![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ramon-thielen.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/michael-battle.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/dwayne.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/micha.moch_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/christopher-nolen.jpg)
Tonight in Hangzhou, the historic resort city on the West Lake, now a bastion of high-tech industry: the final performance of the three-week tour of Central China by Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/qualah.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mawiyah.dowd_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mary.xxxx_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/april.wilkins.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/adama-338.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/lynette.shigg_.jpg)
Mid-way through the itinerary, in the dusty back stairwell of a Henan province (Xinyang) theater, Keith Lommel, cultural attache at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, set up a home-spun portrait studio. One by one, dancers queued for a picture, posing as pleasantly as they did everything during a relatively grueling tour.
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/lula.washington.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tamica.washington-miller.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/erwin.washington.jpg)
The photos above are Keith’s results, dancers first, musicians second, then management, tech crew, tourism assistance, and kids. Rounding out this terrific bus-load of creatives, a dance critic!
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ardom.belton.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/kamasi.washington.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/marcus.miller.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mahesh.balasooriya.jpg)
Traveling with this gang has been a joy and a pleasure. It is a privilege to know them, see them work, and pull it all off.
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/charlie.chen_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/terri.zxxx_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/chinese.girl_.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/debra.levine.jpg)
Congratulations, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, on a job immensely well done!
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/veritus.washington-miller.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tyler.wilkins.jpg)
![](https://artsmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/neilen-washington-miller.jpg)
Nice job. Made me want to return to China again which is saying something considering the political stories we see daily in the media../ Phil.