With the Queen of Hearts as inspiration, the Washington Ballet once again turned to its current production of Alice when designing its annual gala for 400 held Thursday night at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.
“When we were thinking about how to turn Alice the ballet into Alice the ball, we used the costume sketches by Liz Vandal as our inspiration, and the Queen of Hearts really popped out,” said Liz Sizer, the ballet’s manager of special events.
Organizers partnered with Syzygy Event Productions and Susan Gage Caterers for the second year in a row to make the vision a reality. Upon entry, the reception space of the resembled the queen's garden with tall hedges and Ecuadorian roses donated by the country’s ambassador and arranged by Edge Floral Event Designs. Inspired by into the Mad Hatter’s tea party, Susan Gage served tea sandwiches in the shape of hearts, diamonds, and spades on clear trays lined with playing cards. The night’s signature cocktail, named the Queen of Hearts, came served with small straws that read, “Drink me.”
Inside the auditorium, red linens, chairs, cushions, place settings, and rose tree-style centerpieces filled the space in a recreation of the queen's palace. A wash of red lighting from Digital Lightning completed the palace look.
Ballet representatives, including creative director Septime Webre spoke before dinner and introduced the three Alice excerpts performed by company dancers along with a special dance by the students at the ballet’s TWB@THEARC—the Washington School of Ballet’s satellite campaign in southeast Washington. After the performances, DJ Pitch One took over the entertainment for dessert and dancing.
Final numbers are still being determined, but it’s projected that the gala raised $320,000—the same amount as last year—for the ballet’s three community engagement programs.