Vershawn Sanders-Ward built "Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar" to honor missing and murdered Black girls and women through dance. The work opens Thursday, Oct. 1, at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center in Evanston.

Sanders-Ward, founding artistic director of Red Clay Dance Company, said she was moved to create the production after visiting a mixed-media installation called "The Black Girlhood Altar" at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2023. That installation, created by A Long Walk Home artists Scheherazade Tillet and Robert Narciso, honored eight Black women and girls, including Rekia Boyd, Breonna Taylor and Ma'Khia Bryant.

Sanders-Ward said the company hoped to uplift how the young people lived and what they loved, rather than defining them by the incidents that took their lives. Pieces of the original installation will appear onstage during the production, she said.

Sanders-Ward said she chose Evanston for the world premiere in part because of the city's reparations program for Black residents. Evanston became the first U.S. city to approve such a program in 2021, committing $20 million from cannabis and real estate transfer taxes to fund $25,000 grants, according to NPR. About 137 residents had received $25,000 payments totaling roughly $3.47 million as of early 2026, and the city expects the total to reach 171 recipients by the end of this year, according to the Evanston RoundTable. More than 200 approved descendants are still waiting for payment. The program faces a legal challenge: the Trump administration's Justice Department moved in June to join a lawsuit alleging it is racially discriminatory, NPR reported.

Sanders-Ward also cited prior collaborations with Northwestern personnel and students. The Wirtz Center run is a partnership with Northwestern's School of Communication, with additional support from the Illinois Arts Council and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Red Clay, an Afro-contemporary dance company, was founded in 2008 in Brooklyn, New York, before relocating to Sanders-Ward's hometown of Chicago. The Wirtz Center production is part of the company's 18th season. Chicago singer-songwriter and poet Jamila Woods composed original music for the show. Shaqui Reed designed the costumes.

Performances run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Thursday, Oct. 1–3, at the Wirtz Center, 1949 Campus Drive. Tickets are $42–$50.