A few pirouettes and musical notes are not going to cure AIDS, but they can help raise money to help find a cure.
Chi Tau Epsilon, a national dance honor society, is hoping to fill seats for the TCU Arts Collaboration benefit concert for the AIDS Outreach Center on Thursday.
“It would be great to have people sitting on the floor, and to have to bring in extra chairs,” said Natalie Bracken, junior ballet and political science major and co-chairwoman of the concert.
Started in the early 1990s by a former dance major to raise money for the AIDS cause, the event is now in its fourth consecutive year. The benefit concert will consist of several dance, music and theater pieces and includes local performers such as the Soul Steppers, Senseless Acts of Comedy and a dance solo by guest artist Peter Kalivas, said Krista Jennings, a senior ballet and modern dance and writing major and co-chair of the concert.
“It’s pretty set now that it will happen every year,” Jennings said. “The department is really supportive.”
Jennings said she has seen the concert evolve over the course of her time at TCU.
“Every concert is different because it depends on the reaction we get from the people we ask to perform,” Jennings said. “We asked people to submit video of what they would like to do in the concert and then we chose from that group.”
Last year’s show collected $1,700 in donations, Bracken said, and Chi Tau Epsilon is hoping to raise that total this year, which goes entirely to the AIDS Outreach Center to benefit its clients through various programs such as HIV testing and counseling.
Members of the society have worked tables in Brown-Lupton Student Center to earn additional donations for the benefit. To encourage students to donate, donors contributing $5 or more will have their names placed in a drawing for gift certificates to local business sponsors, such as Lenny’s Sub Shop and Blue Mesa Grill.
Although the main goal of the concert is to raise funds for the AIDS Outreach Center, Bracken and Jennings said, they are also looking to raise AIDS awareness.
“We want to be able to use our art and give opportunities to other student artists and performers to use their talents to give back,” Jennings said.