Etienne’s day:

4:45 am: I think my son knows today is the gala. He is wide awake, looking at me like I’m supposed to juggle for him or something. Maxime is 5 ½ months now and this will be the first time we won’t be there to put him to sleep. I guess he has my sense of humor and thinks it’s funny to make me pay by keeping me up for an hour. He’s lucky he’s so cute…

9:00 am: I wake up, shower, get ready and organize my tuxedo for tonight. I come downstairs to find Greta [Hodgkinson] with Maxime outside on our deck. They have been up since 7:30 am or so enjoying this beautiful morning. This is going to be a long day but it’s nice to have a little quiet time, just the three of us, before we head out.

11:15 am: Class as always with Rex Harrington teaching. The girls from Musings already have their hair done since we don’t have that much time between class and the dress rehearsal. I have no intricate hairdo to worry about, an advantage of being a male dancer. Let’s not get into the pointe shoe issue because it will look like I’m rubbing it in!

1:30 pm: Dress rehearsal starts with us in Musings. It kind of feels weird doing this beautiful soft ballet a day after the all out energy of West Side Story Suite so I am a little uncomfortable. The shoes are very slippery, which also doesn’t help my comfort level. I’m reminded by Piotr Stanczyk that I can be the crappiest dancer ever in the dress rehearsal, as long as I am good in the show. The man is a poet…

3:30 pm: Physio. Half hour to make sure my knees can bend. From the sight of the swelling, I might want to book longer next time.

4:15 pm: I’m starving! I get some Japanese food to go. It’s really quite close to the show to be eating that much but I really am hungry. I am living on the edge here… might regret it later.

5:30 pm: Back in the studio to warm up. I muse on the fact that on my death bed when I look back at my life, I’ll realize that I’ve spent most of it warming up.

6:30 pm: The audience sounds excited behind the curtain. Karen [Kain] is nervously pacing the stage going over her speech and looking gorgeous in her dress as always. It is difficult for us dancers to perform in ways other than by moving and I guess that never changes. I feel good, ready to go, warm of course.

6:35 pm: I walk onstage for my first entrance, put my right foot down for my first step, slip and come as close as you can to biting the floor heavy. I have no idea how I stayed vertical but I seem to be all right and keep dancing. After that first entrance, I laugh at the whole thing and realize that the worst is over. I manage to enjoy myself very much after that and I think I have danced a good show. I watch Aleksandar [Antonijevic] and Nan [Yu] dance the main pas de deux of the ballet beautifully. I danced that part with Jennifer Fournier a few years ago and it was one of my favorite moments onstage. So fleeting are these moments. Next thing you know, you’re warming up again!

7:30 pm: I am watching Greta dancing the Mirror pas de deux from Onegin with Guillaume. This is the first time since finding out that we were pregnant that Greta is onstage. I have been affected in many ways by Greta’s dancing; I have been amazed, baffled and downright pissed off that she is showing us off like that. But seeing everything that she has been going through in the past 14 months and watching her again at the top of her game on stage where she belongs, I have never been so proud of her.

8:30 pm: Having a drink with patrons and friends in Jackman lounge. The place is packed and the excitement of the evening is palpable. I find Greta who is doing an interview and we slowly make our way back on the stage, which is now sumptuously decorated and packed with tables.

9:00 pm: Jay Onrait and Bev Thomson are hosting the evening. I am used to seeing him behind the desk of SportsCentre but seeing him stand up behind the mike – it turns out the man is a giant. Who knew? The meal comes and my Japanese food is but a memory so I’m starving again. Chef Mark McEwan from North 44˚ has prepared the meal and it doesn’t disappoint.

The Russian theme of the evening is present everywhere from the cabbage roll to the vodka martini and the décor is quite spectacular. We are sitting with Karen Leggett and the folks from RBC and have a very pleasant dinner. I see Jennifer [Fournier] and she says she was also thinking of that great moment we had onstage together in Musings. I’m glad it was good for her too.

11:00 pm: Dancing starts and that’s our cue to go. The evening usually gets kind of wild and ends in the wee hours but I leave the partying to my fellow dancers (and Rex of course) and come back to my sleeping baby boy.

12:00 am: Just 45 minutes of icing and then I’m finally off to bed. Tomorrow Maria and Tony must get their groove back on in West Side Story Suite again. A great day all around though and a very successful gala again this year.

