Dancers Responding to AIDS Announces Choreographers for Hudson Valley Dance Festival

Legendary, acclaimed and emerging choreographers - including Rob Ashford, Jeffrey Cirio, Merce Cunningham and Sonya Tayeh - will be featured at this year's Hudson Valley Dance Festival on Saturday, October 7, 2017, in Catskill, NY.

Produced by and benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Hudson Valley Dance Festival (#hvdance) will bring breathtaking dance to the Historic Catskill Point, a converted 120-year-old wooden warehouse on the picturesque banks of the Hudson River.

This year's lineup of choreographers includes Ashford, a Tony and Emmy Award winner; Circio, American Ballet Theatre principal dancer; Cunningham, an iconic American choreographer; Tayeh, an Emmy Award nominee; New York Choreographic Institute alum Joshua Beamish; New York City Center Choreography Fellowship recipient Emery LeCrone and internationally acclaimEd French choreographer Manuel Vignoulle. More choreographers will be added early this fall. Performances are subject to change.

"This unique, diverse lineup is a testament to how the Hudson Valley area inspires artists to create, grow and share," said Dancers Responding to AIDS founding director Denise Roberts Hurlin. "By bringing world-class, exquisite dance to the region, we're fortunate to be helping provide vital support to those who need it most in the Hudson Valley and across the country."

In its first four years, Hudson Valley Dance Festival has raised an impressive $460,397. The money raised helps Broadway Cares provide grants to AIDS and family service organizations nationwide, including 10 based in the Hudson Valley: Albany Damien Center and Alliance for Positive Health in Albany, Animalkind and Columbia-Greene Community Foundation in Hudson, Matthew 25 Food Pantry and Community Hospice in Catskill, Hudson Valley Community Services in Hawthorne, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston, Roe Jan Food Pantry in Hillsdale and TOUCH (Together Our Unity Can Heal) in Congers.

Tickets start at $40 and are on sale now at dradance.org or by calling 212.840.0770, ext. 229. Sponsorship opportunities also are available. New this year is a special VIP daytrip package from New York City. The package includes roundtrip luxury bus transportation, a tour of the just-restorEd Thomas Cole National Historic Site followed by a champagne luncheon, a ticket to the 2 pm performance and a cocktail reception after the show. In the 1800s, Cole was the founder of the famed Hudson River School of painting, the nation's first art movement, and the inspiration for this year's Hudson Valley Dance Festival artwork. Hudson Valley Dance Festival is sponsored by The New York Times, United Airlines and City National Bank.

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.