The Bates Dance Festival presents its 26th season of public events, July 15 through Aug. 9, 2008, on the campus of Bates College. The five-week festival will feature performances, panel discussions, films and lectures by more than 30 internationally recognized dance artists from throughout the United States and abroad. The season showcases compelling and visually arresting performances that blend dance, video, text and original music to address themes of political activism, human relationships, the natural world and our changing global environment.

Highlighting the 2008 festival will be one of NYC’s hottest young dance troupes Keigwin + Company presenting the Maine premieres of two witty and entertaining new works “Elements” and “Love Songs” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St., Bates College.

Continuing a tradition of presenting contemporary dance from around the world, “Africa/NOW” is a shared evening featuring provocative new works by South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma and Zimbabwean performer Nora Chipaumire. A globetrotting phenomenon, Maqoma performs an excerpt from his compelling solo work “Beautiful Me” that looks at the beauty of humanity. Chipaumire is known for provocative and politically relevant multimedia dances that illuminate the struggles of human identity in an increasingly borderless world. She performs an excerpt from “Chimurenga,” a post-revolution solo. The concerts take place at 8 p.m. Friday & Saturday, July 25 and 26, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St., Bates College.

From Seattle comes the physically virtuosic and conceptually rigorous Zoe Scofield & Juniper Shuey performing the Maine premiere of “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.” Known for their mesmerizing intensity, technical precision and lush design, Scofield & Shuey recently received a prestigious National Dance Project award for the creation of this exceptional new work. The concerts take place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1 and 2, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St., Bates College.

Showcasing diverse styles and perspectives “Different Voices” features an excerpt from “Not About Iraq” by Alpert-Award winning choreographer/filmmaker Victoria Marks that examines government rhetoric, “double-speak” and the outrage that occurs when words lose their meaning. Also on the program are excerpts of new works by artist/activist Ananya Chatterjea, the contemporary dance duos of Nugent + Matteson Dance and Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser, Japanese experimental movement artist Yutaka Joraku and emerging choreographers Christopher Williams and Heather Maloney. “Different Voices” takes place at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Aug. 7 and 8, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St., Bates College.

In addition to main stage performances, the festival offers a selection of free and low-cost events. “Global Exchange: Sharing Across Cultures,” a panel discussion with international visiting artists, takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 22.  Filmmaker and scholar, Joan Frosch screens and discusses her acclaimed film “Movement (R)evolution,” a portrait of the vibrant contemporary dance scene in Africa, at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 24, in the Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St., Bates College.

The festival presents its annual “Musician’s Concert,” featuring a global mix of music, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., Bates College. “Moving in the Moment,” a spirited evening of improvisation dance by festival faculty takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, in Alumni Gym, 130 Central Ave. Rounding out the festival’s five-week season is the “Festival Finale,” featuring dancers of all ages and abilities performing modern, ethnic and jazz dance works by Gabriel Masson, Cathy Young, Gregory Maqoma, Nora Chipaumire and our Youth Arts Program, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, in Alumni Gymnasium, 130 Central Ave.

In conjunction with its performances, the festival presents “Inside Dance: Understanding Contemporary Dance,” a series of lectures and post-performance talks led by dance scholars Joan Frosch, Debra Cash, and festival director Laura Faure. Offering audiences insight into the artists and their work, a lecture will accompany “Africa/NOW” at 7:15 p.m. Friday, July 25 and Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2. Both lectures take place in Schaeffer Theater, 305 College St.  Post-performance talks take place following most Friday evening performances.

Information on tickets, event locations and further details will be available on our website in April at: http://www.batesdancefestival.org

About the Bates Dance Festival

Founded in 1982 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, the Bates Dance Festival brings together an international community of contemporary dance choreographers, performers, educators and students in cooperative community to study, perform and create new work. The festival serves as an annual destination for artists, students and audiences to engage in a full range of dance activities and performances that foster a creative exchange of ideas, encourage exploration of new ground and provide the opportunity to experience a wide spectrum of dance/movement disciplines.

Described by The New York Times as “electrifying” and hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a local treasure,” Robert Moses’ Kin returns to the Bates Dance Festival to present Moses’ eloquent and streetwise brand of contemporary dance. The festival presents Robert Moses’ Kin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, in Schaeffer Theatre, 365 College St., Bates College. Tickets are $18/$12 (students and seniors) and may be purchased by calling 207-786-6161 after July 8.

The company will perform new works that explore topics ranging from oral history in African American culture to the dark side of contemporary urban life and the simple joyous expressions of pure movement.

