LEWISTON, Maine - The Bates College Modern Dance Company opens its 2002-03 season with "Suite Movement," a program of dances by student and guest choreographers, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, Andrews Road. Admission is free of charge, but seating is limited, so early arrival is suggested.

Seven dances are featured in "Suite Movement." Four are by students: "Kooky Little Psyches," by Amy Burkhardt, a junior from Sudbury, Mass.; "Trepid," by Claire Schneider, a junior from Madison, Wis.; "Now," a solo by senior Devon Fitchett of Woburn, Mass.; and "Release," by senior Sara Miller of Farmington. The student works are set to music by Ani DiFranco, Guster and other contemporary artists.

The guest choreographers' four works, all for more than a dozen dancers, are: "Changing Winds II: Textured Fields," by Lisa Schmidt; an excerpt from "Gettin' Busy," by Patrik Bordovsky; and "Ellington Suite," by Stephanie Powell, with music by Duke Ellington.

Lisa Schmidt was a member of the Trisha Brown Company from 1985 to 1992 and has taught and performed throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to performing, this resident of western Massachusetts teaches dance and healing through movement. She is a certified practitioner of body-mind centering.

Patrik Bordovsky began performing professionally in 1995 and has taught and performed all over the East Coast. An award-winning dancer, he has collaborated with the John Gamble Dance Theater at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and currently attends Columbia University in New York City.

Stephanie Powell has choreographed for numerous companies, colleges and universities throughout the East and Midwest and currently teaches at the Baltimore School for the Arts and Towson University. She is artistic director of the Stephanie Powell Danse Ensemble, the Glory to God Arts Ministry, and In the Spirit Dance Ministry. Powell is a director of the Baltimore Dance Tech Inc. Dance Center, which has a comprehensive dance program with more than 100 students.

For more information about this performance, call the box office at 207-786-6161.