4:45 am: I think my son knows yesterday was the gala. He really is lucky he’s so cute…

6:00 am: Wake up with that “first day of school” feeling in the pit of my stomach. The night before I dreamed of potential gala disasters like serving guests grilled cheese sandwiches instead of McEwan or putting the wrong date or address on the invitation.

8:00 am: Load in begins. Armed with my XXXL coffee, Blackberry and trusty sidekick Kristina [Evans], we join the ranks of the IATSE crew in the loading dock at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts starting to unload décor, tables, linens, props, place setting and all sorts of gala goodies.

9:00 am: Stage set up. Set up is similar to a challenge you might see on Survivor with the exception that we don’t vote anyone off the stage or make them wear the same clothes for a month. About 25 staff and volunteers are in the ready position waiting for the Stage Union (IATSE) to set the tables down. The 25 person team then feverishly attack the tables with linens, centrepieces, place settings, flowers, candles, napkins, table numbers and over 700 matryoshka dolls. We do this 54 times.

Our Development team has an intimate knowledge and expectation of tasks like undoing over 700 matryoshka dolls, putting a little scrap of paper in each with a Russian word on it, finding that doll’s other half (we learned to keep the other halves close by pretty early on) and then setting one at each dinner table.

11:30 am: We finish the bulk of the tables. Our crew heads to the front of the house to start décor and execution. We are going for a “Russian Outdoor Festival” feel.

1:00 pm: Break for lunch or better known as a sprint to the Eaton Centre to purchase all the items you forgot to bring with you that morning – contact lens solution, hairbrush, gala dress, etc.

2:00 pm: Meet the DJ to do sound check front of house. Meet the Russian dancers who will perform during the reception. Learn that your décor truck has broken down and is parked right in the lane reserved for your valet guests.

3:00 pm: Back onstage – finish bars and any last minute touches – this is the last opportunity we have to make sure our tables are correct, set and ready to go.

4:30 pm: Kristina and I take a half hour shift each to get dressed and ready.

5:30 pm: Showtime. The guests begin to arrive and everyone looks gorgeous! It’s a full house tonight and the space quickly fills up despite the early start time.

6:30 pm: Gala performance begins. Kristina and I joke that we’ve never seen the gala performance – this holds true for this year again as we are racing around in the front of house areas making sure signature cocktails are made, the wine is chilled, the food stations are being set up and the DJ and our Russian dancers are cued up and ready to go.

7:43 pm: The performance ends and guests begin to fill the front of house area for a cocktail reception. I don’t see this part of the event because what we call “The Hour of Power” is happening on stage. We have about 45 minutes to transform the stage from a performance area to a Russian palace! The IATSE crew begin immediately by hanging 5 huge crystal chandeliers above the centre stage and then we quickly start placing table, setting up the bars, DJ, centrepieces, giant gold lions and statues, a gallery of portraits of Russian Czars and Czarinas with the faces of our top donors on them and draping them around the perimeter of the stage.

8:39 pm: We are set! Mark McEwan is ready to serve his first course, the stage is prepared. I make the call on the radio to Kristina and the staff front of house to start to bring the 540 guests joining us for dinner to the stage. The procession of guests including all of the dancers begin to make their grand entrance into our “Russian Palace”.

9:10 pm: After everyone is seated, our hosts Jay Onrait and Bev Thomson introduce our fabulous Gala Chairs Lina Gagliano and Clara Mathur who say a few words of thanks and recognize our tireless Gala Committee.

9:15 pm: Dinner is served! Raffle ticket sellers dressed in Russian headpieces (borrowed from The Nutcracker) make their last rounds selling tickets to the guests.

10:30 pm: We draw the raffle winners – one of our dancers, Brett van Sickle, wins one of the top prizes!

10:45 pm: Everyone’s favourite part of the night and our “signature” – DANCING! This event is the only event where the second the music starts we have a full dance floor of dancers and guests.

12:30 am: Last call! Our donors want to keep dancing until the wee hours of the morning and so do the dancers.

12:45 am: Last call! Again.

1:00 am: Change into flat shoes and comfy clothes. Round up whatever troops are still standing, start tearing everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – down. All of the rentals, décor, everything needs to come out of the theatre before 3:00 am. We’ve got a performance to get ready for tomorrow!

3:30 am: Kristina and I make the last load to the Walter Carsen Centre. We fantasize about having cots in our offices. We also receive our customary middle of the night email from our biggest gala supporter, David Banks, congratulating everyone on a wonderful evening.

4:00 am: Finally, time for bed… dreaming of next year’s gala on June 21st!