Riverdance and Gilda's Club Worldwide Team Up to Brighten the Holiday Season for Those Living with Cancer

Riverdance and Gilda's Club Worldwide Team Up to Brighten the Holiday Season for Those Living with Cancer

People with Cancer and Their Families to Benefit From Giving the Gift of Riverdance Tickets

NEW YORK, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Giving the gift of Riverdance tickets this holiday season will make a special difference to people with cancer, their families and friends. As part of its 10th anniversary performance at New York's Radio City Music Hall, Riverdance, the original Irish dance phenomenon, has teamed up with Gilda's Club Worldwide, an international cancer support organization created in memory of comedian Gilda Radner, to bring the energy, spirit and enthusiasm of the show to people with cancer, their families and friends.

To help Gilda's Club continue on its important mission, Riverdance will be donating a portion of the ticket sale proceeds from its celebratory 10th anniversary run -- March 10-17, 2005 at New York's Radio City Music Hall -- to Gilda's Club Worldwide. Tickets to the 10th anniversary performances are on sale now and are available at http://www.radiocity.com/, all Ticketmaster outlets, phone charge (212-307-7171, 212-307-7200) and http://ticketmaster.com/, as well as at the Radio City box office.

Gilda's Club is a nonprofit cancer support community where, men, women, and children who have any type or stage of cancer, and their families and friends, can come together for support and networking groups, lectures, workshops, and social events. Offered completely free of charge at 19 non-residential, homelike clubhouses in the United States and Canada, the Gilda's Club program serves more than 30,000 members.

Riverdance is rallying around Gilda's Club in several other meaningful ways that will bring the energy, excitement and spirit of Riverdance to Gilda's Club members. Special Riverdance "movie nights" at Gilda's Clubs will entertain children and their parents. The excitement will culminate on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, when children and their parents will receive backstage passes to meet the Riverdance cast.

"Gilda's Club is grateful for Riverdance's generous donation and its commitment to bring the gift of dance, music and, most of all, spirit, to Gilda's Club members, especially young children," said Joyce Bichler, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Gilda's Club Worldwide. "Children are often most deeply affected by cancer and this partnership helps Gilda's Club provide the special attention they need. It is estimated that one of every two men and one of every three women in America will have cancer at some point in their lifetimes. Partnerships like those with Riverdance make a huge difference to people living with the disease."

"Gilda's Club members embody the energy, enthusiasm and spirit that are emblematic of Riverdance," said producer Moya Doherty. "The opportunity to team up with this wonderful organization that has touched so many people was one we could not pass up. We hope that through this partnership, we will help Gilda's Club Worldwide to continue its fantastic work bringing social and emotional support to people living with cancer."

About Gilda's Club

When Gilda Radner was diagnosed with cancer, she visited a cancer support community in Los Angeles. There she found a group of people who understood the isolation and anger she felt; her confusion about treatments, relationships, and sexuality; her hair loss; and the thousand other challenges that daily face people with cancer-because they were going through the same thing. Of this community, she said, "There should be a thousand of them." Three years after her death, inspired by her wish and the program she attended, Joanna Bull, Gilda's cancer psychotherapist, along with Gene Wilder, Mandy Patinkin, and Joel Siegel, founded Gilda's Club and in 1995, the first clubhouse opened in New York.

Since the first Gilda's Club opened its signature red door, 19 clubhouses have been established in North America including those in larger cities (Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Toronto), smaller cities (Fort Lauderdale, Quad Cities, Hackensack, Rochester) and several points in between (Nashville, Grand Rapids, White Plains).

The impact of Gilda's Club is profound and transformative. When people join Gilda's Club, their anxiety and fear about living with cancer subside. From isolation, they feel a sense of community. They often feel hope, sometimes for the first time since their diagnosis; they grow personally and they learn how to live with cancer.

About Riverdance

The Original Irish Dance phenomenon, Riverdance is one of the longest-running live entertainment shows in history, having performed more than 8,000 shows to more than 18 million people around the world. With three traveling troupes in North America, Europe and Asia, Riverdance continues to enthrall audiences around the world with its thundering dance lines and Grammy-winning musical score. For more information, tickets and tour dates, please visit http://www.riverdance.com/.


Source: Riverdance

CONTACT: Evan Goetz or Lauren Stein, both of Financial Dynamics,
+1-212-850-5600, for Riverdance

Web site: http://www.riverdance.com/
http://www.radiocity.com/
http://ticketmaster.com/


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