Opera Chic

Valentino's NYC Ballet Gala

Sarah Jessica Parker: Valentino Collaboration with New York City Ballet “Was My Idea”

Hommage à Valentino at the NYCB

Fashion superstar Valentino puts the final touches on the September 20th New York City Ballet gala, in which he was commissioned to design twenty costumes for four interludes, choreographed by Peter Martins and Christopher Wheeldon, set to music by Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire and Tchaikovsky’s Onegin (the ballet, not the opera).

Organized by his partner Giancarlo Giammetti and fashion swan Sarah Jessica Parker, Thursday's gala includes a post-performance, Italian-themed dinner for 800 tony guests (and their 800 untouched plates) created by Valentino's personal chef. The starry list includes glitterati (Anne Hathaway, Gwynnie Paltrow, Beyonce'), a slew of supermodels (Iman, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista), Valentino's fashion colleagues (Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg) and Roberto Bolle, who will show them all what’s what with his La Scala street cred.

So was Mariah Carey the creative consultant? NYMag has more photos here.

From Workshop to Stage of a NYCB Tutu

The Atlantic profiles the director of the New York City Ballet's costume studio and takes us into the workshop.

Valentino Garavani's New York City Ballet Comeback

Valentino Garavani, now that his fashion house is safe in the hands of the dashing Chiuri + Piccioli team, has more time to enjoy his massive art collection and work on his tan: he also found the time to work for the ballet, one of his lifelong passions. The Italian maestro has come back to design -- the costumes for the New York City Ballet fall opening, and this is really good news, for ballet and fashion.

À La Française with the New York City Ballet

The NYCB Spring Gala on Thursday May 10 will roll-out two world premiere ballets and a revival of Balanchine's Symphony in C ballet at the David H. Koch Theater.

For the work by NYCB’s Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, costumes are by Gilles Mendel and set to a 2008 score by Marc-André Dalbavie.

George Balanchine’s 1974 Symphony in C, created for the Paris Opera Ballet with a Bizet score, is costumed by NYCB’s Director of Costumes Marc Happel in collaboration with Swarovski.

For the work by NYCB Principal Dancer Benjamin Millepied, costumes are by Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte and the score is a new commission by Nico Muhly. The Rodarte sisters formerly collaborated with Millepied as designers for Black Swan, and are currently working with Frank Gehry on a new production of Don Giovanni with the L.A. Philharmonic.

The gala ticket includes the performance, a pre-performance reception and "a black tie supper ball" afterwards where you can hang out with honorary chair and Millepied's piece, Natalie Portman.

When Peter Met Paul

NYTimes has a mini piece on Peter Martins' collaboration with Paul McCartney for NYCB Fall Gala, Ocean's Kingdom, set to open this week at Lincoln Center. Photos by the very awesome Ryan McGinley. Costumes designed by Stella McCartney, naturally.

Models vs. Ballerinas: It's On!

(Ashley Bouder backstage NYCB in 2008 for the Nutcracker with Scientology Queen Katie)

The confluence of NYCB's Swan Lake premiere and New York City Fashion Week prompted NYMag to ask model Samantha Xu and NYCB principal dancer Ashley Bouder for their daily caloric intake.

Models vs. ballerinas? Byotch please. Tchaikovsky would make BBQ Chicken Shake-Up Lunchables out of Marc Jacobs...drop him right next to the Capri Sun and Jell-O-nohedidn't.

Here's Ashley's soundbite: “I watch what I eat and sacrifice some indulgences for my art. I don’t understand sacrificing your health to walk down a runway in pretty clothes.” We've got a live one!

