University Dance Company performances choreographed around one word: ‘justice’

Sac+State+dancers+Joyce+Vang%2C+Juliane+Rose+Cooper+and+Louis+Moreno+rehearse+for+their+upcoming+shows.+Sac+States+University+Dance+Company+will+be+performing+at+Shasta+Hall+from+Dec.+5+to+Dec.+7.

Patrick Walsh

Sac State dancers Joyce Vang, Juliane Rose Cooper and Louis Moreno rehearse for their upcoming shows. Sac State’s University Dance Company will be performing at Shasta Hall from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7.

During rehearsal ahead of the first show of the “University Dance Company: Dance Site Fall 2019” performance series, Mikayla McGhee freed her fellow dancers from the drab confines of their black leotards.

During the piece the dancers are in-character as sex workers, dealing with the stigma of the profession. McGhee then unfurled a piece of her costume to reveal a billowing red dress, lending the routine color, an act that symbolized the decriminalization of sex work.

Behind her, the dark stage became backlit with a blue screen and the dancers moved through the spotlights in a free-flowing whirlwind of color and motion.