The Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Foundation is a 501(c)3 tax exempt non-profit organization founded in 1980 by Lula and Erwin Washington with the mission to provide a creative outlet for minority dance artists in South Los Angeles. Their founding goal is to have a world-class contemporary modern dance company that travels worldwide with contemporary modern dance works that reflect African-American history and culture. Their educational mission is to create a school in the inner city where young people can learn the art of dance, launch careers in dance, and where dance is used to motivate, educate, inspire, challenge and enrich the lives of young people so they can become successful, productive and competitive citizens.
At Summer Fest, LWDT will appear with Marcus L. Miller and his Freedom Jazz Movement band, which will play alone and with the dancers. The dance company will perform Lula Washington’s “Spontaneous Combustion,” which LWDT toured to 12 cities in China in 2011. Other works include Lula’s “We Wore The Mask,” Tamica Washington-Miller’s “Beautiful Venus And Serena,” and her work, “In The Garden.” Lula is considering reviving her work, “Om,” which is set to music by John Coltrane; and a 2001 work set to McCoy Tyner’s “Flyin In The Wind.”