Fire Island Dance Festival Raises $374,260 For AIDS Care [PHOTOS]

The Fire Island Dance Festival 2012 raised a record-breaking $374,260 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Produced by and benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares, the 18th edition of the annual festival was hosted by Mo Rocca at the Fire Island Pines from July 20 to 22. And it brought in the highest-ever amount, increased by more than $30,000 from last year's record.

"It doesn't seem that long ago that we first came out to Fire Island Pines and raised $8,000 with 10 performers on a make-shift dance floor," said Denise Roberts Hurlin, founder of Dancers Responding to AIDS, in a statement.

"And the reasons we do it today are just as strong and resonant as they were 18 years ago. We're fighting to end the stigma that surrounds this disease and to make sure that no one facing these intense personal challenges does so in isolation or shame," Hurlin added.

The three-day event featured works by Ballet Hispanico, David Grenke Performance Projects, Jared Grimes, Project Moves Dance Company, Yosvani Ramos, and Sidra Bell Dance New York. The highlights of the festival included five new pieces choreographed by Rob Ashford, Monica Bill Barnes, Rennie Harris, Edwaard Liang, and Lizzie MacKenzie.

For 18 years, the festival has raised more than $2.9 million.