Tickets are $14/$8 (students and seniors) and may be purchased by calling 207-786-6161. A post-performance talk with the artists will take place immediately following the concert.

Choreographer and filmmaker Victoria Marks has been creating dance for stage and film and in communities from London to Los Angeles that “reveals the human being in the dancer and the dancer within the ordinary person,” according to The Village Voice. Marks portrays Lot’s wife in “My First Solo,” revealing her funny brand of feminism and exhibitionism.

The evening also will feature two short award-winning films directed by Margaret Williams and choreographed by Marks. “Outside In,” an exhilarating jaunt for the gifted dancers of the Britain’s multi-abled CandoCo Dance Company, proves that people in wheelchairs can be thoroughly unbound. “Mothers and Daughters” eloquently portrays the intimacies of families of women.

Seàn Curran, first made his mark on the international dance world as a principal dancer with the Bill T.Jones/Arnie Zane Company. A featured cast member of the Off-Broadway hit “STOMP,” Curran has won consistent praise for his own intelligent and engaging works. Since striking out on his own, Curran has created a gifted company whose recent run at New York’s Joyce Theater received rave reviews. For this performance Curran and members of his company present “That Place, Those People,” a quartet set to the piano music of Leos Janacek; Curran’s solo “Real Boy,” a collaboration with visual designer Douglas Rosenberg; “Enough is Too Much,” a trio set to a percussion score by Bosho; and “Hegel’s Vacation,” a surrealist’s version of “Singing in the Rain,” created for the exceptional dancer Heather Waldon.

In addition to its critically acclaimed mainstage performance series of concerts, the festival offers two intensive training programs, including one for adults and one for younger dancers. For more information, or to request a brochure, call the Bates Dance Festival at 207-786-6381.

The Bates Dance Festival receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission, the OnSite Performance Network, the Surdna Foundation, Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, Sequoia Foundation, LEF Foundation, Tom’s of Maine, Bingham Betterment Fund, Shapiro Family Foundation, Harkness Foundations for Dance, Capezio Ballet Makers Dance Foundation, and numerous corporate sponsors in Maine.

Wednesday, July 21, Alumni Gym, 8 p.m.
Lecture/Demonstration/Workshop with Rennie Harris PureMovement
Rennie Harris leads a journey through the history and culture of hip hop, demonstrating the spectrum of dance styles and inviting participants to get down.

Friday, July 23, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $14/$8*
Performance: DOUG VARONE AND DANCERS Internationally acclaimed choreographer Doug Varone and his eight-member company perform “Bel Canto,” a comic jaunt set to operatic music of Bellini; excerpts from the “Nyman Trilogy,” set to the dramatic music of British composer Michael Nyman; and other new works. Followed by a post-performance discussion with the artists.

Saturday, July 24, Schaeffer Theatre, 7:15 p.m.
Pre-performance Lecture with Suzanne Carbonneau.
Performance: DOUG VARONE AND DANCERS, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $14/$8*
(See Friday listing)

Saturday, July 31, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $14/$8*
Performance: SARA PEARSON/PATRIK WIDRIG & CO. This versatile and dynamic six member company previews÷”If Wishes Were Horses Than Beggars Would Ride,” a community dance project exploring personal stories of change using movement, text and video, as well as Widrig’s magical duet “Muezzin’” with composer/vocalist Philip Hamilton. Followed by a post-performance discussion with the artists.

Sunday, Aug. 1, Schaeffer Theatre, 7:15 p.m.
Pre-performance Lecture with Suzanne Carbonneau.
Performance: SARA PEARSON/PATRIK WIDRIG & CO., Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $14/$8* (see Saturday listing)

Thursday, Aug. 5, Olin Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Performance: THE COMPOSER’S CONCERT
An annual favorite at the festival, this eclectic concert features
multi-instrumentalists Tigger Benford, Peter Jones, Jesse Manno and Mike Vargas, pianist Clark Stiefel and percussionists Gilles Obermayer and Shamou in a program of original and improvised music.

