Dancers Responding to AIDS' Fire Island Dance Festival and Hudson Valley Dance Festival to Return in 2022

The Fire Island Dance Festival and Hudson Valley Dance Festival, two of the most-anticipated annual charitable celebrations of dance, will take a hiatus this year due to ongoing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The events, produced by and benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, will return in 2022 to their homes in Fire Island Pines, NY, and Catskill, NY.

"While we had hoped to come together in 2021, the challenges of presenting festivals that feature dynamic lineups of acclaimed dance companies and choreographers proved too monumental to successfully tackle in this still uncertain landscape," said Denise Roberts Hurlin, founding director of Dancers Responding to AIDS. "We are committed to returning to our breathtaking Fire Island Pines and Hudson Valley locations in 2022, when we can gather to enjoy the beauty of our full-scale festivals."

The next Fire Island Dance Festival is set for July 15-17, 2022. The next Hudson Valley Dance Festival is set for October 8, 2022.

Despite this year's hiatus for both festivals, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will continue its long-standing financial support of organizations on Fire Island and in the Hudson Valley.

"The communities on Fire Island and in the Hudson Valley have helped amplify the arts in such a meaningful and impactful way for decades," Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said. "Thanks to generous supporters who have been by our side long before and certainly during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still able to provide help for those in these important regions who are struggling to find the health care and emergency assistance they need to survive and thrive."

A $25,000 grant will be awarded again this summer to the Pines Care Center to help ensure safety and health for residents and visitors to Fire Island.

And $32,500 in discretionary grants will be sent this fall to 13 Hudson Valley organizations that already are part of Broadway Cares' National Grants Programs. These awards of $2,500 each are in addition to the annual support provided them through the grants programs. The organizations are Albany Damien Center and Alliance for Positive Health in Albany, Animalkind, Columbia-Greene Community Foundation and Hudson Valley SPCA in Hudson, Matthew 25 Food Pantry and Community Hospice in Catskill, Hudson Valley Community Services in Hawthorne, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston, Rock Steady Farm in Millerton, Roe Jan Food Pantry in Hillsdale, TOUCH (Together Our Unity Can Heal) in Congers and Troy Area United Ministries in Troy.

The Fire Island Dance Festival has been a mainstay on the island's stunning shores since 1995, growing from an intimate fundraiser on a bayside deck to a weekend-long celebration of dance and philanthropy set on Long Island's Great South Bay. The event has raised more than $7.1 million to ensure that the most vulnerable among us throughout the New York metro area and in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., receive lifesaving medications, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance.

A wealth of talent has graced the stage in the Pines, including acclaimed dance companies like Acosta Danza, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, Caleb Teicher & Company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, The Chase Brock Experience, Gallim Dance, Miami City Ballet, MOMIX and Paul Taylor Dance Company. Choreography has been showcased by Kyle Abraham, Monica Bill Barnes, Joshua Beamish, Al Blackstone, Gemma Bond, Michelle Dorrance, Marcelo Gomes, Lorin Latarro, Darrell Grand Moultrie, James Whiteside, Charlie Williams and Tony Award winners Rob Ashford, Jerry Mitchell and Christopher Wheeldon.

The Hudson Valley Dance Festival, created in 2013 and set in a 115-year-old wooden warehouse-turned-performance space in Catskill has raised $1.1 million to help those in the Hudson Valley region and beyond. It has featured the works of and performances by well-known innovators in the world of dance, including Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Marcelo Gomes, Larry Keigwin, James Kinney, Jessica Lang, Les Ballet Afrik, Andrea Miller, Stephen Petronio, Josh Prince, Pascal Rioult, Sonya Tayeh, So You Think You Can Dance's Ricky Ubeda, The Washington Ballet, Wendy Whalen and many more.

While the two festivals are on hiatus, donations in support of these events can be made at dradance.org/donate. Every dollar helps provide health and hope to those most in need today, affected by HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other life-threatening illnesses.

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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