The creator of more than 80 works for dance, theater and film, Moses’ work fuses different dance styles with a blend of powerful athletic technique and rhythmic complexity, a fusion of different dance styles and gestural detail. The program includes The President’s Daughter, a masterfully woven tale of text, movement, music and visual design inspired by the clandestine relationship of slave Sally Hemmings and American founding father Thomas Jefferson.

Robert Moses’ Kin has performed across the United States and in England, Italy and Ireland. Moses has created commissioned works for Oakland Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Savage Jazz Dance Company and England’s Transitions Dance Company, among others. Moses and his company have been honored with many prestigious grants and awards, including Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, the Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award, a San Francisco Bay Guardian “Goldie” and the SF Weekly “Black Box” Award.

In addition to main stage performances, the festival offers a selection of free and low-cost events. Complete information is available at the website.

At press time the Bates Dance Festival gratefully acknowledges support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Performance Network, Maine Arts Commission, Surdna Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, Altria, Fisher Charitable Foundation, Sam L. Cohen Foundation, Androscoggin Bank, Cole Hahn, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Mechanics Savings Bank and TD Banknorth.

The season celebrates the diversity and creativity of contemporary dance with performances featuring modern, jazz, world dance and improvisation by acclaimed U.S. companies and established and emerging choreographers from around the world. Recognized throughout the national cultural community for its outstanding performance series, the Bates Dance Festival features critically acclaimed new works by Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe, Doug Varone and Dancers, Sara Pearson Patrik Widrig and Company, Companhia Clara Andermatt, Stephan Koplowitz and Judy Smith of AXIS Dance Company, as well as performances by emerging choreographers Chris Elam, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Larry Keigwin and others.

The five-week performance series kicks off with Alone and Together, featuring a dynamic array of new work by choreographers Shonach Mirk-Robles, former principal with Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the Twentieth Century; Cathy Young, whose 2002 evening-length jazz work was recognized as the “Best of Twin Cities” by Minneapolis’ City Pages; Chris Aiken, a leading performer in the field of contact improvisation; postmodern choreographers Larry Keigwin and Nicole Wolcott, whose recent New York debut concert won raves from the critics; and Sekou Sylla, a former principal dancer, acrobat and musician with Les Ballet Africains of Guinea West Africa. Also performing will be modern choreographer Karen Love, and hip-hop dancer Danah Bella. The festival presents Alone and Together at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College Street.

Soweto-born dancer and choreographer Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe returns to the festival with a spellbinding triple bill of solo works that fuse his South African ancestral traditions with an inspired blend of Asian and European elements. Mantsoe’s spiritually grounded dances address themes of cultural alienation and identity with an intense physicality and charisma that have won accolades and awards worldwide. In Phokwane, Barena and Motswa Hole, Mantsoe performs three breathtaking solos with hypnotic intensity. The festival presents Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26, in Schaeffer Theatre.

Sara Pearson Patrik Widrig and Company thrilled audiences with their imaginative site work at the Portland Museum of Art in 2000. This summer the company presents The Return of Lot’s Wife, a dance/theater/salt epic. In this edgy and heartbreakingly funny evening-length work, Lot’s wife finally confronts God in a 1950s Brooklyn kitchen as she looks back again and again. The piece, which explores the theme of turning back through the prisms of Sufi mysticism and Hollywood/Bollywood pop cultures, is performed to original music by Carter Burwell, known for his many film scores, including Fargo, Three Kings and Being John Malkovich. Pearson and Widrig have gained an international following for work that pushes rituals of the familiar towards the mysterious, the subversive and the intimate. The festival presents Sara Pearson, Patrik Widrig and Company at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, in Schaeffer Theatre.

Highlighting the season, Doug Varone and Dancers return to the festival with an engrossing evening of new works. Known for his ability to “wed sheer kinetic force with emotional insight,” Doug Varone and Dancers perform a body of work heralded by critics as “among the most compelling in the contemporary repertory.” Honored with seven New York Dance and Performance Awards (Bessies), the company has been singled out for dances of extraordinary physical daring, vivid musicality and genius. The company will present the Maine premieres of As Natural As Breathing, a playful jazzy group romp, casual on the surface but with subtle, sharp-edged undercurrents; Short Story, a turbulent give-and-take between a man and a woman; The Drawing Lesson, an upbeat, humorous solo danced by Mr. Varone; and a brand new group work set to the music of composer Steve Reich. The festival presents Doug Varone and Dancers in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, and Saturday, Aug. 2, in Schaeffer Theatre.

