George Balanchine once said, “There are no other times. There is only now.” Well, no slight to Mr. Balanchine, but last night’s New York City Ballet Fall Gala called for a celebration of both past and present as it marked the fifth anniversary of an occasion that brings the worlds of ballet and fashion together on a single stage. “In 2011, Lincoln Center was hosting Fashion Week; with so much creativity and experimentation right at our doorstep, we thought why not harness it?” said cochair Sarah Jessica Parker, who also helped conceive the event. “So the idea of inviting designers of high fashion into [New York] City Ballet was born.”
This year’s lineup included Rosie Assoulin, Narciso Rodriguez, Dries Van Noten, and Jason Wu, and while the evening plays host to four ballets’ world premieres, each with original costumes by a different respective designer, the fashion on the red carpet was just as in step. “I used to be a ballet dancer, and I studied with the Royal Academy in London for many years, but I’ve never had the chance to see it in New York,” said actress Diane Kruger, glittering in an all-white Giambattista Valli frock that only just spun its way down the runway for Fall 2016 Couture. “I’m super-excited; I brought my best girlfriend, and we’re having a girls’ night out.”
As for Parker, she arrived on the arm of husband, Matthew Broderick, and furthermore offered up a lesson in work-event-meets-date-night style. “I think at certain points you recognize silhouettes that are suitable and maybe more flattering,” Parker said. “There are things that I’m drawn to simply because that’s always been my eye or my palette.” Among those in attendance demonstrating their taste for the arts were Jenna Lyons, Amy Astley, Julianna Margulies, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, as well as principal dancers Megan Fairchild, Maria Kowroski, Ana Sophia Scheller, and Teresa Reichlen. “They’re talented, hardworking, humble, and they’re not in it for the money or the fame,” said Astley, who was fittingly dressed in tiered Peter Pilotto, of the ballet dancers, before echoing a similar sentiment in regard to Parker herself. “She really works hard on it, and she doesn’t just phone it in. She loves ballet.” It was an evening that was well worthy of an encore.
