A new dance work by choreographer and dance educator Lula Washington, who heads up Lula Washington Dance Theatre, now celebrating 35 years of existence, will soon have its premiere. Nephew Kamasi Washington — he of the soaring brilliant career as a tenor saxophonist — provides the score. It’s Re-run home, from Kamasi’s EPIC cd on Brainfeeder.
The jazz-infused evening constitutes the company’s debut at The Smith Center, the brand-new 2,000-seat theater in downtown Las Vegas.
Company spokesperson and executive director, Erwin Washington (proud uncle to the sax man), informs us that Kamasi, who heads off to a multi-city European tour this month, will return to join the Washington clan for the Vegas performances, fronting his 10-piece Next Step band. Good god. That’s a lot of pieces! Marcus Miller and his Freedom Jazz Movement band also on the roster.
In separate news, Lula Washington and Misty Copeland were both honored with special awards in front of 12,000 women attending the Delta Sigma Theta convention in Houston Texas July 27, 2015 at Toyota Center. Misty won as the EMERGED artist in dance for breaking the glass ceiling and becoming a principal ballerina at ABT. Lula won the Trailblazer Award for pioneering in Los Angeles with her 35-year-old dance company and school in South Los Angeles.
photo credit: Eric Mesiyah McGinnis
Lula Washington Dance Theatre | The Smith Center, Las Vegas | Sept 16