Local dance lovers Liane Weintraub and Pierce Brosnan got gussied up and waltzed down to the Music Center to check out a special performance by the American Ballet Theater. The show was a crowd pleaser with Tchaikovsky favs like the “White Swan Pas de Deux” from “Swan Lake.”
After the performance, everyone headed for the Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which was transformed into a swanky retro nightclub, complete with mirrored walls, flickering votives and sunken orchid arrangements.
Pierce and wife Keely chaired the event along with Oscar winner Anjelica Huston and artistic hubby Robert Graham.
Following a few flutes of champagne and a sumptuous dinner spread, revelers cut loose on the dance floor to show off a few moves of their own.
HIPPY TRIPPY
They were dancing to the beat of a different drum at the annual Topanga Days Fair. The far-out fete was a definite blast to the past with its largest attendance figures ever. “We had 7,000 people last year,” said Brooks Britt, the festival’s organizer. “This year we had 7,000 in just the first day.”
It looked like a good, old-fashioned love-in with tie-dyed t-shirts as far as the eye could see. Canyon fairies and wood nymphs fluttered around the grounds of the Topanga Community House with their glittering wings and flower garlands. Other fabulous fashion statements included hand-embroidered jean jackets, well-worn cowboy boots, Indian saris, Mexican peasant blouses, silver bangles, batik bell bottoms and loads of love beads.
Music fans, meantime, parked themselves in front of the outdoor stage grooving to the sounds of Old Bull, Sticky Yellow Monkey Flower, John McEuen and The Waybacks. As the bands played on, merchants set up shop offering all kinds of goodies celebrating the ’60s and ’70s. It was just the place if you were looking to load up on incense, carved Buddhas, fringe bags, floppy hats, vintage LPs, scented candles, patchouli oil, dream catchers, crystals, peace signs and meditation tapes.
A best seller was the Topanga Rocks t-shirt featuring a photo of the famed boulder that tumbled down Topanga Canyon Boulevard earlier this year and shut down the roadway for weeks. You could also get a little enlightenment at the Topanga Peace Alliance booth, where revelers were urged to “think outside the bomb.”
After the last drum circle and a final performance by the Melanie Kareem Belly Dancers, hipsters made their way back to reality, reassured that at least three days a year, Jerry Garcia is alive and the Woodstock nation lives on.