Her general menu:

8:45 a.m.: First two cups of coffee; stretch; walk the dogs
9:40 a.m.: Two scrambled eggs with large glass of water
9:55 a.m.: Walk to subway
10:20 a.m.: Stretch, followed by 105-minute NYCB ballet class and 45-minute Swan Lake rehearsal
1 p.m.: Banana, bottle of water; walk to post office
2 p.m.: Skirt-steak salad; walk to subway to go home
3:20 p.m.: Greek yogurt with peaches; nap
4:15 p.m.: Leftover spaghetti Bolognese
4:25 p.m.: Walk dogs, then walk to subway; stop for coconut water and coffee on way to theater
6:30 p.m.: Stretch and warm up backstage; coconut water
7:30 p.m.: Swan Lake performance begins
8:35 p.m.: Tuna salad and water at intermission
10:05 p.m.: Postperformance water and coconut water
11 p.m.: Crab cake and chopped salad with glass of Pinot Noir

vs. model Xu:

9 a.m.: Half a box of strawberries, glass of soy milk, whole-wheat flatbread with light butter and Nutella, bottle of drinkable yogurt
11 a.m.: Power-walk to agency while drinking coconut water
Noon: Power-walk to Lincoln Center for show
2 p.m.: Cheese and crackers, vegetables (celery, carrots, bell pepper) with sour‑cream dip, can of Diet Pepsi, two small frozen yogurts
3 p.m.: Walk for show (a group show of Argentine designers) in Lincoln Center, if that counts for exercise
4 p.m.: Power-walk to subway home
8 p.m.: Stroll around for about ten blocks
8:30 p.m.: Dinner at Neptune (a Polish restaurant): vegetable barley soup (a big bowl), tuna wrap with lettuce, and coleslaw. Drink: icewater.
9 p.m.: Cup of jasmine green tea; walk to subway home
10 p.m.: Glass of warm soy milk

NYCB's Big Fall Bash

Gala season's the best season in NYC! And Thursday night was no exception as the New York City Ballet opened their new season to an audience of dance fans and socialites. The program sampled choreography by Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, and a premiere by Benjamin Millepied (to a score commissioned by David Lang). 

Sarah Jessica Parker (above) in vintage Halston brought the most star power at the black tie event, almost overshadowed by Natalie Portman (Millepied's hawt girlfriend) and Jake Gyllenhaal (who apparently showed-up with a backpack and refused to have any photographs taken. With a backpack.)

(Above: Ben Gazzara and wife Elke Krivat)

(Above: Socialite Helen Schifter)

(Above: Socialite Michelle Herbert) 

(Above: SATC author Candace Bushnell) 

Twirl with the New York City Ballet

NYCB, the largest dance organization in America, gets their groove on in a parody skit far from the Vaganova method /lol/. The skit features NYCB Dancers Sara Mearns, Amar Ramasar, Amanda Hankes and others. We're not sure this is what George Balanchine had in mind, but Lincoln Kirstein would be proud.

American Voices for an American Opera Company: NYCO Dazzles NYC

An inscription to $100 million gift-giver, David H. Koch, on the inside cover of the evening's program, first and foremost, to fête the philanthropist responsible for the extensive (and much needed) renovation to the home theater of the New York City Opera (and NYC Ballet) -- Koch accepted the theater's namesake, but under the implicit terms that the right should expire after 50 years time, joking that he would hope someone else would take-on the surmised, estimated renovations in 2060.

And so George Steel's first season for NYCO launch last night to a well-coiffed & heeled crowd in a program of mix & match musical theater and operetta, American Voices, shared among past, present, and sometimes tenuously-linked NYCO singers (with the noticeable exception of ~star power~ Measha Brueggergosman and Rufus Wainwright).

Steel spoke to the audience about the renovation benchmarks. In addition to the dissolution of the amplification-acoustic system and the removal of carpeted swaths, the theater now has a better layout with new seats (quite comfortable, evocative of the Salzburger Festspiele's Haus für Mozart's seats with aisles wide enough to accommodate the passage of the widest row-colleagues); new bathrooms (bright enough to reapply faded Dior Addict); a new metal stage curtain (one of the gear-boy stagehands loudly whooped from backstage at the mention); new artist dressing rooms; new lighting; and the coolest yet -- a larger orchestra pit that sinks and raises from pit to stage level, according to repertoire and whims of the conductor. Giddiness in the air, the new theater was gleaming and inviting.

