Tamica, you just turned 55. Was it a given that you would be a dancer and choreographer? 

Tamica: It’s funny, I met a gentleman who’s much older and he said, “You never had a chance to do anything else, because you were always going into the family business.” But I wanted to be a part of the family business. I believed in the work. My parents gave me space to learn that you can’t do everything, [that] you’ve got to make choices. I loved all the works and enjoyed being in those spaces. 

Early on, I recognized the privilege to be so young and have dinner with Mr. Ailey, with Mr. Arthur Mitchell, with [Philadanco’s] Joan Myers Brown. I had opportunities to be up close and personal and listen in and be quiet while they were having important conversations. I was like a fly on the wall, and by the time I was 20, maybe earlier, I knew that I would have a legacy of my own. 

I’ve always seen the organization as a sibling, or twins, or sometimes triplets, because the building has its own draw, beyond the dance. Voting, town halls, weddings, repasts, memorials, Sweet Sixteen parties take place here. It’s its own thing. Then there’s the dance company that is its own thing, and the actual school is its own thing. As we look into the future, we want to present more. We’ve been producing our own work and want to produce and present more inside the space, and also in our parking lot. 

Brava! On another note, what do you look for in a dancer or choreographer?

Lula: I look for a dancer that has a passion for their work, that they want to come here and work with this dance company. I look for someone who I call a quick study, so we don’t have to spend 50 hours on somebody in one dance. I look for nice people, people that enjoy sharing their gift of dance, teaching and mentoring other younger dancers. I look for that kind of individual. 

In terms of choreographers, I have to believe their work is important and meaningful. I’m also concerned with legacy, history, and recognizing California dance artists: Rudy Perez, who was a dear friend and mentor in his own way; Martha Graham. A lot of people don’t know that Martha was [in L.A.] first. Keeping Rudy’s legacy alive; the legacy of Talley Beatty. We also have work from Katherine Dunham that we haven’t revived yet, but we will. What I see here in L.A. is that history is being erased – Black, brown or otherwise. It’s important there continues to be some highlighting of those artists.

Tamica: I want to make sure dancers are expressive. You can have talent all day long, but if you’re not able to tell the story or have a voice or bring something to the table [such as] character development and respecting the story, they’re not for us. 

What’s your process—steps first, music, idea?

Lula: I approach things by saying, “I’m going to play.” It’s always an idea first; never really a step, but it could be both. I can have envisioned some steps, I want to play with those steps, to see how far I can go with those steps, or I can use those steps as a spinoff to create movement. Or we might start with sound or no sound.

Tamica: I’ve experienced this, and watched my mom experience it, too. I want to let the work reveal itself. The concept—even with my story about hope, I originally envisioned it differently, but I don’t want to put an exactness on it, so there’s space for exploration, space for ideas to come up. That is different from a lot of my peers [who] know exactly what they’re doing. In my experience of watching and living through 45 years of making dance and making it accessible, you have to have the cushion space to be organic. 

It doesn’t always go exactly the way you wanted it to go. I was going to have a cast of 1000s in the new piece, but budgets don’t work like that. Making a work that inspires and challenges, and you also do the best you can with what you have so you can do it again tomorrow. My experience with Lula and new works, is it’s never exactly the same process. We have dancers who understand our philosophy, which becomes important, [and] we have wonderful conversations with our dancers. It helps folks get to the point—to the root of the work. We’re so blessed to have amazing people now and alumni also coming back for the Ford concert.

Tamica, you are the named successor to Lula Washington Dance Theatre. When might that happen?

We don’t know. We go with the flow; we’ve always gone with the flow. My parents—we—are not jumping into anything. At this point, we still have some work to do, and [though] I’m now doing a lot of executive work, we aren’t in a space to make title shifts. Will it happen in 2030? I’m just working hard to be with my parents, so the work can keep going. 

Lula, in your long and storied career, what would you like to do that you haven’t yet?

I don’t know. I wanted to get a building; I have the building. I wanted to provide a place where dance could be created; I’m doing that. I want to get the dance company in a place where we can be better funded, and where we have more people who believe that what we do is important—and to continue to increase our voice in the arts.