A longtime favorite at the Bates Dance Festival, the Bebe Miller Company returns to Lewiston with the mysterious, visionary piece “Necessary Beauty” in performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 31 and Aug. 1, in Bates College’s Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Tickets are $20 for the general public and $12 for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling 207-786-6161 after July 6.

Additional upcoming festival events — open to the public at no cost, except as noted — include:

• The annual “Moving in the Moment” concert, an evening of improvisational dance and music featuring contact improviser Nancy Stark Smith and artists in residence at the festival, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Alumni Gym, 130 Central Ave.
• “Different Voices,” a diverse evening of new works by international and emerging choreographers, at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Aug. 6 and 7, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. Among choreographers introducing dances are Opiyo Okach (Kenya), Qudus Onikeku (Nigeria), Jennifer Archibald, Kyle Abraham and Adele Myers. Admission is $20 for the general public and $12 for students and seniors.
• “Young Choreographers/New Works,” an informal, adjudicated showing of more than 20 new works by talented festival students from across the United States, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, in Schaeffer Theatre.
• The “Festival Finale” at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 8, in Alumni Gym. Admission is $6. Festival participants perform modern, Caribbean and hip hop works by Jennifer Archibald, Tania Isaac, Robert Battle, Mark Dendy and Bebe Miller, along with a new work by Youth Arts Program participants.

Miller, winner of the “Bessie” Award for dance and performance in New York, is considered one of the foremost creative forces in contemporary dance. Her vision is based on faith in the moving body as a record of thought, experience and sheer beauty.

Composed of intimate multimedia segments for five extraordinary dancers, “Necessary Beauty” investigates the convergence of dance, theater, music and digital technology through the rhythm of action and memory.

In creating a work, Miller relies on the interplay of a theme, its physicality and the contributions of company members to fashion its singular voice. Seeking to expand the language of dance, Miller integrates choreography with writing, moving images and digital media. Committed to keeping dance available to a wide spectrum of people, the company is dedicated to opening the creative process and expression to diverse people in a community.

The Bebe Miller Company celebrated its 20th year in 2005. After two decades as a traditional touring dance company, the troupe is now structured as a “virtual company,” with members living across the U.S.

New work is developed in long-term residencies that bring BMC dancers and collaborators together for creative exploration, rehearsals and community-based activities. The company has pioneered the use of digital media to provide “process bulletins” that allow participants to communicate effectively.

BMC has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and in eight other countries. The company has been commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival; The Joyce Theater and Dance Theater Workshop, both in New York; the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University; Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; Dance Place in Washington, D.C.; and the Bates Dance Festival.

In addition to mainstage performances, the Bates Dance Festival offers a selection of free and low-cost events. Additional information, including ticket prices and event locations, is available on the festival Web site.

- Office of Communications and Media Relations

The collaboration of Bates Dance Festival musicians known as the One World Music Ensemble performs this week’s installment of the 2009 Bates College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 30, in the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater at the college’s Lake Andrews.

The 2009 series concludes on Aug. 6 with Réveillons!, a band known for its modern take on traditional Quebecois music.

Lakeside concerts start at 6 p.m. on consecutive Thursdays in July and August. Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates and the Bingham Betterment Fund, the concerts are open to the public at no cost. Picnics are encouraged, as is bringing lawn chairs or blankets.

The nationally recognized Bates Dance Festival brings together an extremely diverse and talented group of musicians. The One World Music Ensemble program promises to be a tapestry of rhythms and melodies from all corners of the globe.

The ensemble plays a vast array of world instruments, including accordion, kalimba, bouzouki, marimbas and percussion, making for an incredible collaboration of cultures.

Aligning themselves with “the current universal . . . longing to ‘return to our roots,’ ” Réveillons! is influenced by the Québécois tradition. The group hails from Montreal and features David Berthiaume on vocals, jaw harp and concertina, Marc Maziade on guitar, tenor banjo and vocals, Richard Forest on fiddle and Jean-Francois Berthiaume as the band’s caller.

Réveillons! is French for “Wake up!” Since forming in 1996, Réveillons! has played reels, jigs, French songs and step dances at major festivals in Quebec and cities around the U.S. and Canada. Learn more.

