Sacramento State dance professors Lorelei Bayne and Melissa Wynn believe that when people come to a dance show, they should see something they’ve never seen before. Both professors are hoping to accomplish just this with the show they’re co-directing.

The show, entitled “Connected/Disconnected,” features the professors’ dance company, Dangerous Lorraines Dance Theater.

Wynn said the ensemble is kind of raw and experimental, asking a lot of questions that aren’t really answered, and not what you’d expect from a concert.

The ensemble is a collage of different dance genres – from dance theatre to normal dancing.

Both professors want to try and show the human experience of existence through the pieces. Bayne said she is interested in the awkward moments of life and tries to show that tension and energy in her work.

Wynn said she feels the same way and wants to bring out the strange oddities of life. Some of the dances were also influenced by Philippine “Pina” Bausch, a modern dance choreographer from Germany.

“Someone came to watch the whole thing, and she said it felt as if it were a progression from innocence to awareness,” Bayne said. “That’s the best way I’ve heard it described.”

Bobbie Bolden, one of the company’s more experienced dancers, performs in an inter-generational piece and describes the show as edgy. She said she feels the choreographers incorporate the various dance styles they have experienced in New York City and San Francisco.

“There’s a lot of youthful energy, and that’s really exciting,” Bolden said.

The concert includes dancers who are different races, have different experiences and are different ages. These artists, Bayne said, were chosen more on personality and character than technique.

For dancers such as Greg Dorado, this will be the first time they’ve performed with a company. Dorado said that his time rehearsing for the ensemble provided a new experience every time he walked in.

“In any other company, there would be choreographing, but there may not have been teaching as well,” Dorado said. “We spend time learning why we’re dancing the moves we are.”

Although Wynn and Bayne are co-directors of the show, they said that the performers have given thought into how the dances may go. They work as a group and expect the performers to express their ideas, causing constant honing of skills.

“And that’s tricky with 11 people,” Bayne said.

Besides the company’s performers, the show also includes musicians and guest dancers, such as Linda Goodrich, Chair of the Theatre and Arts Department. For the dance company’s next performance, Wynn and Bayne hope to add film artists into the group of volunteers.

This is the first project Bayne and Wynn have created together, and the professors said they feel the collaboration has been a good experience.

“There’s a lot of back and forth discussion (between the two of us). It’s a very creative process and fun to share ideas with each other,” Wynn said.

The professors believe it’s a good opportunity for students in the company to work in a professional environment and encourage others to work harder.

The professors say that they’ve had support not just from outsiders, but from the school as well. “The Sac State Theatre and Dance has been very supportive and we really appreciate it,” Bayne said.

For both professors, the main thing they want the audience to receive from the performance is an experience of something new.

“We want to provoke thoughts and present another way of dance that’s not just as entertainment,” Wynn said.

Students, even those who are not dance majors, have shown interest in attending.

Elliot Davis, freshman psychology major, has taken two dance classes in the dance department this past year.

“Shows like this make me want to take more dance classes,” Elliot said. “What I like about Sac State is that I get to go to shows that I’ve never would’ve seen had I not been here.”

Both professors draw from their extensive dance backgrounds.

Wynn trained at Julliard University in New York City. She lived there for 17 years, where she performed formal, ballet and modern dances in shows in the downtown part of the city.

After injuring a ligament in her lower back, Wynn changed her dance style to more “body-friendly” improvisational contact. She went on to earn her master’s degree at University of California, Davis. This will be her second year at Sac State.

Bayne stated dancing in college at the University of South Florida and, after graduation, danced in a small company in Philadelphia. She worked professionally in New York for 14 years. Bayne earned her master’s at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and started teaching at Sac State four years ago.

“Connect/Disconnect” will be performed at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Guild Theatre in Sacramento. Tickets are $15 general admission; $12 for students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased online at www.dangerouslorraines.org, or at the door one hour prior to the performance. Audiences may also make reservations by calling (916) 383-1306.

Kyrie Eberhart can be reached at [email protected].