When you see 29-year-old Bernard Brown pirouette across a stage to the sounds of traditional African music, it's hard to imagine him doing anything else for a living.

Dance has been a passion for Brown ever since he first stepped into the Lula Washington Dance Theatre as a 12-year-old boy living in South Central Los Angeles. That passion led to a dance scholarship at State University of New York at Purchase, and, after graduation, back to Lula Washington as a company member.

But Brown soon discovered that maintaining a career in dance would be an uphill battle in a competitive market that couldn't support many full-time dancers with steady salaries. Work was sporadic and Brown, like other dancers, had to supplement his income with other dance gigs and teaching dance on the side, resulting in many missed rehearsals at Lula Washington.

"I danced for whoever was paying me, but that meant sacrificing my time" at Lula Washington, Brown said. "Even if I did have time, I didn’t have the energy to do something else. I was exhausted. It takes a toll on your body."

Luckily for Brown, he was recently selected by Lula Washington Dance Theatre to receive a consistent salary, thanks in part to a $150,000 grant from Irvine. The grant will support the company's efforts to put some dancers on year-round contracts, guarantee other dancers consistent salaries for participating in extended rehearsal sessions and allow company founder Lula Washington to create new works for the company's 30th anniversary in 2010.

"This innovative dance company has been a launching pad for young dancers and choreographers," said John E. McGuirk, director of the Arts program at Irvine. "As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, we are pleased to support the creation of new works and a steady core of professional dancers for the company. Our grant will help the company strengthen its artistic product, reach new audiences and attract more support."

Being able to pay dancers a consistent salary is another in a series of "dreams come true" for Washington, whose path within the dance world has had its share of challenges.

The company's namesake and founder, 58-year-old Lula Washington, grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and had never seen modern dance until one of her community college teachers took students to a performance. Washington was so moved that she decided to pursue dance as a career. She was initially rejected by the dance program at the University of California, Los Angeles, but appealed and was eventually admitted.

While at UCLA, Washington juggled classes, rehearsals, auditions and the demands of raising a young child with her new husband, Erwin Washington. She founded the school's Black Dance Association and eventually earned a master's degree in dance.

In 1980, Washington borrowed some money and established her dance company in South Los Angeles, fueled in part by a desire to bring dance to the poor neighborhood she grew up in. Three years later, she established a dance school to provide low-cost and free dance classes to neighborhood children, paving the way for an array of community and school programs that today serve more than 450 youth and young adults annually.

Washington is a renowned performer and choreographer whose works reflect African American history and culture and are often rooted in social themes. The company's performances typically feature a variety of styles, including hip-hop, traditional African, ballet and modern dance. Her 14-member company has toured nationally to more than 100 cities.

The company is still very much a family affair, with Lula Washington serving as lead choreographer and artistic director; her husband Erwin as executive director; their daughter Tamica Washington-Miller as a company member, associate director, choreographer and teacher; and her niece Roshada Baldwin as manager of the dance studio.

But as the company grew in scale and prestige, it faced the same problems that confront other small companies. It attracted high-quality dancers but could not afford to pay them consistent salaries, only per rehearsal or performance. Rehearsals were kept to a minimum due to lack of budget, and when they were cancelled, dancers lost their pay.

Over the years, countless dancers left the company for higher paying jobs or missed rehearsals because they were balancing other job demands. Not being able to maintain a core group of dancers has made it challenging to elevate the company's artistic profile, Washington said — which is why the Irvine grant is so significant to the company's ability to focus on its work.

"For all the time I've had the company, my goal was to put dancers on salary," Washington said. "I wanted them to have some dignity and not have to work so many jobs. We need the continuity so we can focus on the works we want to do."

Having a more stable company of dancers will also allow Washington to focus on creating new choreography for the company's 30th anniversary season in 2010. Washington also is in discussions with notable choreographers to produce new works that should result in greater touring and funding opportunities for the company.

"The pressure now is to get six or seven core dancers on permanent salary so that we can take the company to the next level," Washington said. "We're going to solidify our plans for the next several years and do more fundraising. When we first started this company, we kept things manageable and now it’s getting bigger."

Dancer Christa Oliver, 25, received a flat-rate salary from the company due to the Irvine support and was able to rent an apartment alone for the first time in her life. She said she is looking forward to rehearsing and performing new works developed for the anniversary season.

The grant "allows us to focus more on our performances and it guarantees us more work," Oliver said. "You know that great choreographers and dancers are going to be here. Before they were talking about this, I was going to have to get another job and only come to rehearsals that I could make it to. (The stable salary) is a huge load off my mind."

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