Lubovitch, Quanz, and Petronio Scheduled to Premiere New Works at Upcoming "Dance from the Heart" AIDS Benefit

New York, NY, November 19, 2006 --(PR.com)-- On Monday, December 11, the dance worlds of Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Tap, Jazz, and Broadway will converge on the stage of Cedar Lake (527 West 26th Street, New York City) for Dance from the Heart, a one night only event benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA) a fundraising program of Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. 

Now in its second year, Dance from the Heart was inspired by DRA’s highly successful annual Fire Island Dance Festival which has thrilled audiences for twelve years with diverse and electrifying programs showcasing the finest established and emerging choreographers and dance companies working in American dance today. The evening will be hosted by Tony Award® winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell and feature thirteen internationally acclaimed artists and dance companies. Those scheduled to appear include: Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Armitage Gone! Dance, Ballet Austin, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Dance Times Square, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company featuring Rasta Thomas, Michael Minery’s Tapaholics, Pilobolus, Peter Quanz, Stephen Petronio Company, STREB, American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancers Irina Dvorovenko & Maxim Beloserkovsky, and the cast of Broadway’s The Color Purple.

The program for this year’s Dance from the Heart will include signature repertory dances along with one World premiere and the New York City debut and two dances by major choreographers. Legendary dance master Lar Lubovitch and ballet’s fastest rising star Peter Quanz will present dances they created especially for DRA’s twelfth annual Fire Island Dance Festival this past summer. Maverick choreographer Stephen Petronio will offer a World Premiere dance from a work in progress created specifically for Dancers Responding to AIDS and Dance from the Heart. 

Now in its fifteenth year in the fight against AIDS, Dancers Responding to AIDS was founded in 1991 by former Paul Taylor dancers Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, DRA is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the nation's leading industry-based AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. The funds raised are distributed to seven programs of The Actors' Fund of America and as grants to over 400 AIDS and Family service organizations across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $100 million for critically needed services for people with HIV/AIDS.

The evening starts with a 7:30pm curtain and includes an After Party with the artists.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Dancers Responding to AIDS website or by calling 212.840.0770 

Dance from the Heart is made possible in part, thanks to the generous support of DRA’s Corporate Sponsors: The New York Times, Continental Airlines, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, BV, and NEXT Magazine

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