FIRE ISLAND DANCE FESTIVAL Returns this Summer to Benefit Dancers Responding to AIDS

Fire Island Dance Festival, one of the most anticipated charitable events of the Fire Island summer, will return to bring extraordinary dance and an incomparable weekend of culture on July 14-16, 2017. Featuring renowned international companies from a vast range of styles, the festival is produced by and benefits Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Fire Island Dance Festival (#fidance) will again be set on an idyllic waterfront stage with the backdrop of the Great South Bay in Fire Island Pines. Tickets for the festival are on sale now at dradance.org or by phone at 212.840.0770, ext. 229.

This unforgettable event has raised more than $4.8 million since the festival began in 1995. Through their generous support, Fire Island Dance Festival attendees have helped ensure that those in need throughout the New York area and in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico receive lifesaving medications, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance.

This year's world-class performers, sought-after choreographers and host will be announced this spring.

Past festivals have welcomed acclaimed dance companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, KEIGWIN + COMPANY, MADBOOTS DANCE and Pontus Lidberg Dance, and featured choreography by Kyle Abraham, Joshua Beamish, Al Blackstone, Marcelo Gomes, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Paul Taylor, Charlie Williams and Tony Award winners Rob Ashford and Jerry Mitchell.

The weekend kicks off with the Friday night Leadership Event, an intimate evening of cocktails and a special performance exclusively for Leadership Supporters. The experience continues with three Fire Island Dance Festival performances: the opening performance on Saturday, July 14, at 5 pm (cocktails starting at 4 pm); Leadership Sunset Performance on Saturday, July 15, at 7 pm (cocktails following); and closing performance on Sunday, July 16, at 5 pm(cocktails following).

Leadership Supporters enjoy an elevated festival experience that includes the Leadership Event with cocktails on Friday, highly coveted tickets to the sunset performance on Saturday or priority seating at either 5 pm performance, as well as recognition in the harbor and throughout the Pines.

Leadership tickets start at $350. Individual tickets for the 5 pm performances are $150.

A hassle-free daytrip package is available, which features round-trip luxury transportation from New York City, a champagne luncheon and tickets to the 5 pm performance on Sunday, July 16. A Sunday VIP option, which includes the champagne luncheon and tickets to the Sunday show, is also available. The daytrip package is $275; the Sunday VIP option is $225.

Beginning May 27, tickets also will be available in person on weekends in the Fire Island Pines Harbor.

Dancers Responding to AIDS relies on the extraordinary compassion and efforts of the performing arts community to fund a safety net of social services for those in need. As a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, DRA supports the essential programs of The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative and The Dancers' Resource, as well as more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide.

For more information, please visit Dancers Responding to AIDS at dradance.org, on Facebook at facebook.com/DRAdance, on Instagram at instagram.com/DRAdance, on Twitter at twitter.com/DRAdance, and on YouTube at youtube.com/DRAdance.