More than 820 guests attended the 13th-annual Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater opening night gala Tuesday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, matching last year’s record-breaking attendance. The evening began with a performance in the Opera House by the company, which marks this year as Robert Battle’s inaugural season as artistic director. When the show concluded at 9:30 p.m., guests made their way to the Roof Terrace for dinner and dancing, with Alvin Ailey dancers dancing and dining alongside guests.
“The dancers’ presence in the room is the real asset to the event,” said Carolyn Peachey of Campbell Peachey and Associates, who has planned and produced the event since its founding. Peachey works to seat dancers at the same table each year so they develop relationships with returning guests.
“The added element is that they really have fun,” Peachey said of the event, which she describes as more relaxed than the typical gala. “You can hardly fit on the dance floor. Credit goes to the band, the dancers who get out on the dance floor, and the patrons.”
This year’s gala decor incorporated a silver theme, based on DC Rental’s sequined tablecloths used for the 78 tables in the Roof Terrace’s South Gallery, South Atrium Foyer, and Atrium. Purple uplighting softened the marble walls, while Volanni added floral arrangements with roses, calla lilies, and tropical leaves for each table. For dinner, Restaurant Associates served a field green salad with confit kumquats and Gorgonzola toast, a main course of slow-braised short rib, and coconut-banana cream pie with chocolate crust for dessert. Diageo donated all the wine for the evening, as well as two specialty Ciroc Bellini and Crown Royal Black Manhattan cocktails. For the evening's entertainment, the Free Spirit Band kept guests on the dance floor until midnight, playing classics and top 40 hits from the likes of Usher and Maroon 5.
This year's gala, underwritten again by Southern Company, raised $740,000, topping last year’s total by $40,000. The money raised will support educational programs and scholarships for Washington students to attend the Ailey School in New York.