Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor And More At 19th Fire Island Dance Festival

Fire Island Dance Festival, the most anticipated charity event of the season on Fire Island, returns July 19-21, 2013, for its 19th edition. More than 40 dancers from world-class dance companies will present a stunningly varied program spanning Broadway to ballet with the Great South Bay as their backdrop.

The festival is produced by and benefits Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The weekend kicks off with the Friday night Leadership Event, an intimate evening reserved for Leadership Supporters. The excitement continues throughout the weekend with three Fire Island Dance Festival performances featuring acclaimed and emerging dancers.

This year's Fire Island Dance Festival will include performances by:
� Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, hailed by Out Magazine as the "best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama," premiering a fast-paced group piece set to "Beautiful Mechanical" by yMusic
� Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, noted for its dynamic artistry and riveting repertoire, celebrating the diversity of American dance
� Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, presenting the most famous male duet in the international dance world "Duet Concerto Six-Twenty Two"
� Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck, principal dancers at New York City Ballet, presenting "A Place For Us," a playfully romantic duet by internationally acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon
� Paul Taylor Dance Company, an iconic dance company that continues to outdo itself, returning to the festival with Taylor's inventive and eclectic style
� BODYTRAFFIC, performing "o2Joy," an expression of sheer joy set to great American jazz music that is peppered with syncopated hip-hop and drenched in light-hearted humor
� The Broadway Dance Lab, founded by Broadway choreographer Josh Prince, providing a new voice for dance in musical theatre
� Pontus Lidberg, one of the great choreographic talents of Sweden, premiering a contemporary ballet piece featuring New York City Ballet principal dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring
� Jeremy McQueen, a 2013 recipient of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago's Choreographers of Color Award and a finalist of the 2012 Capezio ACE Awards, displaying his meticulous, kinetic choreography in a world premiere work
Additional performers and this year's host will be announced later this spring.

Leadership Supporters enjoy an elevated festival experience including the Leadership Event with cocktails on Friday, highly coveted tickets to the Leadership Sunset Performance on Saturday and prominent recognition in the harbor and throughout the Pines.

Performing at this year's Leadership Event will be Keigwin + Company, an electrifying contemporary dance company that embodies a theatrical sensibility of wit, style and heart.

Ticket buyers are offered a choice of performances: opening performance on Saturday, July 20 at 5 pm (open bar starting at 4 pm); Leadership Sunset Performance on Saturday, July 20 at 7 pm (open bar following); closing performance on Sunday, July 21 at 5 pm (open bar following).

Tickets are available online at dradance.org or by phone at 212.840.0770, ext. 268. Tickets also are available in person on weekends in the Fire Island Pines Harbor from 10 am - 1 pm. Leadership tickets start at $325 and individual tickets for the 5 pm performances are $125, including open bar.

Dancers Responding to AIDS, founded in 1991 by former Paul Taylor Dance Company members Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, 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 more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide as well as the essential programs of The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative and The Dancers' Resource. Through these organizations and programs, DRA and Broadway Cares help to ensure that those in need have access to medicines, counseling, healthy meals, supportive housing and emergency financial assistance.