The 2014 Summer Amphitheater series at the Skirball is in full swing. One of the new acts this season is the internationally renowned dance company Lula Washington Dance Theatre, performing on Saturday, August 23. For the first time, the company will be performing at the Skirball for families, so I thought we should take some time to get to know Lula and hear about her thirty-year career as a dancer, choreographer, and mentor on the LA dance scene.
How did you get started in dance?
When I was in high school I enrolled in a class where the teacher played music and we danced and exercised to the music. It was a dancercise class, not a real dance class, but I got the dance bug there. I only took the class because I wanted to get out of Physical Education. Later, when I went to Harbor Community College to study nursing, I walked past a dance class. I had never seen anything like it before. I had only seen dance on television. I kept watching and I eventually went in and asked if I could take the class. The teacher told me to show her what I could do. It was obvious that I did not know how to do anything. She said, “You’ve never had a dance class, have you?” I said, “No, but if you let me in this class, I will work real hard and I will do my best to catch on.” She let me in. That’s how I got my start. I had no dance training. I did my first dance concert with my teacher at Harbor Community College. She is also the one who took me to my first dance performance. She drove me and her other students to Royce Hall at UCLA to see Alvin Ailey. Seeing the Ailey company sealed it for me. I decided to dance.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing “Wade in the Water” from Revelations.
What part of performing for live audiences do you enjoy the most?
I believe that the art of dance has the power to change people’s lives. Dance can inspire people and uplift people. Every time we perform for live audiences, I know that someone will be moved in a deeply personal and powerful way. That gives me joy. The direct feedback from our audiences is what I enjoy most. After our shows, people come up to me and they tell me how much they were touched by our performance. I also enjoy it when I see a dancer reach a new level of excellence. When I see the dancers step up and hit it, and when I see them grow and surpass where they had been before, I get so excited. It gives me great joy.
The Lula Washington Dance Theater performing Spontaneous Combustion in China.
Dance has remained popular on television and in films. What do you think is the difference between seeing dance on a screen versus seeing it live in a performance space?
You can feel dance when it is live. There is something intangible that does not come through on the flat screen. Dance is more powerful when it is live. You can hear the feet on the floor, the breathing of the dancers. You see them flying through space and have a truer sense of how high they are leaping, or falling, or sailing across the room. There is no comparison to seeing dance live and seeing it on screen. Live is better.
What is one memorable moment from your performing or choreography career that stands out?
My work with James Cameron on the movie Avatar is what stands out most in my mind. I choreographed movement, rituals, and the Na’vi greetings to each other for the film. My dancers had to wear these motion capture suits that picked up our every twitch and every blink of the eye. But when I first came in to work with Jim, we could never get through a scene because the suits were not working properly. After a while, Jim told us to just go away, that he would call us back when he needed us. I thought we were fired! But eventually he did call us back. This time, the motion capture suits worked much better. He had improved the computers that captured our movements. He made them the best in the world at the time. I feel proud to have been part of that. After that, Jim was happy every time we came on the set. Every move we made, he could capture it.
The character Neytiri from the movie Avatar. Lula Washington helped
James Cameron work out the way the Na’vi moved.
What does it take to be a successful dancer in the Lula Washington Dance Troupe?
When I choose my dancers, I’m looking for dancers who are well versed and well trained in ballet and jazz and who have the ability to do African and modern dance. I’m looking for dancers who are energetic, and who love what they do. They must have a great passion for their work. Their passion has to come through in their dancing. I need dancers who can emote and tell stories with their bodies and faces. I need the audience to feel what the dancers feel. I look for dancers who love giving and sharing through dance.
What dancer/artist inspires you or your group’s work?
I was inspired to dance because I saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at UCLA when I was in junior college just starting out. I saw Judith Jamieson dancing in Revelations and I fell in love with dance. When I saw the Ailey company, it was the first time I had seen people who looked like me dancing on stage. I knew then that I could be a dancer. Later, I got to meet Mr. Ailey and to become friends with him. He gave me advice on how to advance my dance company. I always think of him as a mentor. I was also inspired by Donald McKayle. When I was a young dancer, I auditioned for Mr. McKayle’s dance company. I did not get it because my college teaching assistant beat me out! But later, Mr. McKayle created works for my dance company, which was very exciting for me.
An excerpt from Donald McKayle’s piece Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder.
What do you have planned for your Skirball performance that people won’t want to miss?
It is a surprise. We plan to create something new based on the exhibition that is up at the Skirball on the children’s stories of Ezra Jack Keats. We will also have some of our dancers performing their upbeat Caribbean numbers, and some of our family-friendly Brazilian, jazz, and hip hop dance numbers. We will bring a fantastic and fun show with something for everyone!