BC/EFA Presents DANCERS RESPONDING TO AIDS Benefit 1/23

The Cedar Lake Theater in West Chelsea will come to life on Friday, January 23 with a thrilling evening of dance to benefit Dancers Responding To AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA). Hosted by Tony Award winning choreographer Rob Ashford, this gala event guarantees to be a soul-stirring showcase of the best and brightest from today's varied dance landscape with performances by American Ballet Theatre, Battleworks, Broadway's "Billy Elliott," Camille A. Brown, Dresden Ballet, Les Ballet Grandiva, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The program will also feature the world premiere of TITLE by choreographer Chase Brock performed by NYCB principal Tiler Peck.

"We are delighted that these nine extraordinary artists and companies have come together for this very special event to benefit the programs of DRA," said Denise Hurlin-Roberts, Founding Director of DRA. "Their on-going commitment to support our organization continues to make a difference in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS."

Founded in 1991, by former Paul Taylor Dancers Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, DRA encompasses a network of professional dance companies who raise money through audience appeals and performing DRA events, the Dance Student Outreach Project, and other wide-ranging dance organizations. Proceeds from the evening will be distributed in two ways. The BCEFA National Grants program grants money to almost 500 AIDS and Family Service Organizations across the country as well as in Canada, Puerto Rico and South Africa. Residual funds are also awarded to seven programs of The Actors' Fund of America.
"Dances From The Heart" will take place on Friday, January 24 at 8pm. Tickets are $250 for reserved seating and a post-performance party with artists, and $150 for the performance only. To order tickets, please visit www.dradance.org or call 212-840-0770. The performance and party will take place at the Cedar Lake Theater in the heart of the Chelsea Gallery District at 547 West 26th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. For more information, visit www.dradance.org.

American Ballet Theatre soloist Daniil Simkin will perform ‘Tico-tico' from Paul Taylor's masterwork Company B. One of Mr. Taylor's most beloved dances, Company B is a distillation of 1940s Americana set to exuberant Andrews Sisters' hits and tempered by the shadows of GIs dying in World War II.

Daniil Simkin joined the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera in 2006 as a demi-soloist and since then has danced many roles in the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoire of the company. In 2007, he danced his first principal role, Basilio in Don Quixote, as a guest with the Lithuanian National Opera. Simkin's awards include the Senior Gold Medal at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson 2006, Grand Prix International Ballet Competition Helsinki 2005 and First Prize and Gold Medal at the 21st International Ballet Competition in Varna 2004, among others.

Battleworks' dancer Marlena Wolfe will perform Ella, Robert Battle's fast and furious tribute to the rhythmic genius of Ella Fitzgerald. Ella's "Air Mail Special" textured vocals are mirrored by the performers physical "scatting." Founded in 2001, Battle's seven year-old dance company is known for its strong repertoire consistently danced with vigor and technical virtuosity.

Marlena Wolfe received a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College under the direction of Katie Langan. Upon graduation, Ms. Wolfe was awarded the highest honor from the MMC Dance Department, a Gold Key, for demonstrating excellence in her field.

Performing Elton John's "Electricity" from the new mega-hit Broadway show, DRA is thrilled to welcome David Alvarez, one of the shows three young men playing the role of Billy. "Electricity" is Billy's climactic second act solo conveying why he must dance and why we are all "dancers." Choreographed by Peter Darling and directed by Stephen Daldry "Billy Elliott" tells the uplifting story of a young artist's quest to understand and realize his inner passion for dance amidst family intolerance and a backdrop of turbulent political unrest.

David Alvarez (Billy) was born in Montreal, Canada on May 11, 1994 of Cuban parents and started a serious training at the age of 9. With a full scholarship he trained at American Ballet Theater's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School (JKO) and continues to train at ABT. In classical ballet, his roles include the Garland Boy in "The Sleeping Beauty" (Metropolitan Opera House, NYC, June 2007), the role of "The Nutcracker's" Fritz (Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington DC, December 2007), and a male variation of "The Flower Festival of Genzan" at JKO's School Spring Performance (The Ailey Citigroup Theater, NYC, March 2008).

