DANCE CLASS
When it comes to throwing fab fetes, nobody does it better than Robin and Elliott Broidy. The dynamic duo hosted one of the most memorable bashes of the season-an elegant affair that had everyone on their toes, especially members of the famed American Ballet Theater. From Nancy Davis to Gray Davis, Dennis Tito to Liane Weintraub, this was one summer fling no one wanted to miss.
The pool area was dressed up with enormous boxes of white roses. And floating arrangements of gardenias added fragrance to the night air. A platoon of well dressed waiters made the rounds with ice cold mojitos while Wolfgang Puck’s catering crew offered up tasty bites of smoked salmon, sushi and satay.
Robin was the evening’s golden girl, turning heads in a glittering lace-ruffled-and rhinestone-festooned frock. “I am thrilled to have the American Ballet Theater here,” she told Malibu Seen. “It’s a real honor and a treat.”
Well-heeled guests roamed around the glorious grounds of the Broidy’s impressive Bel Air estate while a snazzy jazz band cranked out some much-loved American standards. Soon, it was showtime and Robin welcomed everyone to the couple’s tennis court which had been turned into a makeshift ABT theater. She thanked pals Lori and Michael Milken, Phyllis and Angelo Mozilo and Max Palevsky, as well as Malibu’s Liane Weintraub, whom she called “the city’s first lady of dance.”
Hosting the event was a dream come true for Robin, who was first introduced to the ballet at the ripe old age of eight. “My grandmother took me to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ with Rudolf Nureyev and the American Ballet Theater,” she recalled. Imagine Robin’s delight when a few decades later she would be hosting excerpts from the dance masterpiece in her very own backyard. “So just forget about the world and let everything go,” she urged her ballet loving guests. “This is a sanctuary for the arts under the stars.”
The performance was impressive indeed, with a dizzying array of twirls and swirls and moves that seemed to defy gravity. The group presented the Adagio and Coda from “Sleeping Beauty,” complete with a flock of fairies and fairy tale knights. Gennadi Saveliev danced up a storm in “Gopak.” We enjoyed a bit of “Don Quixote.” And the performance concluded with Sleeping Beauty’s “Rose Adagio.”
Everything was coming up roses after the performance as well. The outdoor garden was done up for drama with tables in jet-black satin and 4,000 enormous blood-red specimen roses. Puck sent out his troops with a tasty feast that included tuna tartare, fire-roasted corn, miso-glazed wild king salmon and decadent chocolate for dessert.
ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie heaped words of praise on the evening’s hosts. The unforgettable event raised $320,000 to help bring “Swan Lake” to the Music Center next march. Bravo!
Got a hot happening or a cool event? Send the 411 to kimdevore@malibutimes.com.