Lula Washington Dance Theatre to Celebrate 40th Anniversary with Program of World & West Coast Premieres at The Wallis

The venerated Los Angeles-based Lula Washington Dance Theatre returns to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate its milestone 40th anniversary with a dynamic and powerful program exploring social and humanitarian issues. The company performs for three nights only, from Thursday, January 30 through Saturday February 1, 2020, 7:30 pm, in The Wallis' Bram Goldsmith Theater. The program, which launches the company's year-long anniversary celebration and includes three world premieres and a West Coast premiere, is decidedly forward-looking, with new works from new voices, some of whom are a generation younger than co-founders Lula and Erwin Washington. Mixing jazz, hip-hop, African movement, ballet, modern, tap and other dance styles, the company has built an international reputation for the vitality, energy and depth of its repertory and the charisma and interpretive power it brings to each and every performance. Hailed as a major "taste-makers in the dance world" (NPR) and "an expresser of inner-city culture" (Reno-Gazette Journal), the company uses "the art of dance to make a deep impact" (Anchorage Press). A talk-back with members of the company immediately follows the performance on January 30, and a champagne toast follows the performance on January 31.

For this special event, the dance troupe presents the world premieres of To Lula with Love created for the occasion by celebrated choreographer Christopher Huggins, a former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and an alum of Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and Hands Up: A Testimony by company alumnus Tommie Waheed Evans, who received a 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Honorarium Grant to create the work, which focuses on his experience growing up in Los Angeles and what it meant to him to be a product of that city.

Additionally, the program features two works by company Founder/Artistic Director Lula Washington, including the world premiere of excerpts from Fragments, a work-in-progress she describes as "a reaction to the chaotic times we live in," and King, which she created in 2007 about the struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement. Other repertoire includes the West Coast premiere of Zayo, a bold, Afro-fusion, dance-theatre work about self-discovery, destiny and personal strength by Esie Mensah, who hails from Toronto, Canada and Ghana, and Reign, a joyous gospel-fueled work by hip-hop concert pioneer Rennie Harris commissioned by Lula Washington Dance Theatre in 2010 for its then 30th anniversary.

Washington, reflecting on the dance company's 40th anniversary, says, "At the same time the company is pushing forward with new groundbreaking work, it is also holding true to its original mission of doing work that is 'reaching for your soul.' Our dancing and programming is designed to touch the soul and spirit of people, aiming to move them to a place of humanism and fairness for all."

"Lula Washington Dance Theatre is among our country's most important and influential dance companies," states The Wallis' Artistic Director Paul Crewes. "The Wallis is honored to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, a landmark occasion for dance locally and internationally."

The Wallis' 2019/2020 dance programming features Los Angeles-based companies exclusively, marking the first time a major Southern California performing arts venue has presented an all-local dance line-up during a single season. Dance @ The Wallis is sponsored, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre, a repertoire dance ensemble founded in 1980 by Lula and Erwin Washington in the inner city area of South Los Angeles, has risen to become one of the most admired African-American contemporary dance companies in the world. It is known for its powerful, high-energy dancing and innovative and provocative choreography primarily by Lula Washington along with other established and emerging choreographers. The company, which tours internationally, has steadfastly focused on using dance to explore social issues, including aspect of African-American history and culture.

Tickets, $29 to $79, are on sale now. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 or visit TheWallis.org/Lula.

WHAT:

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Presents

Lula Washington DANCE THEATRE

40th Anniversary Celebration

PROGRAM:

CHRISTOPHER HUGGINS To Lula with Love / Warrior (World Premiere)

Lula Washington "King" (Excerpts from The Movement)

Tommie Waheed Evans Hands Up: A Testimony (World Premiere)

ESIE MENSAH Zayo (West Coast Premiere)

-intermission-

Lula Washington excerpts from Fragments (work in progress) (World Premiere)

Rennie Harris Reign

WHEN:

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 7:30 pm (artist talk-back immediately follows the performance)

Friday, January 31, 2020, 7:30 pm (champagne toast immediately follows the performance)

Saturday February 1, 2020, 7:30 pm

RUN TIME:

Running time is 100 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.

WHERE:

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Bram Goldsmith Theater

9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

TICKET PRICES AND INFORMATION:

$29 to $79 (prices subject to change)

TheWallis.org/Lula

310.746.4000

Box Office - Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Ticket Services

9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210

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