Students rehearse Alwin Nikolais’ “Tensile Involvement” in October. Photograph by Michael Bradley/Bates College.

Bates’ Fall Dance Concert brings together a wide range of styles, representing choreographers from across the country and here in Maine, in performances at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11; and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12.

The performances take place in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. Admission is $6 for the general public and $3 for students and seniors, available at batestickets.com. For more information, please call 207-786-6161 (box office) or 207-786-8294.

On the program for the three performances:

• New hip hop and modern choreography by guest artists Robin Sanders of San Antonio, Texas, and Tiffany Rhynard of Gainesville, Fla.;
• The 1953 piece “Tensile Involvement” by modern-dance master Alwin Nikolais;
• Students in Debi Irons’ advanced Jazz Repertory class;
• A videodance and a solo by Assistant Professor of Dance Rachel Boggia.

Robin Sanders’ “Rhythm-n-Roots” highlights the history of hip hop dance, which is often omitted from history books. At Bates this fall, Sanders taught student dancers such classic hip-hop techniques such as popping and tutting. The roots of hip-hop reach into traditional West African dances, which make an appearance in the blood-pumping finale.

“Subverting Normal: Ensemble #2″ by Rhynard uses movement and spoken language to examine the complexities of social behavior. The piece “challenges our assumptions and expectations of normalcy,” says the choreographer.

“Drawing from personal reflections on identity, the dancers demonstrate similarities and differences that ultimately connect them as human beings.” The piece is athletic, incorporating swing-era partnering among other genres.

“Tensile Involvement” is a feast for the senses, structured around elastic bands that criss-cross the stage and extend the dancers’ sharp and sinewy movements to the rafters. Combined with Nikolais’ original score and rich lighting, reconstructed by Michael Reidy of the Bates faculty, the piece creates a world that feels fresh and exciting despite its 50-plus years of age.

The piece was taught to Bates students by Alberto del Saz, artistic director for the Nikolais-Louis Foundation for Dance. Dance reconstructions at colleges form an important link in the chain that preserves ephemeral historical dance works, del Saz says.

Maine choreographer Irons presents jazz as a melting pot, with influences ranging from the Caribbean to Eastern Europe.

Boggia’s new solo “Shadow Game,” is really a duet: Her father, Chris Boggia, is shown training a horse in video projections that figure heavily in the piece.

Boggia also collaborated with students to make a videodance in the Bates squash courts.

“Choreographing for the camera in a nontraditional space is very different from choreographing for the stage,” says Boggia. “It allows me to play with time and space in ways that are impossible in live performance.”

The students featured in the videodance also shot much of the footage.

Student performers from many backgrounds and with diverse levels of experience worked with the guest artists. “The students rehearse 15 hours per week. While challenging, it’s a memorable learning experience to work through so many different perspectives in such a short period of time,” says Carol Dilley, director of the Bates dance program.

The annual “Different Voices” concert features a wide range of dance from around the globe as visiting artists from the United States, Mexico, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Africa bring new works to the Bates Dance Festival stage. The festival presents “Different Voices” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, and Friday, Aug. 11, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. Tickets are $18/$12 (students and seniors) and may be purchased by calling 207-786-6161 after July 8.

Rani Khanam is one of India’s foremost Kathak dancer/choreographers. For 15 years, she was groomed under Birju Maharaj and Reba Vidyarthi, gurus at the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, where she graduated with top honors in Kathak-Lucknow, a traditional style of Indian dance. The Kathak Kendra experience widened her horizons and enriched her repertoire so that her innovative choreographies are simultaneously traditional and contemporary.

Alicia Sanchez is the artistic director of El Teatro de Movimiento, a Mexico City-based contemporary dance company. She has received numerous choreographic awards at home and abroad and has preformed in the United States, Canada and the Czech Republic. Her most recent commission was for the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City.

Po Lin Tso is an independent choreographer who danced for 12 years with the Hong Kong Dance Company, performing a repertoire of modern and traditional Chinese dance. In 1997 she was named “Artist of the Year” by the Hong Kong Artist’s Guild. Her interpretation of leading roles has won her critical acclaim in the local cultural community.

Wei Ching-Ju is a young dancer and actor from Taiwan who currently performs with Legend Lin Dance Theatre, a repertory company devoted to large-scale dance dramas. She has acted with several well-known Taipei theater troupes, including Shakespeare’s Wild Sister, that were instrumental in establishing the highly acclaimed Taipei international Theater Festival.

Lucky Kele is an emerging choreographer from Johannesburg, South Africa. Despite having no formal dance training, he has been creating engaging small works over the past several years. His work has been presented annually at two major dance venues, the FNB Dance Umbrella and The Dance Factory in Johannesburg.

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