Bebe Neuwirth to Host Fire Island Dance Festival 17 July 16-17

Ten emerging and world-renowned dancers, dance companies and choreographers will join two-time Tony Award-winner and celebrated dancer Bebe Neuwirth at Fire Island Dance Festival 17, the most anticipated cultural event of the season at Fire Island Pines. Scheduled for July 16-17, this outdoor celebration of dance is produced by and benefits Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Neuwirth will host an eclectic program of ballet, modern, Broadway and contemporary dance performed outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Great South Bay.

Fire Island Dance Festival 17 will include performances by:
· Brian Brooks Moving Company, described by the Village Voice as "smart, utterly unpretentious heroes" who will "make your eyes water and your spirit soar"
· Brandon Bryant, a contemporary dancer from Miami and season 5 finalist on the hit Fox show So You Think You Can Dance
· Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, a cultural treasure for New York City, long serving both the Harlem community and the arts community as a pipeline for the next generation of ballet dancers
· Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, called by Dance magazine "equal parts power and grace," intertwines sensual and provocative movement with a strong understanding of music
· Paul Taylor Dance Company, one of the few indisputably prestigious dance companies in the world, returns to the festival to perform two extraordinary excerpts from the sexy "Brief Encounters" and crowd-pleasing "Arden Court"
· Sokvannara "Sy" Sar, featured in the documentary Dancing Across Borders and premiering a solo by Jill Johnson in collaboration with Vail International Dance Festival
· New York City Ballet principal ballerina Wendy Whelan and soloist Craig Hall performing Christopher Wheeldon's wonderous Liturgy

The festival also will showcase a pièce d'occasion by Dontee Kiehn, a fresh emerging choreographer and alumna of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Complexions Contemporary Ballet will present a special performance Friday, July 15, as part of an exclusive festival kick-off event for Leadership Supporters, presented by Audemars Piguet.

Ticket purchasers are offered a choice of performances: opening performance Saturday, July 16 at 5 pm (cocktails at 4 p.m.); sunset performance Saturday, July 16 at 7 pm (cocktails following); or the closing performance Sunday, July 18 at 5 pm (cocktails following).

Tickets are available in person on weekends in the Fire Island Pines harbor, online at dradance.org/fireisland or by phone at 212.840.0770, ext 268.

Neuwirth will take the stage as host after completing an extraordinary 15-month run as Morticia Addams in Broadway's The Addams Family. Neuwirth's heart has belonged to dance since she first started taking ballet at age 5. In addition to her remarkable work on stage, screen and television, she also is founder of The Dancers' Resource, a program of The Actors Fund that creates a unique health, financial and emotional support system for dancers and choreographers. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was the original funder of The Dancers' Resource and remains its primary financial supporters.

Neuwirth won a Tony Award for lead actress in the Broadway revival of Chicago and for featured actress in Sweet Charity. In addition to an array of other television and movie roles, she won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin Crane on Cheers.

Dancers Responding to AIDS, founded in 1991 by former Paul Taylor dancers Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre amd dance communities, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes and other critical illnesses across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised more than $195 million.

For more information about DRA, visit dradance.org.