LEWISTON — As far as audience member George Stanley of Greene is concerned, the Thursday night premiere of “Mill Town” would have delighted the thousands of men and women who spent their lives toiling at the Bates Mill.

“Would those workers want the memories of them dead and buried beneath the floors?” Stanley said, as “Mill Town” moved from its first act to its second. “Wouldn’t they be happy about this? It keeps their spirits alive.”

Hundreds gathered at the Bates Mill Complex for the first presentation of “Mill Town,” an immersive performance three years in the making. As the dancers moved through different sections of the mill, the audience followed along, enraptured by both performance and setting.

“I have a feeling that some of them are descendants of those workers,” Stanley said. “They came to see what their ancestors did during those 13-hour work days.”

A cast of 47 dancers performed, but it could be argued that none shone brighter than the mill itself. Throughout the show, which moved from the mill lawns to the deep, dark expanses inside, the audience seemed enthralled by the structure.

“It sat vacant for so long,” said Robert Clark, whose children attended Bates College and who came from Cumberland to see the show. “It’s wonderful to see that being turned around.”

“I’ve always felt very sad about the mill,” said his wife, Hilde. “It seemed to represent loss of employment for a lot of people.”

The concept of “Mill Town” came into being years ago when Bates Dance Festival Executive Director Laura Faure began to wonder what it would take to create a site-specific work at the mill complex. She posed the idea to famed site choreographer Stephan Koplowitz.

“This entire project started with a gleam in her eye,” Koplowitz said at the start of the Thursday night show.

The resulting performance, he said, was inspired by the geography, industry and culture of Lewiston-Auburn.

As they moved from room to room and floor to floor at the mill, the audience seemed dazzled by the dancers, who moved like phantoms around beams and spools and a variety of artifacts from Museum L-A, which occupies part of the complex.

“It’s a fabulous site,” said Anna Anchata, who came from Riverside County in California to watch the show with the Clarks. “It’s neat to see the mill being used this way. It’s really exciting.”

Stanley, obviously moved by the presentation, watched as the dancers tumbled about on the mill lawn, rolling massive tubes among them. He couldn’t help but note how the dance seemed to mimic the kind of work that was performed at the mill generations ago.

“They’re doing it for fun tonight, but when the workers did what they did, it wasn’t for pleasure,” Stanley said. “This is a major work. It’s heavy duty.”

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