LEWISTON — Bates College’s 2012 Winter Dance Concert will feature choreography by the dance program director as well as three of the program’s first graduating dance majors.

Program A comprises senior thesis works by dance majors Victoria Lowe and Lauren Christianson; four student pieces made for an advanced composition seminar; a trio made by Sonja Favaloro, a sophomore from Princeton, N.J.; and two works by Bates dance director Carol Dilley set to music performed live by acclaimed cellist Madeleine Shapiro.

Program B consists of choreography by 10 students in a dance composition course — students in all four class years whose majors range from physics to dance. All told, the two programs and four performances will feature more than 50 Bates students.

“My piece explores us/them dichotomies, the problems with colorblind ideology and the beauty of difference within the context of monster theory,” said Christianson, a double major in dance and rhetoric from Madison, Wis.

“To sketch out an idea in one’s mind and then try to translate it to one’s body, clearly enough that a whole bunch of people with very different bodies can paint the picture you sketched out, can be daunting,” says Lowe, of New York City, a double major in dance and American cultural studies. “Sometimes ideas get lost in translation. This was where my process lay and where I found my piece.”

Dilley’s works grew from her long interest in collaborating with Shapiro, an innovative cellist who teaches, performs solo recitals and works with ensembles concentrating on contemporary music.

Dilley and Boggia will perform “Phantom Ice,” for which Dilley commissioned faculty composer Bill Matthews, Alice Esty Swanson Professor of Music, to write the score that Shapiro will play. “Phantom Ice” was premiered at a Bates dance alumni concert in New York City in February. Dilley’s choreography for 13 students, called “Wetlands,” is set to a piece from Shapiro’s repertory.

Bates established a major in dance, the first at a Maine college devoted solely to dance, in 2011.

Program A performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 1. Program B performances will be at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 2, in  Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. A ticket to either Program A or B is also good for admission to the other program. Admission is $6 for the general public, $3 for students and seniors. Tickets available at batestickets.com.  For more information, call 786-6161 or 786-8294.