Friday, Aug. 6, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m. $14/$8*
Performance: RENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT
This group of hip hop masters returns to Maine to preview their new work “Rome & Jewels.“ Puremovement takes on the classics with this full-evening, hip hop ballet that mixes the tragic love stories of “Romeo and Juliet” and “West Side Story” with contemporary hip hop dance, music, the voice of the DJ and the spoken work of the MC/rapper. Followed by a post-performance discussion with the artists.

Saturday, Aug. 7, Schaeffer Theatre, 7:15 p.m.
Pre-performance Lecture with Suzanne Carbonneau.
Performance: RENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT , Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m. $14/$8*(see Friday listing)

Monday Aug. 9, Alumni Gym, 8 p.m
Performance: MOVING IN THE MOMENT
An evening of improvisational dance and music with contact improviser Nancy Stark Smith and members of the Festival dance and music faculty. An annual crowd pleaser full of delicious surprises, hilarious vignettes and moving moments.

Thursday, Aug. 12, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $14/$8*
Performance: NEW WORKS: SEÀN CURRAN & VICTORIA MARKS
Sharing the stage are the devilish postmodern choreographer Seàn Curran and members of his company, as well as choreographer and filmmaker Victoria Marks. The concert features engaging new dances by Curran and award-winning films and solos by Marks.

Friday, Aug. 13, Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m., $12/$8*
Performance: DIFFERENT VOICES
New works by artists from around the world. Featuring Kaczo Takemoto (Japan), Jecko Siompo (Indonesia), Teresa Prima (Portugal) and Simon Ellis (Australia), along with emerging choreographers Karinne Keithley and Paule Turner ‹ all in one dynamic program.

Saturday, Aug. 14, Schaeffer Theatre, 1-5 p.m.
Informal Performance: Young Choreographers/New Works
An adjudicated, informal showing of more than 24 new works by talented Festival participants from around the world. Faculty members will provide insightful, critical feedback throughout the afternoon.

Performance: STUDENT FINALE, Alumni Gym, 8 p.m., $5/$2*
A celebration of diverse dance traditions. Come for an evening of
modern, jazz and tap works created by Doug Varone, Sean Curran, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Cornelius Carter and margaret Morrison and performed by Festival students. Highlighting the program will be a performance by local youth participating in the Festival’s Youth Arts dance and music program under the direction of Jane Weiner.

*Admission for full-time students and senior citizens.
All events take place at Bates College.
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Advance reservations: 207/786-6161, beginning July 5, 12-5 p.m.

Contact: Laura Faure, director 207-786-6381

A lively evening of rhythm artistry, HOT FEET will feature jazz tapper Herbin van Cayseele, currently astounding audiences in Riverdance; Maine tapper Drika Overton; acclaimed French step dancer Benoit Bourque of Montreal; STOMP star and Irish step dancer, Sean Curran; and Madrid-based flamenco master, Clara Ramona. Festival musicians will provide live music for this concert.

The combination of talent, diversity of style and cultural tradition and sheer energy that these five dancers bring to the stage offers an unprecedented evening of percussive dance. Tickets for the performances are $14 and $8 (for full-time students and seniors) and can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 207-786-6161.

Suzanne Carbonneau, historian and dance critic for The Washington Post, will discuss The Resurgence of Percussive Dance, in a lecture at 8 p.m Aug. 4, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Carbonneau will explore the history of percussive dance, from its African roots to contemporary dance forms, and its current widespread popularity, as evidenced by such dance/musical theater productions as STOMP, Riverdance, Tap Dogs and Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk.

Jazz tap and hip-hop are truly American forms, developed on the streets and brought to creative heights by African-American performers, such as sensation Rennie Harris, whose company PureMovement is also performing in the Bates Dance Festival concert series this summer.

A dancer who comes out of a tap tradition, Herbin van Cayseele is cognizant of the hip-hop vocabulary and energy. The HOT FEET concert will continue to raise the public’s consciousness of jazz tap’s place in African and American history, and link this dance form to the driving, percussive rhythms of traditional French and Irish step dancing, further enlivened by the flamenco artistry of Clara Ramona.

