Lula Washington earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees in dance at UCLA. While a student, Lula danced in the Academy Awards telecast and in the films Funny Lady; Sgt. Pepper, King Kong and in the tv programs. “Cindy” and “Komedy Tonight.” Lula founded what is now the Lula Washington Dance Theatre while working on her Masters degree at UCLA. The Company has danced in more than 300 cities across America and in Russia; China; Brazil; Israel; Mexico; Canada; Italy; Germany; and Spain. In the US, Lula and her company have danced at Jacob’s Pillow; the Kennedy Center; the New Jersey Performing Arts Center; the Orpheum in Tennessee; the Kravis Center in Florida; and at major stages across the US. Lula is known for choreography with social meaning, including Search For Humanism; Lift Every Voice; and Check This Out; all of which looked at different aspects of police misconduct in the African-American community. Her work, The Movement, looks at the Civil Rights Movement with dance profiles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Rosa Parks; and the Little Rock Nine. Along with her dance company, Lula maintains a dance school in South Los Angeles that offers affordable dance training year-round for inner-city youth. She grooms her students to be socially and culturally aware and proud, as well as great dancers. Her work earned her the Minerva Award, from Maria Shriver; the UCLA Chancellor’s Award in Community Service; and the Delta Sigma Theatre Trailblazer Award. Lula choreographed The Little Mermaid movie; James Cameron’s film, Avatar; and a NASA project called Mission To Mars. She has taught dance while on tour with her company, and in Los Angeles through the Music Center Dance On Tour Program.