Camille A. Brown's, More Time Than Anybody, part of a larger work, The Groove To Nobody's Business, was commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2007 and takes us on a journey exploring the way relationships can develop among strangers waiting for a subway train - capturing the dynamic in the most mundane situations, revealing glimpses of humanity in pedestrian movements and ordinary interactions. This rousing work for six dancers (Telly Fowler, Kevin Guy, Belen Estrada, Catherine Foster, Juel D. Lane, and Camille A. Brown) hopes to express that "we all have bad days, but if we wallow in the negativity of it, life will pass you by."

Ms. Brown has been honored with awards and fellowships that include a 2006 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Choreography, The Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award in Dance, NFAA Young Artists' Award, and The Project Next Generation Award. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater premiered Ms. Brown's The Groove To Nobody's Business in London, England in fall '07. The work was nominated for Best Choreography by the Black Theater Alliance and is a part of the company's 50th anniversary season.

Dresden SemperOper Ballett's principal dancers Yumiko Takeshima and Coumes-Marquet will perform On the Nature of Daylight, a work by resident choreographer David Dawson. On the Nature of Daylight, set to an original music score by Max Richter, explores the idea of love as both the ordinary and the extra-ordinary - an emotion that we search for and that binds us as human beings.

Mr. Dawson, appointed Resident Choreographer of the Dresden SemperOper Ballett in 2006, is considered to be one of the foremost names in European dancemaking today. His works have joined the repertoire of such companies as Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Finnish National, Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet, National Ballet of Marseille, Royal Ballet Flanders, Royal Swedish Ballet, among others. Dawson has received Russia's highest theatre prize for visual art, The Golden Mask Award for Reverence and the Choo San Goh Choreography Award for The Gentle Chapters both in 2006. On The Nature of Daylight premiered in Sendai, Japan in 2007.
Les Ballet Grandiva

Les Ballet Grandiva will bring their special kind of magic to "Dances From The Heart" performing "Four Little Swans" (excerpt Swan Lake Act ll) with choreography by Victor Trevino. The New York Times hails Grandiva as "virtuosic, freshly funny, sweet-tempered and inventive" and The Village Voice says Grandiva approaches some of history's greatest roles with flamboyant aplomb that's "guaranteed to goad an audience into hilarity."
Les Ballets Grandiva, the lighthearted all-male comedy ballet company, is currently the largest company of its kind in the world. Founded by current director Victor Trevino, Grandiva has 19 plus dancers and over 30 active ballets with over 50 total ballets in the repertoire.

Chase Brock is Artistic Director of The Chase Brock Experience, his New York City-based contemporary dance company founded in 2006. A North Carolina native, Brock studied as a teenager with directors and choreographers Patricia Birch, Stanley Donen, Gregory Hines and Tommy Tune at Ann Reinking's Broadway Theatre Project. He studied ballet with Ronnie Zink and Carlos Agudelo at Ballet Spartanaburg; studied acting with Betsy Bisson at Flat Rock Playhouse; studied dance composition with Pearl Lang at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance; and studied directing with Robert Wilson at his Watermill Center.

The gala audience will be treated to the full 16 member Paul Taylor Company performing Mr. Taylor's seminal work "Promethean Fire," often described as one of the most powerful dances among the distinguished company's repertoire. "It has grandeur, majesty and a spiritual dimension. It is also quite simply one of the best dance works choreographed by Paul Taylor," said The New York Times' Anna Kisselgoff of the 2002 premiere.
Few artists of our time have had the profound impact on their art form that Mr. Taylor has had on dance. Since the 1950's the Paul Taylor Dance Company has been synonymous with innovation and quality. Paul Taylor has influenced dozens of men and women who have gone on to create their own dances and/or establish their own troupes.

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