Set against a breathtaking backdrop where stage, sea and sky merge into a singular setting for dance, the 30th anniversary edition of Fire Island Dance Festival dazzled with world premieres and celebrated works – all part of a record-breaking weekend of artistry and impact.

This milestone year of the longest-running charitable and cultural event in Fire Island Pines raised a record-breaking $825,002 for Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Since its premiere in 1995, Fire Island Dance Festival has raised more than $10 million in essential support.

The festival, held July 18-20, 2025, helps ensure performing artists as well as those across the country living with HIV/AIDS and other debilitating illnesses have access to lifesaving medications, counseling, healthy meals and emergency assistance. The professional dance community has access to this vital safety net of services through Broadway Cares’ annual support of the Entertainment Community Fund.

This year’s captivating performances included three world premieres by choreographers Braylon Browner, James Kinney and Reed Luplau.

The festival featured 10 diverse and celebrated performances:

Renowned theater choreographer James Kinney opened the festival with the world premiere of The Pilot, a vibrant fusion of jazz and rock ‘n’roll that crackled with energy. A spirited ensemble of Broadway performers leapt, spun and grooved across the stage, their joyful movements weaving a vivid celebration of community and connection.

Gibney Company offered A Couple, a deeply stirring duet by choreographer Roy Assaf. Dancers Graham Feeny and Zack Sommer navigated the complex rhythms of intimacy and tension, their bodies shifting effortlessly between tender fluidity, abrupt jolts and sharp specificity that revealed the nuanced layers of relationship dynamics.

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham delivered an evocative excerpt from Cassette, Vol. 1, where syncopated rhythms and smooth, cool transitions paid homage to the dance styles and camp culture of the ’80s and ’90s. The dancers moved with effortless swagger and precise footwork, channeling the playful spirit of vintage mixtapes, bold fashion and the vibrant self-expression that define Abraham’s unmistakable style.

Christopher Wheeldon’s haunting pas de deux This Bitter Earth unfolded as a meditation on love, loss and memory. Nonbinary artist Ashton Edwards brought striking vulnerability and precision to the role on pointe, making history with a performance that felt both intimate and expansive. Dancing alongside the equally expressive Christopher D’Ariano, the pair shared sweeping lifts and still embraces that captured the quiet intensity at the heart of Wheeldon’s choreography.

In a full-circle moment for this anniversary edition of Fire Island Dance Festival, Complexions Contemporary Ballet revisited Growth, the iconic, high-octane solo performed at the inaugural festival in 1995 by Desmond Richardson. Christian Burse electrified the stage with stunning control and fearless energy, bounding through the choreography with bold athleticism and gravity-defying balances.

Broadway performer and choreographer Reed Luplau shared the world premiere of A Single Man, a deeply personal work exploring loss, longing and the enduring, quiet power of hope. Five dancers moved in and out of fluid unison, their gestures tender and deliberate, lifting one another with care in a poignant embodiment of the Pines’ spirit of community and belonging.

So You Think You Can Dance breakout star Braylon Browner premiered his An Ode to Us, an emotionally charged work set to the liberating music of Elton John. Through spellbinding contemporary choreography, Browner led the audience on a powerful journey celebrating joy as a form of resistance, honoring the trailblazers who paved the way for a gay, Black man to take the stage with such fearless authenticity.

MasterZ at Work Dance Family lit up the stage with an excerpt from The 24/7 Diner, an electrifying, angular work choreographed by Courtney Balenciaga Washington. Fusing elements of voguing, ballroom and contemporary dance, the piece pushed the boundaries of chair work with sharp lines, death drops and unapologetic flair.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures brought its groundbreaking Swan Lake to the Fire Island Dance Festival stage, sharing a bold reimagining of the legendary pas de deux. Performed by Jackson Fisch and Rory Macleod, the duet featured two men in the central roles – one embodying the soft grace of the swan, the other exuding the commanding presence of a princely counterpart – expertly capturing the enduring impact of Bourne’s cultural phenomenon.

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company closed the anniversary festival with an excerpt from Grace, a revelatory work tracing the journey of a goddess who descends to earth to share grace with humanity before ushering them into the divine. Performed by a powerful ensemble of dancers from EVIDENCE and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the piece blended traditional African forms with contemporary movement, flowing with rhythmic vitality, spiritual resonance and sweeping beauty.

Broadway and television favorite Claybourne Elder, most recently seen as John Adams on HBO’s The Gilded Age, hosted the three performances of the festival with charm, heart and a deep sense of community. A newcomer to the island, Elder shared his growing affection for Fire Island alongside heartfelt reflections on his journey as a gay, dance-loving teen growing up Mormon.

Leadership Supporters kicked off the festival weekend at the Albert Lepage Outdoor Pavillion at Whyte Hall with a performance from dynamic and athletic company MOMIX. The company’s return for the festival’s milestone 30th anniversary holds special significance, as they headlined the first Leadership Performance. MOMIX presented a captivating selection of excerpts from the beloved Botanica, a collection of organic and inventive pieces that acrobatically bring to life a vibrant world of flora and fauna, as well as its gravity-defying “The Wind Up” from Baseball.

Dancers Responding to AIDS and Broadway Cares reaffirmed their dedication to supporting health care in the Fire Island Pines community through Broadway Cares’ annual $25,000 grant to the Pines Care Center. This vital funding helps ensure continued access to essential medications and resources, underscoring the organizations’ ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of the Fire Island Pines community.

Fire Island Dance Festival is generously supported by corporate sponsors The New York Times and United, the official airline of Broadway Cares.

Photos by Elyse Mertz and Danny Roberts
Video by Josh Drake, Víctor Rodríguez and Bardo Arts Productions

Event Program