Daily Front Row

2009 March 11

Shall We Dance?

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Sarah Jessica Parker
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(NEW YORK) Though the fashion pack may still be traipsing Paris this week, there’s still plenty of glam to keep the rest of New York going, and Monday night, it came in the form of the School of American Ballet's Winter Ball sponsored by Zang Toi. Over 400 black tie-clad chicsters, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Blake Lively (toting beau Penn Badgley), Chelsea Clinton, Moby, and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers (back in the city after a short stint at New York’s Fashion Week) gathered in Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater for cocktails, dinner, and, bien sûr, dancing.

With Lincoln Center under major construction, the venue may have been a bit tricky to find (“It’s usually over here, I think,” said SAB ball regular SJP outside as she helped one lost would-be guest find the entrance), once inside, the space was packed full of gowns, a snap-happy Patrick McMullan, and plenty of champagne. After toasting the school's 75 years, the real VIPs of the evening took a bow: the students themselves, ranging from tots in their first leotards to the advanced students--who, après dinner, put on a stunning performance choreographed by former SAB student and New York City Ballet soloist Adam Hendrickson.

Then, it was time for the rest of the pack to hit the floor--performers dispersed into the audience, pulling out slightly less professional dancers to join them on the dance floor (Rogers was spotted dancing happily--now we know who'll be the life of the party at White House parties!). Van Cleef & Arpels may have co-sponsored the lovely evening (as evidenced by the silk pouch-wrapped VC&A mirrors left at each place), but the jewels weren't the only things sparkling that night.
EMILY GYBEN