Graceful Galas
American Ballet Theatre lovers help keep dancers on their toes.

By Meredith Guinness

Blaine Trump (left) and Susan Fales-Hill (right) at the 2004 Spring Gala.

Diana Vishneva in Romeo and Juliet.

Marjorie Fuscone, Stephanie Seymour, ABT executive director Rachel Moore and Kevin McKenzie at the 2004 Spring Gala.

During May two benefits will celebrate the American Ballet Theatre’s spring season (which runs from May 23 – July 16) while bolstering vital outreach efforts to ensure the future of this elegant art form.

Richard and Marjorie Fuscone will welcome about 150 guests into their Greenwich, CT, home on May 13 to support a lively children’s ballet program, a fitting lead-in to the May 23 Spring Gala at Lincoln Center, a much-anticipated gem of the New York City social season.

“There’s such a buzz around that night,” said Peter Lyden, director of development for ABT. “The world’s greatest dancers are at American Ballet Theatre, and all nineteen of the principals perform along with the whole corps de ballet. And there’s the fashion element of the long gowns and the socialites and celebrities. It’s one of the most glamorous events of the year.”

Along with President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is honorary chair of the evening, stepping gracefully into the shoes held for many years by her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Co-chairs for the black-tie event are Susan Fales-Hill, Aileen “Suzy” Mehle and Blaine Trump, all longtime supporters of the company. Sloan Lindemann Barnett, Tory Burch and Blair Husain, co-chairs of the Friends of ABT, were also involved in planning the event.

“I have always loved the ballet,” Trump said. “I absolutely love helping the company and supporting the dancers, and having fundraisers is an incredible way to help the dancers.”

This year’s gala begins with the performance, which includes scenes from the season’s ambitious lineup. The New York engagement promises the United States revival premiere of Sir Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia, classics Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote and Raymonda.

“This year we are very excited to commemorate the company’s sixty-fifth anniversary, as well as a very special anniversary for beloved principal dancer Alessandra Ferri, who celebrates her twentieth year with the company,” said ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie, who is looking forward to the American premiere of Ashton’s Sylvia.

About 3,500 guests are expected for the gala performance, with 1,200 staying for the elegant dinner and dancing on two dance floors to a live orchestra under the tent at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. Guests at the 2004 gala, which raised $1.5 million for the company, included a cross section of New York society, including Muffie Potter Aston, Nan Kempner, Princess Michael of Kent, actress Lynda Carter, Princess Firyal of Jordan and designer Carolina Herrera.

The third annual Greenwich Partners Club Event on May 13 also gives supporters a taste of what’s to come in the season ahead. Supermodel Stephanie Seymour and her husband, businessman and Greenwich Polo Club owner Peter Brant, have attended the event, which features a performance by some of the students from its beneficiary, the Make a Ballet program at Waterside School in Stamford, CT. The innovative program offers talented youngsters a chance to choreograph their own dances, and teaches set building, costuming, lighting and other technical areas they may decide to pursue in the future.

“Rick and I feel blessed and honored to host (the benefit),” said Marjorie Fuscone, who co-chairs with her husband and Albert and Rosina Primo. “Every child has the right to be exposed to the arts, and we believe that the funds raised for the Waterside School help to open many doors for the school’s children.”