If an evening filled with dancing, silent auctions, gourmet appetizers and wine sounds like a good time, come out on Sept. 8 to support the Red Ribbon Dance Project, a benefit event that raises funds for AIDS research.
Three years ago, the Red Ribbon Dance Project began an annual performance to raise money for the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. San Diego-based dancer Traves Butterworth collaborated with the university to found the event and has been featured each year.
“When I began my dance career, many dancers and friends were diagnosed with AIDS,” Butterworth said via a press release. “I and my fellow dancers want to give something back to the hardworking physicians and researchers who have fought against AIDS for three decades. At the same time, our dance is a celebration of life – a life without AIDS.”
This year’s event features four talented dancers and dance companies: Butterworth of Butterworth Dance Company, Kate Hutter of the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company, Michael Mizerany of Malashock Dance and Indian folk dancer Manasi Khidikikar. Performances will occur periodically throughout the evening.
“There’s a lot of time for people to mingle and schmooze,” said Debra Kain, director of press and media relations at UC San Diego Health Sciences. “There will be a dance and then a break so people can get up and walk around and bid on items at the silent auction. It’s a casual, intimate setting.”
The silent auction will feature items such as gift certificates for hotels, fine art, dining and other great prizes. All proceeds benefit AIDS research.
Since the discovery of AIDS in 1981, the medical community has made huge strides in researching and treating the disease but the struggle is far from over.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first clinical reports of AIDS which at the time was almost entirely mysterious and invariably fatal,” said Douglas Richman, MD, professor of pathology and medicine and director of the AIDS Research Institute at UC San Diego, in a press release. “There were no treatments, and therapies were difficult and, in some cases, ineffective.”
While there is no cure for AIDS, treatments have drastically improved to allow people to live for decades with the disease. Yet nearly 2 million people will die from AIDS worldwide in the next year.
The Red Ribbon Dance Project is on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at The Abbey, 2825 Fifth Ave. in Hillcrest. Tickets are a minimum $30 donation and tables are available for sponsorship for $500. Online registration is closed but tickets are available at the door.
For more information, please visit rrdp.ucsd.edu.
