Smuin's Annual Gala Celebrates 23rd Season

Leaders in the arts and civic communities packed The Galleria for what became a sizzling evening celebrating one of the nation's most innovative and entertaining arts organizations at Smuin's Annual Gala. Co-chairs Patti and Jerry Hume, and Athena and John Konstin hosted the sparkling event, starring the Smuin dancers. The festive evening included a cocktail reception on the center's terrace, after which guests were seated on the main floor for a delectable dinner catered by McCall's with wines by Grgich Hills Estate. The Smuin dancers hit the stage, performing dazzling works created by Val Caniparoli and Michael Smuin that brought down the house. Held Sunday, March 19 at The Galleria at the San Francisco Design Center, the Gala raised more than $455,000, setting a new record for funds raised in support of Smuin's spectacular programming.

The evening began with dancers mingling on The Galleria's verandas with guests, including former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, State Senator Scott Weiner, former State Senator Mark Leno, CommissionersDebra Walker and Kim Brandon, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, and San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed, after which attendees were settled into beautifully set tables in the main floor dining area. The night's program included welcome remarks by Smuin's Artistic Director Celia Fushille, followed by Smuin dancers, performing Val Caniparoli's Bird's Nest set to music by Charlie Parker, an excerpt from Michael Smuin's To The Beatles, a gorgeous athletic ballet set to music by The Righteous Brothers, and Michael Smuin's Gershwin love letter, They Can't Take That Away From Me. Among those applauding: Smuin Managing DirectorRhonda Grossman, and trustees F. Thomas Aden, Lee Baxter, David Berger, Bruce Braden, Mary Canning,Robert Challey, Karen Kadushin, Dell Larcen, Madelyn Mallory, Maria Nazari, and Beth Saunders, as well as guests including Sally and Warren Debenham, Sallie and Leon Huntting, Ann Moller Caen, Garrett Foulke and Dorothy Correa, and other Smuin supporters.

Next came a fast and furious auction, conducted by ace auctioneer Abra Annes, who sold off one-of-a-kind items including a culinary journey to twelve of the Bay Area's most sought-after restaurants, a stay-cation at the St. Regis hotel, an opportunity to spend the weekend with Smuin in Carmel, an Ultimate Bay Area Sports Extravaganza Experience, a dream vacation with the club Inspirato, a private villa at the Fairmont Grande Del Mar in San Diego, a fabulous stay in Mexico, and the hit of the night: a chance to walk-on during Smuin's Christmas Ballet performances, (which sold five times for $5,000 each), quickly raising additional welcome funds for the company.

Dinner, catered by McCalls, included a delicate first course of compressed apples and roasted beet root with Sonoma chevre, gem lettuce, shaved fennel, and carrots, followed by McCall's Braised Beef Short Ribs, with seasonal vegetables and horseradish puree, finishing with a Mango Soleil Marquise on top of a hibiscus raspberry coulis and basil compressed pineapple. The meal was paired with wines generously donated by Grgich Estate. The team at Leftwich Events managed this memorable evening which concluded as guests joined Smuin dancers to kick up their heels on the dance floor.

Funds raised at Smuin's Annual Gala will help support the company's productions, which are presented in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, in venues in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Mountain View, Carmel, and across the United States. Smuin is a major supporter of new works, and is also one of the most consistent providers of employment for dancers on an annual basis of any company in the greater Bay Area, with dancers remaining on contract for the better part of each year.

Sponsors of Smuin's Gala included BiRite Food Distributors, First National Bank of Northern California, Moss-Adams LLP, Nob Hill Gazette, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

For more than 20 years, Smuin has pushed the boundaries of contemporary ballet within a distinctly American style, engaging and delighting audiences with uncommon physicality and expression. Founded in San Francisco in 1994 by Tony and Emmy award-winning choreographer Michael Smuin, the company is committed to creating work that merges the diverse vocabularies of classical ballet and contemporary dance. As Artistic Director since 2007, Celia Fushille has maintained Michael Smuin's legacy while enriching the company's impressive repertoire by collaborating with inventive choreographers from around the world, commissioning world premieres, and bringing new contemporary choreographic voices to the Smuin stage. For further information visitwww.smuinballet.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.