In an effort to develop new audiences for contemporary dance, the festival will provide HOT FEET ticket subsidies for youth and community members participating in the Youth Arts Program and the Community Dance Project, and to various social service agencies for at-risk teens. The ticket subsidy is underwritten in part by the Maine Arts Commission. HOT FEET is sponsored by L.L. Bean, Inc.

Herbin van Cayseele presents a contemporary, improvisation style of tap blending hip-hop, funk and the traditional jazz idioms of bebop and swing. Currently, he is a featured dancer with the rhythmic sensation Riverdance. He was one of the featured performers in Dance Umbrella’s Fascinating Rhythms: A Celebration of Jazz Tap, a 14-city tour in 1993. Born in Guyana, he studied ethnic and Latin dance before moving to Europe at age eight, where he studied tap dance and Afro-Brazilian dance at the American Center in Paris. In addition, he was a featured dancer, vocalist and percussionist on the European tour of Mr. Thing and Professional Human Being. Van Cayseele is founder and producer of Urban Tap, a new concept in tap dance, which combines the varied rhythms of Africa, Brazil, India and American traditional jazz.

Musician and dancer Benoit Bourque has delighted audiences for 23 years with his choreographed performances of Quebec’s traditional dances. He has toured all over North America, appearing in festivals, schools and music camps, and he is the founder of Le Carrefour Mondial De L’Accordeon, an international accordion festival. From 1990-95, Benoit was the artistic director of Les Eclusiers de Lachine, a folkdance group that has gained international acclaim, and in 1996 he joined the new French folk music ensemble Advielle Que Pourra, touring with them all over Canada and the United States. Bourque is the recipient of grants from the Maine Arts Commission, Catamount Arts for Touring in Vermont, the Portland Performing Arts’ House Island Project and “Ragoout d’pattes de cochon,” in collaboration with choreographer Ann Carlson. He currently tours with Montreal musician and vocalist Gaston Bernard.

Sean Curran has made his mark on the international dance world as principal dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He received a New York dance and performance Bessie Award for his work in Secret Pastures and is currently performing in the off-Broadway show STOMP. Curran’s own choreography and performance work has been presented in New York at the Joyce Theatre, Dance Theatre Workshop and DIA. He teaches at colleges and universities around the country. In Europe, Curran has performed at the Scottish Edinburgh Festival and Denmark’s Aarhus Festival.

Clara Ramona is a principal dancer, choreographer and director of Spanish and modern dance in various U.S. and Spanish companies, such as The Dance Collective, Mandala Folk Ensemble, Ramon de los Reyes Spanish Dance Theatre and Boston Ballet. In 1994 she created her own company, the Ballet Espa–ol de Clara Ramona. As a ctor, Clara has collaborated with the Boston Conservatory of Music (where she earned a B.F.A. in music, choreography, teaching and technique), the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts and the dance program at Boston University. Her numerous choreographic creations have included ballets such as Capricho Espa–ol by Korsakov, Bolero by Ravel, and Sonata in F by Soler.

Maine’s own tap and percussive dancer Drika Overton created the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival in 1995 to celebrate the rich traditions of the American art of jazz tap and its connection to the music and percussive dances of many cultures. The co-founder of the jazz tap ensemble Stop Time, the Classical Tap Trio and Suite: Feet, she is a recipient of an individual artist fellowship from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Overton has studied extensively with such notable tap legends as Jimmy Slyde, Honi Coles and Eddie Brown, as well as body musician Keith Terry and rhythm dancer Kimi Okada. She currently teaches at the University of New Hampshire and the Leon Collins Studio in Boston.

In addition to its critically acclaimed mainstage performance series of 17 concerts, the festival offers two intensive training programs, one for adults and one for younger dancers. For more information, or to request a brochure, call the Bates Dance Festival at 207-786-6381.