Esteemed Mexican troupe in New England debut at Bates Dance Festival

The leading Mexican dance troupe Delfos Danza Contemporanea makes its New England debut with the compelling evening-length work “When Disguises Are Hung Up” in 2015 Bates Dance Festival performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 24 and 25, in Bates College’s Schaeffer Theatre, 329 College St.

Admission is $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and $12 for students. For information about ordering tickets, please visit the festival website — batesdancefestival.org — or call the Bates box office at 207-786-6161.

Delfos co-directors Victor Manuel Ruiz and Claudia Lavista reveal their passion for collaboration and invention in a festival Show & Tell lecture-demonstration at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, in Schaeffer Theatre. Dance writer Debra Cash offers a pre-performance Inside Dance lecture at 7 p.m. on July 25. A talkback with the artists follows both concerts.

A work for seven dancers, “Disguises” integrates dance, video, computer animation and music by Mario Lavista, Meredith Monk, Schumann, Sergio Díaz, Bach and Vivaldi into a reflection on appearances, and the loss and rediscovery of the self. Both deeply conceptual and accessible, “Disguises” is one of the most esteemed works in Delfos’ repertory.

Choreographer-dancers Lavista and Ruiz founded Delfos in 1992 as a collective of artists whose creative vision is distinguished by the fluid physicality and poetic narratives within their diverse repertory. Delfos’ work has been presented throughout Latin America as well as Canada, the United States, Europe, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Lebanon.

Delfos has won worldwide critical praise; several major awards including the Mexican National Dance Award; and the distinct honor of being the only Mexican company selected to tour extensively in the U.S. with the support of the National Dance Project. Learn more: http://fronteraarts.com/delfos-danza-contemporanea/.

The Bates Dance Festival engagement of Delfos Danza Contemporanea is made possible through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.

About the Bates Dance Festival

Founded in 1982 at Bates College, the Bates Dance Festival brings together an international community of contemporary choreographers, performers, educators and students in a 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 activities and performances that foster a creative exchange of ideas, encourage exploration of new ground and provide access to a wide spectrum of dance and movement disciplines.

At press time, support for the 2015 season has been provided by Bates College, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Performance Network, Maine Arts Commission, Maine Humanities Council, Leonard C. and Mildred F. Ferguson Foundation, Lewiston-Auburn Children’s Home, the firm of Norman, Hansen & DeTroy, Platz Associates, the Onion Foundation, the Sequoia Foundation, the Shapiro Family Foundation and generous individual donors.