The Lewiston-Auburn jazz band Three Point Trio opens the 2009 Bates College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 9, in the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater at the college’s Lake Andrews.

The 2009 series also presents Maine singer-songwriter Carolyn Currie, Maine-based folk trio Ti’ Acadie, the collaboration of Bates Dance Festival musicians known as the One World Music Ensemble and Réveillons!, a band known for its modern take on traditional Québécois music.

Lakeside concerts start at 6 p.m. on five consecutive Thursdays in July and August. Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates and the Bingham Betterment Fund, the concerts are open to the public at no cost. Picnics are encouraged, as is bringing lawn chairs or blankets.

The rain site is the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., adjacent to the amphitheater. For more information, please call 207-786-6400.

Here’s the complete schedule:

July 9, Three Point Trio: The Three Point Trio has shared its passion for jazz with the Lewiston-Auburn area since late 2007. Guitarist and Bates physics professor John Smedley, bassist Tim Clough and drummer Tom Schipper play a combination of jazz standards and original compositions.

The trio cites “Miles, Monk and Mingus” — Davis, Thelonious and Charles — among their greatest influences, along with such artists as Elvin Jones, John Coltrane and Charlie Haden. Three Point Trio’s performances are based around the love of sharing jazz. Learn more.

July 16, Carolyn Currie: Carolyn Currie has charmed audiences across the U.S., including at Bates, with her layered blend of folk, ballads and Celtic music. A true singer-songwriter with a talent for lyrics, Currie has written prolifically since recording her first CD, No Heroes, in 1995. She has played such gatherings as the Telluride Bluegrass festival, Napa Valley Folk Festival and the BMI Showcase for songwriters.

According to one reviewer, if you watch Currie “you’ll swear, by the end of the night that at least one of her poetic melodies was written specifically about you.” Currie supports her lyrics with music that has been described as “luminous, haunting and spellbinding.”

Currie’s CD Kiss of Ghosts was named one of the top independent releases by Performing Songwriter magazine. Her latest, Waves of Silence, featured as CD of the week on the BBC’s Scottish Gaelic channel. Learn more.

July 23, Ti’ Acadie: Ti’ Acadie, or “little Acadia” in French, is a folk trio whose name refers to the Francophone culture of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, a culture reflected in the Cajun people of Louisiana. Ti’ Acadie features Pam Weeks on fiddle, mountain dulcimer and vocals, Jim Joseph on button accordion and five-string banjo, and Bill Olson, a singer, guitarist and bassist also known as a contradance caller.

The three have made music together since they met in the Maine contradance band Scrod Pudding in 1990. In 1996, united by a love of high-energy, highly percussive Cajun music, they formed Ti’ Acadie. Since then, they have toured together, offering not only Cajun music but old-time songs with tight harmonies, Québécois dance tunes and NewEngland contradance music.

Ti’ Acadie is fascinated by the link between the Cajun and Acadian peoples, and uses music to explore this connection. This blending of styles makes for an interactive, engaging and undeniably unique concert experience. Learn more.

July 30, One World Music Ensemble: One World Music Ensemble comprises musicians from the Bates Dance Festival. This nationally recognized dance festival brings together an extremely diverse and talented group of musicians.

This program promises to be a tapestry of rhythms and melodies from all corners of the globe. The ensemble plays a vast array of world instruments, including accordion, kalimba, bouzouki, marimbas and percussion, making for an incredible collaboration of cultures.

Aug. 6, Réveillons!: Aligning themselves with “the current universal . . . longing to ‘return to our roots,’ ” Réveillons! is influenced by the Québécois tradition. The group hails from Montreal and features David Berthiaume on vocals, jaw harp and concertina, Marc Maziade on guitar, tenor banjo and vocals, Richard Forest on fiddle and Jean-Francois Berthiaume as the band’s caller.

Réveillons! is French for “Wake up!” Since forming in 1996, Réveillons! has played reels, jigs, French songs and step dances at major festivals in Quebec and cities around the U.S. and Canada. Learn more.