Dancing As Fast As She Can

Four dancers, scarves waving, undulate to the beat of Nigerian chants. Adding life to the desolate stretch of Pico-Midtown where they are temporarily based, the members of Lula Washington Dance Theatre take their cues from guest instructor Tamara Mobley, seven months pregnant, who more than keeps up with the rest.

“Afunga,” an African dance of welcome, is part of “Gospel Christmas,” a new production created by choreographer Washington that will be performed at Cal State L.A.’s Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex on Saturday. The goal of the show is to unite the African American holiday of Kwanzaa--a celebration of family and culture--with gospel, jazz, poetry, African drumming, opera, Christmas lore and dance. Washington hopes that “Gospel Christmas” will blossom into an annual monthlong event, complete with livestock and Hollywood stars.

“Lula always aims beyond those interested in dance,” said Charmaine Jefferson, a former executive director of the Dance Theater of Harlem and college friend of Washington’s who is a business advisor for the media company de Passe Entertainment. “And the production is smart from a business perspective. Ballet companies have ‘Nutcrackers’ to bring in money; few modern dance companies have vehicles like that.”

The fiscal implications are not lost on Washington, who canceled one of two “Gospel Christmas” performances because of weak ticket sales. Her dancers performed twice at Getty Center inaugural festivities earlier this month and opened the Music Center’s Los Angeles County holiday extravaganza on Wednesday. But visibility doesn’t translate into dollars and cents, she says.

“ ‘Gospel Christmas’ is about survival--as a community and as a dance company,” says the 47-year-old choreographer, whose troupe has been an L.A. fixture for 18 years. “Dance is not a line item on anyone’s budget. This program, we hope, will generate enough each December so we can operate the rest of the year.”

Still, Washington has been able to work on the holiday show for only a month. Earlier this fall she was consumed with another project, one that celebrated not only her artistic achievements, but also her endurance over the years. For a week in November, at venues in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, the choreographer and her dancers participated in “Dance Women / Living Legends,” a series of events honoring the “vision and commitment” of five African American choreographers.

In addition to Washington, the lineup included Dayton’s Jeraldyne Blunden, Philadelphia’s Joan Myers Brown, Denver’s Cleo Parker Brown Robinson and Dallas’ Ann Williams. Each runs a decades-old dance company, operates a school with a primarily minority enrollment and incorporates works by African American choreographers such as Talley Beatty and Donald McKayle into their repertories. “These women are quiet missionaries--so busy working that they’re often overlooked,” said Maurine Knighton, executive director of the Brooklyn-based 651: An Arts Center, which conceived the event three years ago and organized it with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and City College’s Aaron Davis Hall. “It’s about us recognizing our own.”

At Smith College in Northampton, Mass., the choreographers held classes, participated in panel discussions and heard a Harvard professor address the significance of their work. In Newark, Harlem and Brooklyn, each of the five companies performed nightly to nearly full houses and positive reviews.

“The dancers in these five companies--most but not all of them black--share superb technical and emotive power as well as a confident sense of self,” observed New York magazine’s Tobi Tobias.

The New York Times praised the “strong raw energy” in Washington’s “Check This Out,” which she created in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings. According to Mikki Shepard, former executive director of the organization that conceived the tribute, it was by far the most topical performance.

“Newark, having been devastated by riots in the 1960s, particularly responded to the work,” says Shepard, who now heads up arts and humanities at the Rockefeller Foundation. “It was definitely the piece of the day.”

Washington views the “Living Legends” event as a welcome boost. “New York was a great showcase for us since it’s the mecca of dance,” she said. “The goal is to tour with the program--demonstrating that there’s significant African American talent on the regional level, breaking down the myth that only Dance Theater of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre count.”

Still, as the celebration was in progress, her company’s survival skills were once again put to the test. While Washington was onstage in Brooklyn, students showing up for classes at her studio in L.A. were greeted with a padlock on the door. The company had been receiving a $38,000 annual grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency since the 1994 Northridge earthquake decimated its West Adams facility. The sum was intended to cover most of the temporary studio’s $3,500-a-month rent. Though FEMA also contributed $1 million toward the building of new quarters (scheduled to break ground in 1998, after a prolonged gestation period), the annual grant wasn’t renewed last May.

“FEMA decided that the arts provide a ‘nonessential service’ for the public--and that too much time had elapsed since the quake,” said Erwin Washington, Lula’s husband of 27 years, who serves as executive director of the company.

Leland Wilson, federal coordinating officer of FEMA’s Northridge Recovery Area, concedes that Washington’s operation plays an “important role” in the community. But that doesn’t mean it’s an “essential facility”--a school, hospital or government office, he explains.

“From the outset, the call [to reimburse the company] was a marginal one,” he said. “And we would have expected them to be in a rebuilt facility by now. Still, we got a letter from the Washingtons asking us to reconsider and will be taking another look.”

The Washingtons, meanwhile, scraped together the overdue rent, keeping their studio doors open and the “Gospel Christmas” dream alive. It’s a happy ending so far--in line with the message of the show.

“ ‘Gospel Christmas’ speaks to unity, peace, working together for self-determination,” Lula said. “It’s a drawing together, not just a gig.”

* “Gospel Christmas,” Saturday, 8 p.m., Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Fine Arts Complex, 5151 State University Drive, $15-$30. (213) 343-6600.