Miami City Ballet’s 30th Anniversary Gala

Miami City Ballet celebrated three decades of artistic leadership and community impact at its 30th Anniversary Gala with a spectacular black-tie event on the sands of Miami Beach underneath the full moon, presented in partnership with the City of Miami Beach.

The evening, which was the most successful Gala in the history of Miami City Ballet, raised more $3.5 million to support the reimagining of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well Miami City Ballet’s education and outreach initiatives in the local community, including scholarships and complimentary performance tickets for students attending Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Miami’s leading philanthropists, from Miami City Ballet founder Toby Lerner Ansin to model/actress Adriana Lima, gathered under a tent on the sands of Miami Beach’s scenic shoreline as they experienced the first reveal of the concept for this season’s highly anticipated, unprecedented production of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The new performance, debuting in Miami on March 18, will reimagine Shakespeare’s story – moving it from the forest to the ocean floor. Taking inspiration from the setting, images of MCB dancers photographed underwater floated across the tent’s ceiling, while seashells and corals elegantly adorned the tables and guests danced under a magnificent jellyfish chandelier.

As the sun began to set, guests were greeted by Miami City Ballet School students in costume and walked across the sand-colored carpet, leading them onto the beach. During the cocktail hour Christofle of Paris treated guests to a sterling champagne experience. The sunset cocktail hour, presented by Bacardi, included a live performance by New World Symphony fellows, and a grand fireworks display sponsored by Movado transitioned the evening to an elegant dinner in a spectacular tent catered by Le Basque.

Gala chairs Ana and Robert Barlick, Tina and Dan Carlo, and Susan D. Kronick and Edward Manno Shumsky gave inspiring remarks, and dancers presented gifts to honorees including Toby Lerner Ansin and the Ansin Foundation, Trish and Dan Bell, Margarita and Armando Codina, Swanee and Paul DiMare, and Ellen and Louis Wolfson, III.

In a thrilling highlight of the evening, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine named January 23, 2016 as “Miami City Ballet Day,” and presented the Key to the City to Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez, thanking the Company for making Miami Beach their home.

Specially designed gift bags courtesy of Neiman Marcus Coral Gables included a prized Michele Oka Doner costume sketch for each guest. Bank of America is Miami City Ballet’s South Florida 30th Anniversary Corporate Leader.

The signature event was made possible by an esteemed chairing committee, including Grand Honorary Chairs Claudia and Steven Perles, who recently gifted MCB with $1 Million for the new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Susan B. Kronick, Chairman of MCB’s Board of Trustees, and Edward Manno Shumsky; Ana Codina Barlick, Vice Chairman of MCB’s Board of Trustees, and Robert Barlick; Tina Carlo, Chair of the Partners en Pointe Committee, and Dan Carlo; Michele and Larry Herbert, Honorary Chairs; and Gillian Fuller, and Sondra and David Mack, Palm Beach Chairs, among many other notable Miami, Palm Beach and New York philanthropists.