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Save this story Save Story Save this story Cynthia Erivo Jenny Anderson/Getty Images American Ballet Theatre kicked off Halloween weekend a little early on Thursday evening with its Angels & Demons–themed Fall Gala at Lincoln Center. For the festive black-tie affair, presented by Dior, the stage magic continued onward to the David H. Koch Theater’s promenade, which was transformed into a Swan Lake –worthy gothic ballroom, complete with chandeliers suspended from its soaring 50-foot ceiling. The celebration also honored the shapeshifting talents of Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award–winning actress, musician, and producer Cynthia Erivo.
During cocktail hour, a fashionable crowd, which included designers Michael Kors and Phillip Lim, spilled onto the theater’s portico to enjoy the unseasonably warm October weather. Red devil horns dotted the crowd, though there was no shortage of heavenly apparitions. Bronx and Banco designer Natalie De’Banco, stylist Elizabeth Sulcer, and Nicky Hilton Rothschild channeled Charlie’s Angels in coordinating white looks, while Tina Leung looked positively celestial in a gold Jason Wu gown. Nearby, author Sarah Hoover, in a Carolina Herrera opera cape, Markarian gown, and Maison Michel halo juxtaposed her friend Charlotte Groeneveld’s sleek black look by Khaite.
Many of the dancers, who had to pull off lightning-fast changes after posing on the step-and-repeat ahead of the performance, took a less literal approach to the good-versus-evil dress code. “I chose black, silver, and gold to represent the theme,” said ABT’s fairy godfather PJ Pascual, the stylist who dressed Christine Shevchenko, Hee Seo, Scout Forsythe, and Lauren Bonfiglio in Monique Lhuillier sequins. Catherine Hurlin also embraced a little sparkle in Akris.
Misty Copeland, who hung up her pointe shoes last year, wore a black blazer and latex lace pants by Sergio Hudson, while Isabella Boylston chose a shimmering column by Là Fuori, Fangqi Li a mixed-media gown by Yuchang Xiao, and Devon Teuscher a neo-Grecian dress by Valentino. Chloe Misseldine brought the drama in custom Vera Wang, featuring a hand-molded bandeau bustier and mermaid skirt layered in black, charcoal, and sheer tulle. Joining the festivities from across the Lincoln Center ballet divide were New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia, a chic duo in Dolce & Gabbana.
Among the other guests, rich autumnal hues also made a strong showing. Julia Loomis Lockwood opted for draped ruby-red Gucci with a jeweled brooch at the waist, Athena Calderone paired a black Colleen Allen column with a deep persimmon velvet shawl, and Katie Holmes stepped out in a teal Kallmeyer jersey dress.
Introduced by the legendary Debbie Allen, Erivo took the stage in a dramatic, panniered Erdem look. Reflecting on her arrival in New York a decade ago to star in The Color Purple, she recalled, “What I loved most about the city was its dedication to art in all its forms. Whether it be theater, opera, fine art, TV, film, or dance.” She reserved particular praise for the latter: “ABT, with its rich history of storytelling, has provided New York, and the world over, with some of the most magical moving art one could ever wish for. And it created a way for us to marvel at the wonder that is Misty Copeland, and embrace many more passionate dancers into our hearts.”
Next, dancers-turned-emcees James Whiteside and Thomas Forster, sporting impish horns and a divine halo, respectively, with their tuxedos, took the stage to guide the audience through a program of enchanted forests and haunted dreams. The pair sprinkled humor and ballet trivia throughout the evening’s nine classical selections, all loosely tied to the fantastical theme. “We have spirits, fairies, sorcerers, and swan women,” said Whiteside. “So, a totally normal night at ABT,” quipped Forster.
The program opened with Daniel Camargo in the company premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits, a haunting solo depicting Orpheus yearning for his lost Eurydice. A lighter mood followed as Catherine Hurlin and Isaac Hernández appeared as Titania and Oberon in an excerpt from Ashton’s The Dream, the choreographer’s one-act Shakespeare comedy adaptation.
There were plenty of familiar favorites from ABT’s repertoire, including Shevchenko and Calvin Royal III as the goddess and shepherd in Ashton’s Sylvia ; a confection of marzipan, sugarplums, and gingerbread from Alexei Ratmansky’s Whipped Cream; and, of course, the Swan Lake pas de deux, with Misseldine bringing down the house with the Black Swan’s devilish 32 fouettés.
Artistic director Susan Jaffe also took the opportunity to revisit some lesser-seen works, including Coppélia, with Skylar Brandt as the doll brought to life, and Michel Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose, featuring Léa Fleytoux as a young woman visited in her dreams by a flower spirit, danced by Herman Cornejo. The program also featured La Sylphide, a genre-defining ballet that dates back to 1832, with Hee Seo in the title role. (Jaffe plans to mount a full-scale production next year.)
