LULA WASHINGTON(Founder/Artistic Director.) - Lula lived in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, and did not begin serious dance training until she was 21, married and a mother. Despite being told she was too old to become a dancer, Lula enrolled in UCLA and earned a Masters degree in dance. Lula went on to dance in Cher's Las Vegas act, the Academy Awards; and films: Funny Lady, Ledbelly, King Kong, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. Her choreographics credit include: the Little Mermaid movie, the NBC-TV series "Running the Halls" and the opera Aida. Lula formed her own dance company in 1980 to provide a creative outlet for young people in South Central Los Angeles. Lula also directed a latchkey program called "I Do Dance, Not Drugs!"; her Youth & Children's dance ensembles, and a dance studio at 5041 W. PicoBlvd. that is devoted serious modern dance training.