BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College Department of Theater and Dance will celebrate the 40th anniversary of dance at the college with a festival that runs from April 9 through April 16.
 
Established by Professor June Vail in 1971, the dance program at Bowdoin has grown into a central part of the college’s arts curriculum. “dance40@bowdoin” is a 10-day celebration that will showcase the program’s vitality and diversity through a series of performances, talks, and other events.
 
Among the highlights will be performances by two prominent American dance companies, Troika Ranch and Larry Keigwin + Company; an evening of dance on film; a conversation with New York Times culture critic Claudia LaRocco (Bowdoin class of 2000); and a concert featuring student and alumni choreography.
 
All events require tickets, which are free of charge and general admission. Advance tickets are available at the David Saul Smith Union information desk on campus 725-3375). Tickets will also be available immediately before each show at the Pickard/Wish Theater box office in Memorial Hall on campus. Due to limited seating, tickets expire 15 minutes before showtime, so patrons are advised to arrive early.
 
Larry Keigwin will kick off the festival with a public performance and a master class for Bowdoin dance students. The public performance will be presented at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 9, in Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. Founded in 2003, Keigwin + Company combines physicality with theatricality and fuses art with entertainment. The piece they will perform at Bowdoin, “Elements,” comprises four sections representing fire, water, earth, and air. Immediately following their performance, the Association for Bowdoin Friends will sponsor a public reception for the company in Drake Lobby.
 
“Dance in Focus,” an international selection of short dance films curated by Bowdoin Assistant Professor of Dance Charlotte Griffin, will be presented at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 10, in Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall. This 90-minute program introduces the aesthetically and culturally diverse genre of “Dance for the Camera,” a burgeoning new form that features works choreographed specifically for film. The presentation will be followed by a discussion of the broad array of films screened.
 
Dance company Troika Ranch will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 13 and 14, in Wish Theater, Memorial Hall. Troika will perform “loopdiver,” a multimedia show that explores the concept of loops, a cultural structure pervasive since the popularization of the computer. “loopdiver” originated with a six-minute performance that was complete with movement, music, video, and theatrical lighting; then, using digital software, a video of that performance was transformed into the 60-minute live choreographic score.
 
Bowdoin student and faculty work will be featured in the annual spring dance concert, which will be presented at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 14 through 16, in Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. The event will feature performances by students in repertory classes under the direction of theater and dance department faculty Charlotte Griffin, Gwyneth Jones, and Paul Sarvis. The Saturday, April 16, performance will also include a special segment featuring Bowdoin alumni.
 
Finally, an informal conversation on the state of dance will be held during “Perspectives on Dance” at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, in Hubbard Hall, Conference Room West. The talk will be hosted by New York Times culture critic Claudia La Rocco and Professor June Vail, dance critic, author, and founder of the dance program at Bowdoin. The discussion will focus on dance’s changing choreographies, ideologies, aesthetic goals, and social implications over the past 40 years.
 
For more information on these events go to the dance40@bowdoin website at http://www.bowdoin.edu/theater-dance/calendar/dance40.shtml.