Singing mostly in English (with a smattering of French), singers took the stage in recital format with sparkling dresses and smart suits. All in good spirit, with light hearts (with the exception of the scary Southern Gothic Revival Scene from Susannah sung by a booming Samuel Ramey). Measha Brueggergosman, in bare feet and a Magpie dress (which OC thought was a Vivienne Westwood -- that is, if Vivienne Westwood had explored a Scottish fetish while vacationing, pantyless, in the Wild West), was full-on fierce, belting-out a swooning Gershwin "My Man's Gone Now". Jersey boy Marc Kundisch gave a witty Rodgers and Hammerstein "Billy's Soliloquy", while the crowd warmly-received Mezzo Joyce Castle's "I am Easily Assimilated" from Bernstein's Candide. In the only mic'd-up performance of the night (a hearty good riddance to NYCO's amplification system), Rufus Wainwright sang "That's Entertainment" replete with a cane (although top hat missing -- Rufino wouldn't' *dare* mess-up his hair even in the name of low-brow art). Spotted with selections from Barber, Golijov, and Bolcom, the New York City Ballet tickled the stage in an excerpt from Adams' Hallelujah Junction. Ending the night on a cool note, Joyce DiDonato sang Bernstein's "Take Care of This House".

In a night that New Yorkers weren't sure would ever happen, NYCO gracefully absorbed the blows from the past two years of mounting debt and managerial shake-downs, proving to the city (and more importantly themselves) that NYCO could remain as buoyant as ever.

Let's Put on Our Unitards & Have Fun!

(Above: Leighton Meester & Nicole Fiscella @ the 2007-2008 New York City Ballet Opening Night, November 20, 2007.)

Last night opened the 2007-08 season of the New York City Ballet @ Lincoln Center with a Gala event honoring the 100th anniversary of Lincoln Kirstein's birth year titled, "Dancing for Lincoln; a Centennial Celebration."

The New York Social Diary reports the evening in wonderful detail, from celebrity sightings (Michael J. Fox & Tracey Pollen, Christy Turlington) right down to the menu ("Roasted filet of beef, 21 Club sauce, baby artichokes, green peas, asparagus tips, puree of rutabaga"). We must send <3s to David Patrick Columbia for the proceeding commentary, impressed with Valentino almost as much as we are (minus the scary perma-tan).

"It was a black tie evening, and very dressy for the ladies. The fabled Valentino was present as well, with his partner Giancarlo Giametti. The now legendary high fashion team always add glamour wherever they go, so European, suave, chic, elegant – and all kinda thrown away, like movie stars. The Italians have so much style."

i'm in ur dollz killin all ur bewbz

Tonner Doll Company and the New York City Ballet have launched "The New York City Ballet Collection", which introduces a line of ballerina dolls that have been created with an automatic inferiority complex, as they feature:

“a smaller bustline than traditional Tyler-style 16" fashion dolls. Please note that not all Tyler-style 16-inch outfits will fit the Ballet-style doll at the bustline.”

OMGWTF?!! Even better, the Tonner Doll Company proclaims, "This bustline is also used in the Geisha dolls and Cinderella's Wicked Stepsister, Euphemia." Okay Tonner, so let me get this straight: You're trying to tell me something, aren't you? You're trying to say that the smaller bustlines are pandemic among ballerinas, Asian prostitutes, and abusive stepsisters?!
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The new line features flat-chested characters taken from George Balanchine's, "The Nutcracker", and outfits derived from the Karinska costumes. From November 2006, "The New York City Ballet Collection" can be found at toy stores nationwide, as well as the NYCB gift shops. They are priced from $109.99 - $149.99 (plus additional, unspecified costs for miniature push-up wonderbras, cognitive behavioral therapist fees, Zoloft, and self-help books).

But we all know the truth: behind that cool, aloof, haughty pose of NYCB Rehearsal Emilie is a mind racing with insecurity, anxiety, and fear that her man will dump her for buxom and bubbly Peppermint Candy Cane Barbie.

Rehearsal Emilie, ur beatuiful teh eway GOD made u ;__;