More than 150 alumni of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Modern Dance Company came from as far away as Japan to take part in a May 1 dance performance marking the company’s 35th anniversary and honoring company founder Marcy Plavin.

In addition to the performance, the dance alumni, along with the Plavin family and friends of dance, offered two lasting and visible thank-yous to this revered ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ mentor: a collective gift of more than $450,000 to fund two new dance studios within Merrill Gymnasium, and an original, mixed-media charcoal drawing of Plavin, that will hang in the studio space.

The studios, to be named after Plavin and scheduled to open in September will be the first home for the dance program, whose rehearsal spaces over four decades have included dorm basements and a variety of gyms.

The Schaeffer Theatre performance on Saturday evening included the current Modern Dance Company performing “Canonic 3/4 Studies,” a piece by acclaimed choreographer Mark Morris, and Alwin Nikolais’ 1953 “Tensile Involvement.” Alumni from as far back as the Class of 1969 danced in both a variety of short pieces and a long suite that constituted the entire second half of the program.

That suite included choreography by two alumni who have made dance their professions: Michael Foley ’89, who is assistant professor of modern dance at the University of South Florida, and John Carrafa ’76, a Tony Award-nominated choreographer acclaimed for his work on the Broadway hits Urinetown and Into the Woods.

The performance was rich in tributes to Plavin, of Lewiston, who started at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 1965 and retires as director of dance this year. Plavin is known at the college as both an early advocate for an expanded role for arts in the curriculum and a close friend and mentor to many of the students who worked with her. Saturday’s event was “almost solely about devotion to Marcy and what she contributed to our experience at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,” said dance company veteran Suzanne Carbonneau ’76, who is now a dance critic and dance historian.

This wasn’t the first MDC anniversary for which alumni have trekked back to Lewiston, but was an especially significant one because of the impending retirement of Plavin, who was first hired at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Â by the director of women’s physical education. “Marcy might have been the first adult who wanted me to call her by her first name,” said Geri FitzGerald ’75, now a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Trustee, told in 2000. “In many ways, she was the first adult friend that I had.”

“They’re my extended family,” Plavin says. “We’ve had great times together. Dance seems to build those kinds of friendships.”

During Plavin’s tenure, the dance program has grown dramatically — from two courses in the PE department to a rich slate of academic offerings that students can take as a secondary concentration. In the not-too-distant future, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ hopes to offer a dance major. Since 1983 the college has been home to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival, which Plavin founded and which today ranks in the top tier of such events in the United States.

Plavin will remain a presence at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but succeeding her as head of the dance program is Carol Dilley, who arrived last fall. Dilley’s resume includes teaching at the University of Washington and in a variety of dance programs in Sydney, Australia. She has also run a dance company in Barcelona, and attended the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival as a student in the early 1990s.

“Carol will do wonderful things,” Plavin says.

For information on making a gift to support the ongoing dance-studio project as well as dance programming at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, e-mail Shanna Bruno, Office of College Advancement, or phone 207-786-8254.

Highlights of the performance include “Canonic 3/4 Studies,” a 1982 piece by Mark Morris, one of America’s most respected choreographers, and Alwin Nikolais’ 1953 “Tensile Involvement.” For more information call 207-786-6157. No seat reservations will be accepted.

The Modern Dance Company was founded by Marcy Plavin, of Lewiston, who started at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 1965 and retires as director of dance this year. A program that helped pave the way for the college’s current robust offerings in the arts, including the nationally renowned ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival, Plavin and the company are the object of deep loyalty among its veterans — many of whom will dance on May 1.

“In the midst of this very intensive academic experience, it was incredibly different and open and freeing to have part of our experience be about being creative,” Suzanne Carbonneau told the college’s alumni magazine in 1998. A member of the class of 1976, Carbonneau is a dance critic and historian. “It was always about exposing us to a lot of different stuff and encouraging us to go where our interests were.”

Alumni from classes as far back as the mid-1960s will take part in the May 1 performance. The first half of the program features two pieces danced by current members of the dance company: the Nikolais work, for which the dancers perform with elastic bands stretched across the stage like a giant cat’s cradle, and Morris’s teasing takeoff on traditional ballet, for which obtaining performance rights was something of a coup. “We’re all honored by this great gift,” Plavin says.

Short works danced by alumni constitute the remainder of the first half. The program’s entire second half will be choreographed and danced by alumni, with an opening section choreographed by Michael Foley — class of 1989 and assistant professor of modern dance at the University of South Florida — and a closing by John Carrafa, class of 1976, a Tony Award-nominated choreographer acclaimed for his work on the Broadway hits “Urinetown” and “Into the Woods,” among other credits.

This isn’t the first MDC anniversary for which alumni have trekked back to Lewiston, but it’s an especially significant one because of the impending retirement of Plavin, who was first hired at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ by the director of women’s physical education. “Marcy might have been the first adult who wanted me to call her by her first name,” Geri FitzGerald, a member of the class of 1975 and a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ trustee, told the college magazine. “In many ways, she was the first adult friend that I had.”

“They’re my extended family,” Plavin says. “We’ve had great times together. Dance seems to build those kinds of friendships.”

During Plavin’s tenure, the dance program has grown dramatically — from two courses in the PE department to a rich slate of academic offerings that students can take as a secondary concentration. In the not-too-distant future, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ hopes to offer a dance major. Since 1983 the college has been home to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival, which Plavin founded and which today ranks in the top tier of such events in the United States.

Plavin will remain a presence at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but succeeding her as head of the dance program is Carol Dilley, who arrived last fall. Dilley’s resume includes stints on faculty at the University of Washington and in a variety of dance programs in Sydney, Australia. She has also run a dance company in Barcelona, and attended the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival as a student in the early 1990s.

“Carol will do wonderful things,” Plavin says.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alumnus John Carrafa ’76 was nominated May 6 for two Tony Awards for Best Choreography for Urinetown, The Musical and Into The Woods.

The American Theatre Wing’s 56th annual Tony Awards ceremony will take place on June 2, 2002 at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. CBS and PBS will broadcast the ceremony live on national television. Broadway shows that opened between May 3, 2001 and May 1, 2002 were eligible for 2002 Tony Awards.

Carrafa, a New York-based choreographer is increasingly well-known in show-business circles, thanks to his work on such projects as the megamusical Dance of the Vampires and the production of The Pajama Game in which Carrafa challenged the Fosse legend with a newly choreographed “Steam Heat.”

And all this with a biology degree. “I didn’t go to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ for dance,” says Carrafa. Yet he clearly sees a path leading from his present success back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. He is one of countless students who worked with, and was captivated by, longtime dance program director Marcy Plavin.

Plavin exposes her classes to all different styles of dance and to its best practitioners, many of whom she brings to campus. “Marcy helped us have a wider view of what dance was,” says Carrafa.

Just as influential was a rigorous intellectual climate at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ that taught Carrafa the importance of research to the authenticity, the sense of sheer “rightness,” that distinguishes a living dance from a mere collection of moves. That kind of perspective can be lost on choreographers who have studied only dance. “Many of the people I work with started dancing when they were teenagers or even younger,” Carrafa says. “And that’s all they’ve done.”