While there were no Nutcracker angels, Satan made an appearance in the penultimate number. Jaffe resurrected Agnes de Mille’s mischievous Three Virgins and a Devil from 1934, which ABT had not performed in nearly a quarter century. The comic ballet follows three young women whose weaknesses are exploited by Jake Roxander’s pointy-tailed trickster with slick dance moves.
Heaven and hell faced off once more at dinner, where tables dressed in ivory linens, white garden roses, and sweet peas alternated with darker tablescapes featuring black calla lilies and midnight Phalaenopsis orchids. Over roasted pumpkin soup and chicken pot pie, Jaffe, dressed in a Comme des Garçons blazer, recalled dancing the role of the Priggish Virgin, who believes she can tame the devil, during her own years with the company—a part originated by de Mille herself. “When I started looking for pieces to fit the theme, I really went down a rabbit hole,” she said. “So much of the ballet repertoire is about the supernatural world.”
Then came a number not yet in ABT’s enchanted repertoire, as 50 students from its pre-professional Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School materialized in the center of the room for a surprise rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” With the crowd suitably energized, Sloan Lindemann Barnett, one of the gala’s grand chairs, sporting Dior and devil horns (what else?), took the floor to lead a paddle raise that took in $700,000—helping bring the evening’s fundraising total to over $3 million.
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 1/39 Katie Holmes and Jason Bard Yarmosky
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 2/39 Anne Imhof, Devon Teuscher, and Isabella Boylston
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 3/39 Debbie Allen and Cynthia Erivo
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 4/39 Rashid Johnson and Lake Bell
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 5/39 Athena Calderone
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Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 7/39 Sai De Silva, Tina Leung and Sarah Hoover
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 8/39 Camila Ferrera, Roman Mejia and Tiler Peck
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 9/39 Noah Galvin and Ben Platt
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 10/39 Famke Janssen
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 11/39 Sloan Lindeman Barnett and Roger Barnett
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 12/39 Alex DiMattia and Christine Shevchenko
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 13/39 Anh Duong
Home Is Where the Heart Is: Hollywood Turned Up for the First-Ever Airbnb.org Gala Can Halloween Be Chic? 6 Tastemakers on How to Throw a Kitsch-Free Spooky Season Party We’re Mary-Kate and Ashley, Duh! 14 Fashion People on Their Best Halloween Costumes The Ukrainian Creatives Behind SoHo’s Newest Bridal Showroom Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 14/39 .
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 15/39 Misty Copeland and PJ Pascual
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 16/39 Calvin Royal III
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 17/39 Charlotte Groeneveld
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 18/39 Cynthia Erivo
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 19/39 Chloe Misseldine
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 20/39 Daniel Guzmán
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 21/39 Dancers performing at the American Ballet Theatre Fall Gala
Home Is Where the Heart Is: Hollywood Turned Up for the First-Ever Airbnb.org Gala The Ukrainian Creatives Behind SoHo’s Newest Bridal Showroom Can Halloween Be Chic? 6 Tastemakers on How to Throw a Kitsch-Free Spooky Season Party We’re Mary-Kate and Ashley, Duh! 14 Fashion People on Their Best Halloween Costumes Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 22/39 London Scout and Sai De Silva
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 23/39 Eric Goldie and Jeremy Batoff
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 24/39 Fangqi Li
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 25/39 James Whiteside
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 26/39 Julia Loomis Lockwood
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 27/39 Jose Sebastian
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 28/39 Lauren Bonfiglio
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 29/39 Cynthia Erivo
We’re Mary-Kate and Ashley, Duh! 14 Fashion People on Their Best Halloween Costumes Home Is Where the Heart Is: Hollywood Turned Up for the First-Ever Airbnb.org Gala Can Halloween Be Chic? 6 Tastemakers on How to Throw a Kitsch-Free Spooky Season Party The Ukrainian Creatives Behind SoHo’s Newest Bridal Showroom Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 30/39 Luigi Crispino
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 31/39 Natalie De’Banco, Nicky Hilton Rothschild and Elizabeth Sulcer
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 32/39 Melvin Lawovi
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 33/39 Phillip Lim and Stephanie Goto
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 34/39 Sascha Radetsky and Stella Abrera
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 35/39 Scout Forsythe
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 36/39 Serena Marron-Rugoff
Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 37/39 Susan Jaffe
We’re Mary-Kate and Ashley, Duh! 14 Fashion People on Their Best Halloween Costumes Can Halloween Be Chic? 6 Tastemakers on How to Throw a Kitsch-Free Spooky Season Party Home Is Where the Heart Is: Hollywood Turned Up for the First-Ever Airbnb.org Gala The Ukrainian Creatives Behind SoHo’s Newest Bridal Showroom Expand Jenny Anderson/Getty Images 38/39 Misty Copeland
Expand Bryan Bedder/Getty Images 39/39 Sloan Lindeman Barnett
Source: Lifestyle
