Party Pictures 11/8/06 - Glamming it up on NYSD ...

Glamming it up on NYSD ...

Dancing at the 19th annual Gala Dinner Dance for the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust.

This year’s 19th annual Gala Dinner Dance for the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust brought together a distinguished group of board members, Royal Academicians and New York benefactors to honor and present the Benjamin West Award to President and CEO Martin J. Sullivan of AIG Group.

Attendees included: The duke of Devonshire, Ambassador Edward E. Elson, Susan Elson Irene Roosevelt Aitken, The Earl of Albemarle (Rufus), Debbie Bancroft, Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, Amy Fine Collins, Sharon Bush, Jonathan Farkas, Somers White Farkas, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Lady Lavinia Grimshaw, Frances Hayward, Susan Fales-Hill, Nancy Kissinger, Ambassador David Manning (British Ambassador to the United States), Lady Catherine Manning, Annabelle and Alberto Mariaca, Tom Quick, Malcolm Rogers (Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Norman Rosenthal (Exhibitions Secretary Royal Academy of Arts), Elizabeth and Stanley De Forest Scott, Elizabeth Stafford, Martin Sullivan.

The Royal Academy of Arts is the oldest fine arts institution in Britain and has been at the heart of the country’s cultural life since it was founded in 1768.

Governed by 80 Royal Academicians, all practicing painters, printmakers, sculptors or architects, the Academy is renowned for its major loan exhibitions, acclaimed both in the U.K. and abroad.

The American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust was established in 1983 to help provide support and an American headquarters for the Royal Academy.

Kate and Robert Wickham

Susan Elson and Ambassador Edward E. Elson

Antoinette and Martin Sullivan

Sarah Medford and Susan Fales-Hill

Somers and Jonathan Farkas

Eleanor and Eugene Goldberg

Annabelle Mariaca and Ambassador David Manning

Mimi Stafford and Robert Lone

Annie and John Fiorella

Rufus Albemarle

Elizabeth and Stanley DeForest Scott

Lady Lavinia Grimshaw and Roger Rees

Malcolm Rogers and Dorothy Kauffman

Connie Hildesley, the duke of Devonshire, and C. Hugh Hildesley

Ambassador Edward E. Elson and Susan Elson with Jim Slaughter

Malcolm Rogers and the duke of Devonshire

Tom Quick and Mimi Stafford

Frances Hayward, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, and Audrey Gruss

Eugene Goldberg and Emily Frick

Nancy Kissinger and Norman Rosenthal

Amy Fine Collins and Debbie Bancroft

Katie Steckler and Roger Rees

Susan Baker and Roger Rees

Ambassador Manning and Martin Sullivan

Nancy Kissinger, Dame Jillian Sackler, and Norman Rosenthal

Harry Elson and Lady Lisa Manning

Martin Sullivan and Dorothy Kauffman

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Lady Annie Renwick, and Ambassador David Manning

Rufus Albemarle and Adaline Frelinghuysen

Margaret Bensfield and Rufus Albemarle

A couple of Tuesdays ago, the American Gem Trade Association lit up the night, displaying close to $6 Million in colored gemstones at an event to celebrate their annual Spectrum Awards, which also raised over $11,000 for Project Renewal.

Gemstones were on display in cases as well as on the leading Project Renewal committee members. Project Renewal’s mission is to renew the lives of New York City’s homeless by helping them return to self-sufficient life in the community.

Eugenia Gonzalez dazzled in a dress by Alberta Ferretti and 18K yellow gold and platinum earrings featuring natural yellow diamonds and platinum by Ricardo Basta, an 18K yellow gold ring by Michael Zacharakis featuring a golden South Sea natural pearl surrounded by yellow and white diamonds, and an 18K white gold ring by David Humphrey featuring two varieties of quartz accented with brown and white diamonds.

Serena Nikkhah accented her Burberry dress with a ring of white and yellow gold featuring a checkerboard-cut citrine by Damian Seherian, and an 18K white and yellow gold necklace by Robert Wander featuring Garnets and multi-colored Sapphires, Diamonds, and Tourmalines.

Chessy Wilson chose to top her Burberry dress with an 18K white gold necklace by Ziad Noshie, featuring eleven freshwater pearls and diamonds and a white gold "Ariel" ring by Bradley Dean Weber, featuring graduated Akoya pearls accented with diamonds.

In a secret downtown loft- where security was tight due to the jewels- 350 elegant juniors partied till midnight.