Lisbon-based choreographer Clara Andermatt is known for her bold vision, powerful emotional energy and frank revelations. Considered the pre-eminent voice in contemporary Portuguese dance, Clara Andermatt and long time collaborator and acclaimed dancer Amelia Bentes perform the U.S. premiere of Pola Roid. Intertwining text, movement, sound and image, Pola Roid unfolds in a series of three fast-paced vignettes addressing themes of speed and excess of our contemporary global universe, the dual nature of death, and a utopian view of the future. Memory, desire, catastrophe, the quest for happiness and the possibility of transcendence define the provocative universe of Pola Roid. The festival presents Companhia Clara Andermatt in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, and Saturday, Aug. 9, in Schaeffer Theatre.

The annual Different Voices concert showcases new works by acclaimed international choreographers and gifted emerging artists. The evening includes performances by award-winning Cuban choreographer Marianela Boan whose brilliant dance/theater works dealing with the harsh contemporary conflicts of her native Cuba have toured to more than 40 countries; spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, a two-time San Francisco Poetry Grand Slam winner, who entered the literary performance world after crossing the sands of traditional theater, most notably on Broadway in the Tony award-winning The Tap Dance Kid, and emerging choreographer Chris Elam whose company, Misnomer Dance Theater, has performed in more than 40 theaters internationally. Works by artists from Vietnam, Indonesia and Cape Verde will complete the program. The Different Voices concert will take place at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, and Friday, Aug. 15, in Schaeffer Theatre.

Continuing a tradition of commissioning site-specific work for unique architectural and natural sites, the festival has invited internationally recognized site choreographer Stephan Koplowitz and award-winning composer Robert Een to transform the 8,000-square-foot Perry Atrium in Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road, through their art. Audiences will be led on a roving exploration of the three-story atrium as 30 dancers and singers bring the space alive. The Atrium Project will take place at 9:45 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, and Friday, Aug. 15, immediately following the Different Voices concert.

In conjunction with its performances, the festival presents Inside Dance: Understanding Contemporary Dance, a series of pre-and post-performance discussions and lectures, led by dance scholar and critic Suzanne Carbonneau, offering audiences insight into the artists and contemporary dance. The lectures accompany performances by Doug Varone and Dancers on Saturday, Aug. 2; and by Clara Andermatt on Saturday, Aug. 9. Discussions will be held at 7:15 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre.

In addition to main stage performances, the festival offers a selection of free and low-cost events. Choreographer Judith Smith of AXIS Dance Company, a company of multi-abled dancers, will give a video talk on Integrated Dance, at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 31, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. The Musician’s Concert, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, features an eclectic mix of original and improvised works by gifted musician/composers in residence. Site choreographers Stephan Koplowitz, Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig give a video talk, Beyond the Proscenium: Site Specific Work, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, in Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. Sharing Across Cultures: Finding Common Ground in a Troubled World, a panel discussion with visiting artists from Cuba, Portugal, Cape Verde, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Africa, will take place at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. New Dance in Indonesia and Japan, an installation of video, text, sound and live performance created by filmmaker Molly Davies, will be on view from 2-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9 and 10, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

Moving In The Moment, an improvisational performance led by contact-improviser Nancy Stark Smith with a diverse group of festival dancers and musicians, takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, in Alumni Gymnasium, 130 Central Ave. Rounding out the festival’s five-week season is the “Festival Finale,” featuring dancers of all ages and abilities performing modern, jazz and integrated dance works by Doug Varone, Sara Pearson, Patrik Widrig, Nancy Cranbourne, Jane Weiner and Sara Sweet Rabidoux. A special 10th-anniversary performance by local youth will open the program. The evening will also feature a new work by the Community Dance Project directed by Judy Smith in collaboration with composer/percussionist Shamou and members of the local multi-abled community. The “Festival Finale” takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, in Alumni Gymnasium.

In addition to its main stage performance series of 16 concerts, the festival offers two intensive training programs, one for adults and one for younger dancers. For more information, or to request a brochure, contact the Bates Dance Festival at (207) 786-6381, send an e-mail, or visit the festival Web site here.

The season celebrates the diversity and creativity of contemporary dance with performances featuring postmodern, jazz, improvisation and flamenco by acclaimed U. S. companies and established and emerging choreographers from around the world. Recognized throughout the contemporary dance community for its outstanding performance series, the Bates Dance Festival, located on campus, features critically acclaimed new works by Jane Comfort and Company, Robert Moses’ KIN, Eiko & Koma, Simone Forti and Lisa Race Dance, as well as performances by transpiring choreographers Sara Sweet Rabidoux, Gesel Mason, Ming Lung Yang, Helanius Wilkins and others.

In addition to its main stage performance series of 13 concerts, the festival offers two intensive training programs, one for adults and one for younger dancers. For more information about the festival schedule, phone the Bates Dance Festival at 207-786-6381, email the festival or visit the festival Web site here.