be continuing our programs. Our goal is to be able to solidify our staffing and our core group of dancers, people we can offer a permanent salary to every month. That’s our goal. We’re also planning fund raising events and looking for people who want to donate their time who want to help us plan events.
Rhonda Campbell (http://www.chistell.com), an East Coast journalist, is the owner of Off The Shelf radio and publisher of Long Walk Up and Love Pour Over Me.
