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Two performances of widely diverse repertoire by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College dancers, including the return of the influential masterwork “Tensile Involvement” by Alwin Nikolais, take place at noon Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, in the college’s Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Featuring the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Company, student dance clubs and faculty performers, these Parents & Family Weekend performances are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-8294.

Nikolais, a pioneering choreographer, championed non-representational dance. He was known for a multimedia approach that, similar to opera, was intended to bring all aspects of the performing arts to the audience.

He choreographed “Tensile Involvement,” his best-known work, in 1953, also designing the set, costumes and lighting, and composing the music. The piece launches the dancers into interactions with giant ribbons that transform the stage into a dynamic matrix of color, sound and motion.

The most recent performance of the piece by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dancers was in 2004. A gift by Marcy Plavin, founder of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dance program, makes this year’s production possible.

Also on the program:

• work by hip-hop choreographer Robin Sanders from Memphis, Tenn. The guest choreographer for a springtime course that took ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dancers into local public schools, Sanders “was such a hit that we have brought her back for our core creative process course, Dance Repertory Performance,” says ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dance program director Carol Dilley;
• dances choreographed by Dilley, by faculty member Debi Irons and by student choreographers;
• a performance of Balinese dance by guest artist Shoka Yamamuro;
• and dances by student clubs — the Dynasty Step Team, Ballroom Dance Society and the liturgical dance troupe Justified.