The dance production “Cafe Lorraine” portrays in-depth emotions such as love, control, dependence, independence and reliance.

These emotions together in one performance are meant to depict relationships around the world.

The play is put on by the dance theater group Dangerous Lorraines, a non-Sacramento State affiliated dance company that has been given the opportunity to perform at Sac State.

The show is co-directed and choreographed by Melissa Wynn and Lorelei Bayne, both assistant professors at Sac State. Wynn said the production is broken down into smaller sections.

“It’s little vignettes,” Wynn said. “About reliance and dependence and what it means to rely and depend on something, or what it is like to have somebody rely or depend on you.”

Wynn said the theater group explore beyond dependence in relationships and also focuses on dependence in addictions.

Wynn said the fact that people rely on each other to a certain extent seems obvious. The actual question the show explores is when that reliance is too much.

Wynn said the production takes a lot of preparation time.

“We want the dancers to become comfortable with each other so that they will be able to take risks,” Wynn said. “Something they wouldn’t normally do in a regular dance class.”

One of the dancers, Inertia DeWitt, a recent graduate of Sac State, has been with the Dangerous Lorraines Dance Theater since fall 2007.

She said outside dance organizations offer more than on-campus dance classes because it provides extra experience to put on a resume and it helps to be a part of a company.

DeWitt said she appreciates that Bayne and Wynn have an idea of what they want the performance to be like but also they use the dancers as inspiration and allow for some improvising.

“They are open to input, allow us to use our creative minds and allow us to be intelligent dancers who are active in the process,” DeWitt said.

Bayne said the performance and how experimental they can be with the choreography hinges on whom the performers are.

“Each time we do the performance we get different sparks and little things that go pop,” Bayne said.

This year, Dewitt said, all dancers in the company are genuine performers and the audience will see and appreciate that when they attend the show.

In particular, the format of the dance will consist of modern dance and improvisation.

“The whole piece is an exploration of what is dance theater, (more specifically) what is American dance theater,” Wynn said.

Wynn said although it’s an exploration of American dance theater, it is still much different than American dance theater.She said it may not be considered dance at all because it is different than German dance-theater as well and even different than musical theater.

“It’s a blend of those things,” Bayne said. “It’s kind of stepping on the shoulders of your ancestors and seeing what you make of it.”

Bayne said the audience will see reflections of themselves within the piece.

“We hope that it touches people and is open enough for each audience member to have their own experience and to read between the lines of the piece and have some thoughtful moment and some joy,” Bayne said.

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