Kate Weare Company images by Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang.

Using dance to plumb the depths and dimensions of human relationships, Kate Weare and her company present their striking new “Garden,” along with established works, in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival performances at 8 p.m. Friday, July 27, and Saturday, July 28, in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College’s Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Tickets cost $24 for the general public, $18 for seniors and $12 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets online, please visit the festival website.

Tickets are also available by phone at 207-786-6161, or by mail or in person; .

The company offers a free lecture-demonstration at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, in Schaeffer. A discussion with Weare and her dancers immediately follows the July 27 performance. Dance writer Debra Cash offers an Inside Dance: Understanding Contemporary Performance lecture prior to the July 28 performance, at 7:15 p.m. in Schaeffer.

The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival, an annual summer series of renowned contemporary dance, celebrates its 30th anniversary by highlighting choreographers whose creative development has been nurtured by the festival.

Founded in 1982, the acclaimed festival brings together an international community of contemporary dance choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work.

At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, in addition to “Garden,” will perform Weare’s 2006 piece, “The Light Has Not the Arms to Carry Us,” and an excerpt from 2011’s “Bright Land.”

Weare’s dance merges formal choreography with visceral interpretations of contemporary views of intimacy. In the words of a New York Times writer, she “creates dances that seek to merge the mind and the gut through the power and persuasiveness of the moving body.

“With both rawness and precision, she maps a humanism that is contemporary, disquieting and profoundly stirring.”

“Garden” draws upon primitive issues of origination, collective identity and safety amid the uncontrollable natural world. In it, two men and two women frolic, flirt and fight in the unknown, depicting a world of sensuality and innocence disturbed by dark undercurrents. (The work is suitable for audiences of all ages.)

Weare has been commissioned by dance ensembles around the world, including the AXIS Dance Company of Oakland, Calif., the Scottish Dance Theatre, Australia’s Buzz Dance Theatre and CityDance Ensemble. Last seen at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival in 2009, Weare and company will begin developing their next work, “Dark Lark,” during this summer’s residency.

Abraham.In.Motion, photographed by Steve Schreiber.

Kyle Abraham, one of Dance Magazine‘s “25 to Watch” in 2009, brings his company Abraham.in.Motion to the 30th annual ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival to present its latest work at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 19, and Saturday, July 21, in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College’s Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Tickets cost $24 for the general public, $18 for seniors and $12 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets online, .

Tickets are also available by phone at 207-786-6161, or by mail or in person; .

The company offers a free lecture-demonstration at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 17, in Schaeffer Theatre. A discussion with the artists immediately follows the July 19 performance. Dance writer Debra Cash offers an Inside Dance: Understanding Contemporary Performance lecture prior to the July 21 performance, at 7:15 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre.

The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival, an annual summer series of renowned contemporary dance, celebrates its 30th anniversary by highlighting choreographers whose creative development has been nurtured by the festival.

Founded in 1982, the acclaimed festival brings together an international community of contemporary dance choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work.

Abraham’s work explores complex themes, such as the intersection of identity and personal history, in a distinct style that fuses his training in classical music, visual art and dance forms from ballet to hip hop.

At the festival, the company will perform “Live! The Realest MC,” inspired by Abraham’s upbringing in Philadelphia. The piece draws upon themes from his 2007 solo work, “Inventing Pookie Jenkins,” and the story of Pinocchio. The common theme in all three sources is the search for acceptance. (This program deals with adult themes.)

Abraham is celebrated for his intricate and dynamic choreography. “His choreography wriggles energy through the body, stretches it, suspends it, unleashes it,” wrote a reviewer for Dance Magazine. “Control alternates with abandon, infirmity with unbeatable vigor, abstraction with pinpoint-fine character drawing.”

In 2009 Abraham developed his provocative and acclaimed piece, “The Radio Show,” during a residency in the dance festival’s Emerging Choreographers Program. Abraham is the winner of the 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, whose former recipients include Bill T. Jones and Merce Cunningham.