Picture this – a beautiful and unseasonably warm evening. An expansive stretch of rubine carpet, crystal chandeliers, bunches upon bunches of spring flowers… a sea of mirrors, glass and crystal set amongst a lush garden in full bloom.

Oh, and did I mention Baryshnikov?

On Monday night, the National Ballet hosted a very special thank you event to celebrate our donors for their support of the Endowment Foundation and our annual fundraising campaign. We also took this opportunity to recognize Walter Carsen, our greatest Patron, as our first Honouree. The event was hosted and graciously underwritten by Sarah & David Macdonald and Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, and held at Sarah and David’s home.

Have I mentioned that Mikhail Baryshnikov was in attendance?

Guests included 70 of the National Ballet’s nearest and dearest patrons and supporters, our Principal Dancers and a musical quartet led by Sonia Klimasko from our orchestra.

There was one other very special guest, you may have heard of him, Mikhail Baryshnikov?

The event began with the press out in full force, (you may have caught glimpses of the CTV coverage on the late night news) during a cocktail reception in the garden. Guests were then invited to dine in the garden. Chef Claudio Aprile (Colborne Lane) prepared an exquisite meal with a grand finale of sorbet made on site in front of guests by pouring fresh cream over nitrogen. It was all very dramatic!

David Macdonald, the Chair of the Endowment Foundation Board, spoke eloquently to dinner guests about the pride he feels in the company under the leadership of Karen Kain and Kevin Garland, shared by all those present. It was a great night for the National Ballet and bodes well for our continued success.

As the Event Manager for the National Ballet I’ve had the opportunity to produce over 300 events in my three years and this was certainly a highlight! There were so many great elements to the evening, I thought I would mention some of my personal favourites:

● 2 Cotton Candy machines used for one of the innovative hors d’oeuvres by Chef Aprile.

● 300 votive candles – and many, many matches

● 1 bee sting

● 1 lost front tooth

● 39 valet parked vehicles in potentially the hardest area to find available parking at 7:00 pm

● 1 sound technician set up in the kids’ play fort in behind the dinner tent

● Many many conversations with my co-workers about how we would introduce ourselves to Mr. B and the witty and hilarious things we would say

● Seeing the CTV coverage of the event on Sarah and David’s television as we were tearing down the event in cocktail dresses and running shoes after the guests had all left

● Taking every opportunity to see what Mikhail was doing\eating\saying to realize he really is the charming, warm and charismatic man you would expect.

[Photos by Gary Beechey. From top to bottom: The tent set up for dinner, Mikhail Baryshnikov with Karen Kain, a waiter serving the sorbet, a line of valets outside the MacDonald home, Events Coordinator Kristina Evans (left) with Events Manager Jennifer Zimmerman (right).]

This April, The National Ballet of Canada had the privilege to dance alongside New York City Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in a programme to honour San Francisco Ballet’s 75th Anniversary. Ten NBoC dancers set out to perform Matjash Mrozewski’s A Delicate Battle on a ten day tour none of us will soon forget.

Each day was filled with new and exciting dance experiences. The guest teachers, the inspired dancers and their unique repertoire were energizing on so many levels.

Equally exciting was the time outside of the studio. There was wine tasting in Napa Valley, whale watching, a visit to Alcatraz, and of course endless shopping excursions.

The highlight of my tour, however, was getting to know all of the dancers from San Francisco and the other companies and catching up with old friends.

Here, Alejandra [Perez-Gomez], Jenna [Savella], Julie [Hay] and I are hanging out in our change room before a show.

We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out backstage with the San Francisco stage crew, who spoiled us with coffee, tea, bobby pins and Ricola in three different flavours!

The last moments before the dress rehearsal curtain.

Ernie [our stage manager] eagerly assembling his new Crocs accessories from Julie and Heather… and showing them off!

Sonia [Rodriguez] and I experience the famous Clift Hotel’s giant chair.

Brett Bauer of San Francisco Ballet, Brett Van Sickle and I re-experience a National Ballet School legend – the “Brett-Sandwich”.

Mr. Minagawa took the opportunity to drive to San Francisco from L.A. to spend time with his daughter Stacey.

Much thanks to David Banks and John Bailey for the opening night party and to San Francisco Ballet and their amazing stage crew. The event really brought everyone together in celebration and we all made some really great friends. And even if the only place we’ll all see each other again is on Facebook… we’ll always have San Fran!

Last Sunday, May 4th, a group of National Ballet staff took part in the Sporting Life 10K Company Team Challenge. Our team, sporting rubine t-shirts and tutus, joined over 8,000 runners to raise money for Camp Oochigeas, a charity for children with cancer.

There were 22 members of the National Ballet team taking part, including Executive Director Kevin Garland, Assistant Conductor Judith Yan and Director of Development Diana Reitberger.

Here is how some of us prepared for the race:

Leah Heidenheim, Officer, Membership – “I ran over the lunch breaks two to three times a week. I started running in January in order to be fit for my wedding, which is the weekend following the run!”

Wendy Liebner, Publicity Coordinator – “I followed a training schedule - running three times a week, adding an extra mile each Sunday.”

Fernando Margueirat, Business Analyst – “Mainly I ran on the treadmill several times a week.”

Alana Silverman, Associate Director of Development – “I ran at the gym, behind my kids on their bicycles, to get coffee at Second Cup and up and down the stairs in my house.”

Johnny Vong, Online Marketing Coordinator – “I play basketball regularly, so I just stepped up my game. I started jogging outside two weeks prior to race day. I trained mainly for speed, since I already have endurance from basketball.”

Jennifer Zimmerman, Events Manager – “I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill a few times a week. Also to keep morale high, we all “talked up” our training to each other around the office - more so to check to see if our co-runners were training more than we were.”

[Photos: Top, Kevin Garland and Meghan Whitfield. Above, the 10K National Ballet team. Photos by Judith Yan]