Handled with care

Class Action

Handled with care

By Jesse Tigges

WILL SHILLING PHOTO

After catching a free public performance from the charity group Dancers Responding to AIDS in New York's Times Square last summer, Meagan Grund knew she wanted to get Ohio State's dance department involved with the event.

So as part of her undergraduate honors project, Grund, a senior dance major, organized a local benefit concert with the group.

Working with Dancers Responding to AIDS co-founder Denise Roberts Hurlin, Grund created "Columbus Cares," which will pair OSU's dance department and local dance studios with the AIDS charity group on Saturday in the Riffe Center's Capitol Theatre.

As a result of the collaboration, Grund and her classmates have been invited to New York to perform in Dancers Responding to AIDS' "Dancing at the Crossroads" event this summer.

"[This is] a great way to get our school involved with this excellent organization," said Grund.

"Columbus Cares" will be an evening of eclectic dance featuring 15 groups performing a variety of styles — from hip-hop and step to contemporary, jazz and ballroom. Ballet and tap routines will be mixed in as well.

What: "Columbus Cares: A Benefit Dance Performance"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10

Where: Capitol Theatre, Downtown

Web: columbuscares.org

Along with OSU's Dance Team, the event will include the student organizations Dance Linx, OSU Delta Gamma Dance Team and OSU Phi Beta Sigma Steppers. Local studios involved are Dance Plus Ballroom, eMbody Dance Company, Dublin Dance Centre and the Columbus City and Youth Ballets.

"There will be a very diverse group of dancers," Grund said. "It will be a great way to learn about all the dance in Columbus."

Proceeds from the event go to Dancers Responding to AIDS, a fundraising program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Hurlin started the program with fellow former Paul Taylor Dance Company dancer Hernando Cortez to raise money for groups that provide emergency financial assistance for rent subsidies, health insurance, food and other basic necessities.

Since 1988, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $140 million for the cause, including $176,000 for local organizations like the Columbus AIDS Task Force, LifeCare Alliance and the Ohio AIDS Coalition.

"Everyone is benefiting from this — the dancers, the students and the community. It's a win-win-win," Grund said.

Tickets are $25 and are available for purchase through the OSU Dance Department and most of the local studios.

May 8, 2008