The Boston Ballet ball, the ballet's annual fund-raising gala, transformed the Cyclorama at Boston Center for the Arts from a raw space to a whimsical forest on Saturday night. The Midsummer Night's Dream-themed ball, designed by Altieri Events, paid homage to the company's run of the Shakespeare-inspired ballet, which begins on April 7, and included three performances. The event raised $1 million for the ballet's programs.
"We wanted to go with a whimsical forest theme without feeling cheesy," said Renee Dunn, Boston Ballet's special events manager. "We wanted it to feel more modern." On tables, everything from the sage-green linens to the tree-branch and floral centerpieces and butterfly-adorned napkin rings contributed to a forestlike ambiance.
In the main dining space, Altieri draped the industrial setting with black fabric and decked the 44 tables with floating candles to create warmth. A stage flanked by two large screens anchored the room and served as performance space for dancers and the evening's M.C., Channel 7 news anchor Frances Rivera. This was the first year the stage stood in the front of the space, rather than in the center.
Max Ultimate Food was again tapped to cater, and dinner included a scallop and mushroom appetizer followed by an entree of short ribs and polenta cake. In lieu of a traditional plated dessert, guests sampled passed chocolate truffles, mini lemon meringue pies, and jelly candies.
At 10 p.m., the party went through a changing of the guard, with a Young Partners of the Boston Ballet after-party drawing 150 twenty- and thirty-somethings. The lower ticket cost—$150 for non-members and $100 for members—versus the ball's $750 ticket price, opened the party up to guests who might not be otherwise exposed to the fund-raiser.
The ball's marketing is primarily very formal, according to Dunn, with an invitation mailed to guests and one-on-one personal follow-ups helping to secure ticket and table sales. The Young Partners' outreach, however, is web-driven: weekly E-mail blasts go out the month before the event, and guests can purchase tickets directly online. "That's how guests in that age group respond to things," she said.