Earthquake deals another blow to dance in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES - A major earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale struck the greater Los Angeles area before dawn on January 17. The local dance community took another major hit, physically and psychologically, following other recent disasters: an urban riot and paralyzing curfew in 1992 and firestorms in 1993.

Damage was extensive and widespread. Far from the epicenter of the quake, the Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Foundation in South Central Los Angeles - which survived the riots unscathed in 1992 - houses Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Theatre, as well as community workshops and classes. Even though the building underwent earthquake reinforcement last year at a cost of more than $200,000, a thirty-foot-long hole now gapes in the wall of its second-story rehearsal studio. Washington needs around $100,000 to make the necessary repairs, money that, she says, she does not have.

To the north, in the Santa Clarita Valley, and at the epicenter in the San Fernando Valley, near Northridge and Sylmar, many universities, colleges, and private dance studios reported damage to their facilities and the suspension of classes for an extended time. California Institute of the Arts, Moorpark College, and Cal State Northridge also confronted power outages and the loss of utilities, telephones, and other communications systems. When telephone service was finally restored, the same type of hopeful message could be heard on dance-studio answering machines throughout greater Los Angeles: "We've survived and will rebuild, reopen, and resume classes as soon as possible." Fortunately, the earthquake occurred when studios were empty, since the presence of large mirrors has the potential for catastrophe.

At the University of California at Los Angeles in Westwood the dance department's main building suffered broken water pipes and heating ducts that turned the classrooms into saunas. Offices and classrooms became uninhabitable, and performances in the same building had to be cancelled.

Royce Hall, which houses UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, sustained structural damage and cannot be used until it undergoes seismic strengthening. Through the years the Royce Hall stage has attracted dance companies from all over the world. Many performances scheduled for the 1,850-seat theater have been moved to the smaller Wadsworth Theater near the UCLA campus. Miami City Ballet - whose 1992 Los Angeles debut at Royce Hall was cancelled because of the riots - has rescheduled its performances for April 22-23 at the Wiltern Theatre downtown. According to Michael Blachly, director of UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, "Presentations are currently being scheduled for our anticipated return to Royce Hall for the 1994-95 season."