
DANCING WITH A STAR
In the past decade or so, Malibu Seen has hit just about every major event, ceremony and celebration in town. In addition to dazzling Oscar parties and glitzy premiers, there’s an endless array of traditional fundraisers. On any given night you’ll find great gatherings of good peeps engaged in the act of giving back. While everyone’s heart is always in the right place, many of those speech-driven, rubber chicken dinners tucked away in tired hotel ballrooms can be long, tedious and dreadfully dull. But there is one fundraising fete that is anything but ordinary and one person who has taken the generic dinner gathering and elevated it into an absolute art form. Her name is Nancy Davis and her cause is Race to Erase MS.
Every year, Nancy puts together an unforgettable, fun-filled, upbeat evening that is inspirational, informative and an absolute blast. Whether it’s a ’60s Summer of Love shindig, a glam-rock gala or a decadent disco do, each year has its own theme. There is a splashy cocktail party, which lets you check out everyone’s special occasion attire, a star-studded Tommy Hilfiger fashion show filled with flashy frocks and a magical medley of performances with everyone from Don Henley and Stevie Nicks to Donna Summer and Stevie Wonder. Miraculously, Nancy even manages to break the dreaded hotel kitchen curse, turning out hundreds of gourmet dinners that arrive hot, are on time and actually (gasp!) delicious.
After being diagnosed with MS 15 years ago, Nancy was inspired to break away from fundraising as usual. “When I went to my first MS event, I was so depressed I had to leave,” she recalls. “I thought ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’ I don’t want people to feel like it’s hopeless. I want them to feel good.” With her Race to Erase, she does such a bang-up job making people feel good that you’ll find the Los Angeles area’s biggest names falling all over themselves to snag an invite.
This year’s event is called Dance to Erase MS and will feature a host of hoofers from the hot reality show “Dancing with the Stars” as well as performances by Earth, Wind & Fire. “Every year people get on their feet and dance,” Nancy explains. “It’s happy, it’s infectious and it dispels the myth that you are crippled in a wheelchair. The best thing you can do with MS is keep on dancing.”
Over the past 14 years, Nancy has raised a staggering $30 million (as much as $2.5 million in just one evening), making Race one of the most successful fundraisers ever. When she started her Nancy Davis Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis there were no drugs to treat MS and little comfort for those who had it. Today, the seventh MS drug is about to be approved, awareness has been raised, options abound and as far as Nancy is concerned, a cure is just around the corner.
In addition to providing a great escape from the daily grind, Nancy’s annual gala is something that touches and inspires one and all.
“Sometimes when you get caught up in seating people, auction items and entertainers, you lose vision of what’s important,” she says. But when that happens reminders are always in the mail. “Afterward I get all these letters and it’s so gratifying,” she explains. “When you change the course of a person’s life, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Race to Erase MS takes place on April 13 at the Century Plaza. For more information, check out www.erasems.org