Dancers Responding to AIDS Hold Hudson Valley Dance Festival in Catskills

Head to the Catskills, New York, over Columbus Day weekend when Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, is hosting its fifth annual Hudson Valley Dance Festival at the Historic Catskill Point.

Hudson Valley Dance Festival (#hvdance) will feature renowned dance companies and emerging artists from a range of styles for two enchanting performances on Saturday, October 7 at 2 pm and at 5 pm. The festival will again transform the 120-year-old wooden warehouse at Historic Catskill Point into a modern-day dance venue.

Performances will include choreography by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford, Joshua Beamish, American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Jeffrey Cirio, American dance legend Merce Cunningham, Moses Pendleton, Emmy Award nominee Sonya Tayeh and Manuel Vignoulle. Performances subject to change. Sponsorship opportunities also are available for both the GCCA ARTFASHION event and Hudson Valley Dance festival.

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 social 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.

New this year is a special VIP daytrip package from New York City, which 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 social service organizations in all 50 states.

For more information on the Hudson Valley Dance Festival, visit Dancers Responding to AIDS atdradance.org, atfacebook.com/DRAdance, at instagram.com/DRAdance, attwitter.com/DRAdanceand atyoutube.com/DRAdance.

Tickets start at $40 and are on sale now at dradance.org or by calling 212-840-0770, ext. 229.