In a New York City apartment more than 20 years ago, two dozen dancers brainstormed what they could do to help so many of their colleagues who were battling AIDS. Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, dancers with Paul Taylor Dance Company at the time, mobilized the group and ultimately created Dancers Responding to AIDS in 1991. It was the dance community’s first ongoing effort to raise awareness and money to directly help those living with AIDS.

Dancers Responding to AIDS is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Funds raised by DRA are distributed through Broadway Cares to AIDS and family-service organizations nationwide and to the essential social service programs of The Actors Fund. The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS information above is inclusive of DRA’s efforts.

In a manner at all times consistent with the exclusive charitable and educational purposes of BC/EFA within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code:

• to mobilize the unique abilities within the entertainment industry to mitigate the suffering of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS;
• to ensure direct support specifically through the social services and programs of The Actors Fund to all individuals in the entertainment industry affected by critical health issues, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS;
• to support organizations across the country which provide treatment or services for people specifically affected by HIV/AIDS and their families;
• to promote and encourage public support for national and international programs and services which benefit people with HIV/AIDS;
• to increase public awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS through the creation and dissemination of educational materials;
• to support efforts by the entertainment industry to address other critical health issues or respond to an emergency, in each case as approved by the Board of Trustees;
• to support efforts by the entertainment industry in other charitable or educational endeavors, in each case as approved by the Board of Trustees.