Ballet Ball conjures ‘Summer and Smoke’
Ballet Ball 2023 turned to Tennessee Williams’ play “Summer and Smoke” for inspiration. That’s also the title of an upcoming Houston Ballet world premiere.
It proved a fashionable feast for the eyes. Alicia Maguire Smith and co-chair Allison Thacker donned cornflower blue, a nod to the summer sky. Fady Armanious’ custom, Italian-made tuxedo and Kristy Bradshaw’s Givenchy haute couture sequins — previously worn by Julianne Moore and procured for Bradshaw by Hollywood vintage source Cameron Silver of Decades, Inc. — in silvery gray, could be the chic smoke.
Honoree Hallie Vanderhider, underwriter of Cathy Marston’s “Summer and Smoke,” which premiered with Houston Ballet last month before it makes its New York debut with American Ballet Theatre next season, delivered not one, but two head-turning looks. The move has become her Ballet Ball signature; as chair of 2018’s fundraiser, Vanderhider wore a 7-pound gown by Naeem Khan, featuring 3,500 black feathers, before later changing into a more dancing-friendly sheath by Monique Lhuillier.
This year, Vanderhider arrived wearing yards of lilac tulle, sculpted into rosette-like tufts by Pamella Roland, then changed into a second, Merlot-hued look.
“That dress was designed for (Pamella Roland’s) ad campaign to release a new fragrance. Then COVID happened and it didn’t get shot,” said Armanious, who styled her. “When I saw it, it had Hallie’s name all over it. It was the only one that was designed, and she looked amazing.”
First soloist Harper Watters also made a splash in a hot-pink suit by Wiederhoeft, along with fellow ballet company members, including Connor Walsh, Soo Youn Cho, Jessica Collado, Karina Gonzalez, Yuriko Kajiya, Melody Mennite, Tyler Donatelli and Jacquelyn Long.
The soiree, held amid Spanish moss-covered trees designed by Richard Flowers and the Events Company, raised more than $1.5 million.