Angelo Maccaferri and Whitney Clark

Eva Laurenson Bell, Addison O'Dea, and Byrdie Bell

Heather McNally and Samantha Thompson

Rob Meyers, Chessy Wilson, and Katherine Brinson

Ajiri Aki

Anna Valeo

Byrdie Bell

Sheva Fruitman and Doug Hucker

Serena Nikkhah, Addison O'Dea, and Chessy Wilson

L. to r.: Rickie DeSole; Whitney Clark and Adrian Keevil; Isabelle Spearman.

Cate LaFarge

David Riece and Ken Tichnor

Eugenia Gonzalez and Staci Caldwell

Emily Jerome

Marina Cid

Paul Solberg and Christopher Makos

Sandra Barros and Elizabeth Jacoby

Serena Nikkhah, Chessy Wilson, and Olivia Palermo

Nicholas Ma and Anna Valeo

L. to r.: Patricia Field; Mary McNally and Serena Nikkhah; The jewels.

This coming Sunday, PBS will air "Bringing Balanchine Back" all over the country. New York aficionados, of course, couldn't wait that long so there was a second gala screening (the first one was in May) hosted by Peter Martins, the chief artistic director of the New York City Ballet, the Alliance for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts at the Time Warner Center screening room two Mondays ago.

The film is about the New York City Ballet's historic trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to dance at the Mariisnky Theatre where the New York City Ballet's co-founder George Balanchine started. It was the 100th Anniversary of Balanchine's birth and the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg.

David Halberstam and Hannah Pakula

Peter Martins and Earle Mack

Mica Ertegun and Elizabeth Peabody

The consensus about the film was unanimous; in a word: glorious. Produced by Earle Mack and directed by Richard Blanshard, it starts out on the eve of the company's departure for St. Petersburg, where they arrived the next morning in time to rehearse and open that night. There are expertly filmed excerpts of the company's rehearsals and performances and fascinating scenes of the many backstage dramas and traumas, including on opening night when the famed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev took the orchestra to the roof of the theatre during intermission for an unscheduled rehearsal leaving the entire company--including Peter Martins--and the audience totally bewildered for nearly an hour.

The guests at the gala screening--and reception beforehand--included Lee Radziwill and her daughter Tina, Mica Ertegun, Judy Peabody, film director James Ivory--off to South America in a few days to start his next film, Linda (Mrs. Morton) Janklow, Hannah Pakula, Pat (Mrs. Gerald) Schoenfeld, Mathilde Krim, Maria Cooper Janis, Simon and Schuster's Alice Mayfield, Shelly Wanger, and David Mortimer, author David Halberstam, and Kimberly Du Ross. And naturally producer Earle Mack and his wife Carol were there.

Ertegun, Martins and Peabody

David Halberstam, Linda Janklow, and James Ivory

Earle Mack and Lee Radziwill

James Ivory and Earle Mack

Tina Radziwill, Peter Martins, and Lee Radziwill

Billy Wright and Randy Bourscheidt with friends

Peter Martins, James Ivory, and Earle Mack

Doubles that chic private club in the Sherry-Netherland is home to all kinds of parties, from little dinners, big birthdays and anniversaries, charity benefits, not to mention the daily lunches (with the best and healthiest buffet in town). The other night the Junior’s and Intermediates Co-chairs Tatiana Papanicolaou, Allison and Jay Aston, Georgina Schaeffer,John Royall, Marisa Noel Brown, Nick Coleman, Elizabeth Meigher, Miguel Duenas, Nicole Hanley, Donna Simonelli and Brian Johnson, danced the night away at a party called Absolute Doubles Night, hosted by the committee and Absolut Ruby Red. You know Absolut; what isn’t a symbol of it by now.

Wendy Carduner the ‘Guiding Light’ of Doubles set the stage. Guest/members were greeted with ruby red cocktails, ruby red Jello shots served in caviar spoons and hip hop music provided by a DJ in the main dining room, which had been turned into a disco-tech for the party, with everything from opposing open bars to a classic disco ball high above the dance floor.

Big jazzy, chic crowd, including Daria de Koning, Zac Cherry, Katherine Gage,Amanda Goss in an backless black dress; Ian Rice, Anne and George Baker, JB Wilson in leopard printed pants; Annabel Vartanian and Nicole Hanley; Clair Champy in a red leather modest cut red leather dress; Gillian Boyer;Deirdre Lally, in an off-white satin baby doll dress; John Ryne; Sophie Pera; Edward Barsamian and Melissa Berkelhammer and Charles Simonds.

Bottle service of ABSOLUT Ruby Red vodka was on each table and a late night buffet was presented, includin bite sized ham and pineapple, Cuban grilled chicken skewers, mini-hamburgers with assorted sushi, and a fabulously large table of desserts: assorted cakes including chocolate mousse, strawberries, and cookies, which everyone took a chance to sample. Hot and cool music provided by a live DJ got the likes of Natalie Glaser and Kipton Cronkite, Alexis Van Der Mije, Kate and Andrew Earls, Katie Oakford, Chris Schumacher, Philip Bartow; Grace Cavcciolo, Luisa Capasso and Anne Cameron, Will Stevenson, Samantha Woods and Adrian Ulrich, John Nordeman,Meredith Taylor,Alexandra Wilkis, Patrick Hojlo and Megan Guzzo up and spinning under the disco ball.