Catch Okach.

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The patient but mysterious way he stands still, the gentle way he sinks to his knees, the look on his face reflecting a nomad's life--these things mark the performing of Opiyo Okach, possibly the only contemporary improviser to emerge from Kenya. He possesses a rangey articulateness that could remind one of Steve Paxton, the father of contact improvisation. Okach joins Filipino choreographer Jose Jay B Cruz, hybrid artist Jennifer Archibald, Kyle Abraham (a 2009 "25 to Watch"), and others in Bates Dance Festival's "Different Voices" series, Aug. 6-7, in Maine. See www.batesdancefestival.org.