Modern dance at Bates celebrates 30 years

The Bates College Modern Dance Company, founded and directed by Marcy Plavin, lecturer in dance, will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with a concert performance, titled Slightly Hysterical (So, You Think This Has Been Easy?) at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 20, in Schaeffer Theater, 305 College St. Admission is free, but no reservations are accepted. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Featuring original music by William Matthews, Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music at Bates, Slightly Hysterical is a two-hour program of dance pieces performed by more than 150 Bates alumni who have participated in Plavin’s dance program over the last three decades. Alumni from as far away as Central Europe will return to Bates to begin rehearsing Slightly Hysterical the morning of the performance. Among those returning for the anniversary celebration and performance are former Lewiston mayor John Jenkins ’74, Lewiston-based cardiologist Dervilla McCann ’77, and award-winning poet Jean Monahan ’81.