thank you! - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS
DANCERS
RESPONDING TO AIDS
(DRA)
Dancers Responding to AIDS is the American dance community’s ongoing response to the health crisis.
DRA mobilizes the dance world to raise money to provide direct assistance to dance professionals living with HIV/AIDS, as well as to
AIDS service organizations nationwide. These funds are distributed through The Actors’ Fund of America (see page 6), and through
BC/EFA’s National Grants Program (see page 12). Following are DRA’s signature events during fiscal year 2003.
THE 9TH ANNUAL FIRE ISLAND DANCE FESTIVAL
Hailed by Out magazine as “summer’s hottest charity event,” the 9th annual Fire Island Dance Festival returned to the Pines for another
smash weekend July 19th and 20th at the beautiful bayfront home of Frank Stark, raising over $106,000 for Dancers Responding to
AIDS. Set on a custom-built, illuminated stage against the dramatic backdrop of the Great South Bay, the Festival featured stellar performances
from 11 dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Battleworks, and Paul Taylor Dance Company,
all of which volunteered their time and talent. Christopher Sieber of the sit-com It’s All Relative, served as emcee, and we welcomed
back synchronized swimming’s 2002 National Duet Champions, Bill May and Olympian Kristina Lum, who performed in the stagefront
pool. As appears to have become tradition, the Fire Island Dance Festival culminated in a standing ovation, another great time for
a great cause.
DANCING FOR LIFE: NEW YORK CITY FESTIVAL OF DANCE
DRA hosted three weeks of dance activities ranging from benefit performances, audience appeals, and celebrity performance workshops
to the Danskin ® Masterclass series. The New York City Festival of Dance kicked off with Dancing for Life!, in August in Bryant
Park where companies like Martha Graham Dance Company, Pilobolus, and Dance Theatre of Harlem performed free for the public,
alongside the young winners of DRA’s Studio of the Year Competition. The Festival also offered celebrity performance workshops
with Ann Reinking, John Selya (Movin’ Out), Kraig Patterson (Mark Morris Dance Group), and Jeff Amsden (A Few Good Men…
Dancin’); and Speak Out, a symposium addressing health issues specific to dancers.
Rebecca Stenn’s Perks-Dance-Music Theatre performing at Dancing for Life! at Bryant Park in New York City, one of the dancers from Spotlight Dance Center in London,
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing at the 9th annual Fire Island Dance Festival.
dancers responding to aids
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