Fire Island Dance Festival

Fire Island Dance Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary by bringing together captivating performances, breathtaking ocean views and a passionate community dedicated to making a difference on July 18-20, 2025.

Set against an awe-inspiring waterfront stage overlooking the Great South Bay, the festival unites the Fire Island Pines community in support of Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Fire Island Dance Festival begins with an opening performance at 5 pm on Saturday, July 19, followed by a Leadership Supporter sunset performance at 7 pm, and a closing performance at 5 pm on Sunday, July 20.

Tickets are available on the DRA website or in person on weekends from 10 am-1 pm in the Fire Island Pines harbor.

The performers set for this year’s festival include:

• A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham performing excerpts from Cassette, a nostalgic, referential work celebrating 80s and 90s camp

• Tony and Olivier Award winner Matthew Bourne making his Fire Island Dance Festival choreographic debut presenting a romantic male duet, an excerpt from his groundbreaking and tradition-shattering Swan Lake

• Emerging choreographer and So You Think You Can Dance finalist Braylon Browner debuting a deeply personal world premiere solo

• Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Christian Burse performing the athletic Growth. In a powerful full-circle moment, this piece was first presented at the inaugural Fire Island Dance Festival in 1995.

• EVIDENCE, A Dance Company, presenting an excerpt from Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, featuring dancers from Evidence and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Marking Grace’s 25th anniversary, the work will be accompanied by a special vocal performance from Broadway’s Noah J. Ricketts.

• Gibney Dance offering an excerpt from A Couple, an intimate and evocative duet exploring the shifting dynamics between two men.

• Award-winning director, choreographer and creative producer James Kinney premiering  a dynamic opening number showcasing his Broadway flair with a rock ’n’ roll energy

• Celebrated theater choreographer and performer Reed Luplau debuting a world premiere of five men navigating themes of loss and the hope of second chances

• Masterz At Work Dance Family sharing an excerpt of a vibrant work by Black, trans, femme choreographer Courtney Washington, blending voguing and ballroom with the foundations of contemporary dance. The piece premiered at last fall’s Hudson Valley Dance Festival.

• Christopher Wheeldon, Tony and Olivier Award–winning choreographer whose work has been featured in numerous Fire Island Dance Festivals, presenting his acclaimed pas de deux This Bitter Earth. For the first time the role on pointe will be performed by nonbinary dancer Ashton Edwards, with soloist Christopher D’Ariano, both from Pacific Northwest Ballet.