Mission in the Mix

June 20-29th, 2025

Dance Mission Theater

Choreographer, Artistic Director: Micaya

By Kristen Cosby

SoulForce Dance Company; Photo by Kyle Adler

A joyous presentation of Mission in the Mix took place June 20-29th at Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco as part of San Francisco’s International Hip Hip DanceFest. The Mission in the Mix showcase is produced and largely choreographed by visionary, artistic director, and choreographer Micaya. Each performance featured three of her workshop classes, several appearances by SoulForce (Micaya’s own hip-hop company), and varying guest artists – on the night of my attendance: Filene Fitness, William Forsythe Jr., DestinyArts, and Straightjacket.  

One of brilliant things about Micaya’s Mission in the Mix is that she brings together multiple forms of dance, performed by dancers of varied levels of experience, to create a rich and delightfully surprising show to which audience members respond with their full attention and energy.  For part of Micaya’s brilliance is encouraging a roaring appreciation for the dancers on stage throughout the performance, and in that tradition, entire rows of families and other cohorts arrive ready to receive and celebrate the joy of dance. 

It helps that the very young hip hop artists from Filene Fitness of Oakland can whip their lengthy braids with such adorable ferocity that it makes one wish for long hair and childhood again. But to say that these kids are “cute” belies their commitment. Watching a fully-embodied, proud five-year-old precisely execute a double turn, drop her butt to the floor and then spring into perfect synchronized side-steps with her fellow dancers while making bold eye-contact with the audience is the celebration and fierceness we all need right now.

Just as stunning was William Forsythe Jr.’s solo piece – an unnamed short work that hovered between dance and performance art. In sharp contrast to all the other performances, he moved in silence, observing or crushing small critters on the ground with his fists, then with palms opened, and at last, earnestly and tenderly releasing something fragile, something as delicate as a butterfly, from the earth into the air.  

Micaya’s student workshop pieces were more playful and turned the audience raucous.  Her adult beginner hip hop workshop appeared in a piece entitled Fast Car, decked in  black and white checkered outfits that harkened to race-car driving. The piece ended with all dancers assembling into a “car” on stage.  For their piece, Dimonds, intermediate workshop hip hop dancers glammed up in glitter to multiple musical interpretations of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”  Each time the musical genre shifted, the style of dance shifted with it in homage – the Maralyn Monroe rendition turned hip hop dancers into showgirls, and the heavy metal version transformed them into headbangers. 

Guest groups Straightjacket and Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company also landed pieces that both entertained and provoked thought. Straightjacket’s ensemble was the largest of the night. The beauty of their hand gestures as they shakily reached for the sky in the opening and closing framed the powerful mass synchronicity of their piece with two very fragile moments. And their precise ability to make the entire room appear to “glitch” like a dying computer screen made an edgy, grace out of their moves. 

 Micaya’s dance troupe, Soulforce, made several appearances over the course of the evening, each time with something fresh and dramatic. In Whitney Wonderland, a duo that enacted a full-bodied and hilarious argument between a dancer and a teacher that involved climbing each other’s bodies. Their ridiculous grace paused for a moment and moved away, while a dancer stood center stage facing right and sang the words: “Oh, I want to dance with somebody… with somebody who loves me.” Suddenly the room turned quiet, and every moment that followed onstage became precious.  Which is perhaps the whole point – that our joy and hope and our ability to dance with each other and witness each other are valuable things worth preserving.