Dancers Responding To AIDS Announces Performers For Fire Island Dance Festival

Produced by and benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Fire Island Dance Festival (#fidance) will bring acclaimed dance from an array of styles to a picturesque waterfront stage on the Great South Bay. Among the diverse dance companies and choreographers to be featured are:

• Choreographer Gemma Bond, presenting Depuis le Jour, a pas de deux performed by American Ballet Theatre principals Devon Teuscher and Cory Stearns.

• Caleb Teicher & Company, performing Hullabaloo, an energetic piece that premiered at Broadway Cares' Easter Bonnet Competition this spring.

• Camille A. Brown & Dancers, sharing New Second Line, a celebration of the spirit and culture of the people of New Orleans and their resilience after Hurricane Katrina. • Cirio Collective, premiering a new work performed by Boston Ballet principal Paul Craig and American Ballet Theatre soloist Blaine Hoven.

• Celebrated theatre choreographer James Kinney, premiering a new work performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's Michael Francis McBride and Samuel Lee Roberts.

• Paul Taylor Dance Company, sharing an excerpt of Aureole, a lighthearted and romantic piece that has become a signature solo work of Taylor's.

• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's Jamar Roberts, choreographing a premiere featuring four fellow Ailey dancers.

• Acclaimed British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, sharing a duet performed by Tony Award nominee and former New York City Ballet principal Robert Fairchild and American Ballet Theatre soloist Calvin Royal III.

Performers are subject to change. Additional performers will be announced later this spring. Last year's event raised a record-breaking $585,045, with more than $5.5 million raised 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, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., receive lifesaving medications, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance. Josh Prince, choreographer of Broadway's Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, will kick off the festival Friday night with his Broadway Dance Lab, a choreography incubator for theatre artists. Broadway Dance Lab will present a suite of overtures at the Leadership Event at Whyte Hall, which is reserved exclusively for Leadership Supporters. Leadership Supporters also enjoy tickets to the highly coveted sunset performance on Saturday or the best seats in the house at the 5 pm performances on Saturday or Sunday, along with prominent recognition in the harbor and throughout the Pines.

The incomparable dance continues with three Fire Island Dance Festival performances: the opening performance on Saturday, July 20, at 5 pm (cocktails starting at 4 pm); the sunset performance on Saturday, July 21, at 7 pm (cocktails following); and the closing performance on Sunday, July 22 at 5 pm (cocktails following).

Leadership tickets start at $375. Individual tickets for the 5 pm performances are $175. A hassle-free daytrip package features round-trip luxury transportation from New York City, a champagne luncheon and tickets to the 5 pm performance on Sunday, July 22. 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. Tickets for Fire Island Dance Festival are on sale now at dradance.org or by phone at 212.840.0770, ext. 229.

Beginning May 26, tickets also will be available in person on weekends in the Fire Island Pines Harbor. Fire Island Dance Festival is generously sponsored by The New York Times, United Airlines, DIRECTV, Sayville Ferry and Tony's Barge, Inc. 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, at facebook.com/DRAdance, at instagram.com/DRAdance, at twitter.com/DRAdance and at youtube.com/DRAdance.

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