Lula Washington News

Lula Washington, who has just been nominated for a Fred and Adele Astaire Award for choreographing the motion picture, 'AVATAR', will present her dance company in a 30th anniversary concert at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 8 pm. The concert will involve a world premiere - 'Reign' by hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris, winner of the 2010 Guggenheim Prize for Dance - as well as several recent new works and favorites from the last three decades.

Nominations for the 2010 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards were announced tonight by Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas.

The following concerts have additional artists added to the already stellar line-up for the 2010 Hollywood Bowl Summer Season.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association today announces the Hollywood Bowl summer 2010 subscription series for its 89th season at the historic venue.

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre, whose work radiates social awareness and political consciousness, will present the world premiere of Washington's 'WWW.CONNECTIONS.2010.'

Award winning choreographer Lula Washington brings her riveting mix of athletic choreography, imaginative costumes and captivating theatricality to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. The performance is part of the 2008-09 planet Ordway Target World Dance Season.

Award winning choreographer Lula Washington brings her riveting mix of athletic choreography, imaginative costumes and captivating theatricality to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. The performance is part of the 2008-09 planet Ordway Target World Dance Season. In this single Ordway presentation, Lula Washington Dance Theatre promises to take the audience on an emotional journey that explores the human condition through a mix of propulsive movement, honest expression and humor. Founded in 1980 with a $25 loan and a dream, the ensemble has risen to become one of the largest and most admired African-American dance companies in the West. Lula Washington is the main choreographer and the artistic 'voice' of the company. She augments her own work with choreography by famous artists such as Donald Byrd and Donald McKayle, and with the work of talented young choreographers, including Bernard Gaddis and soon, Christopher Huggins (both formerly of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). The company is known for exploring theatrical, entertaining, and energetic works that are accessible to all audiences. Choreography is set to a range of music from experimental to blues, including: Taj Mahal, Vivaldi, Bach, Chopin, John Coltrane, Bob Marley, and Duke Ellington. The company is composed of young, athletic dancers, many of whom were groomed in Lula's inner city dance studio where she works with children starting as young as three years old in a program called: 'I Do Dance, Not Drugs!' While Lula encourages her dancers to be excellent performers, she also instills in them a desire to teach and to engage the community of children and adults around them.

In 1980, Saint Paul resident Sally Ordway Irvine challenged her community to help her create a performing arts venue in which her dream of offering 'everything from opera to the Russian circus' could be realized. She set an example by making the first donation to a fund that eventually built Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. The $46 million center opened to the public on January 1, 1985, Sally had contributed $7.5 million-and her family had matched that amount. Certainly, Sally's vision is alive today in Ordway Center's dizzying schedule of theater, dance, music, family events, and educational programs. Ordway Center is also the proud sponsor of the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists which opened its doors in September 2005. Ordway Center contains the 1,900 seat Main Hall, the intimate 306 seat McKnight Theatre; two large rehearsal halls, and magnificent lobbies on each floor, including the second floor Marzitelli Foyer, a spacious, two story lobby encircled by a glass facade.

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will receive a major grant of $670,000 from the Archibald Bush Foundation for The New World Initiative that is to increase the scope and audience for its World Music and World Dance Series.