The 21st Career Transitions for Dancers (CTFD) Jubilee, One World, A Spectacular Global Celebration presented by Rolex more than lived up to its title. There were dazzling performances by twenty of the world’s most brilliant dance companies and special appearances by a host of Broadway’s brightest stars.

21st Anniversary co-chairs were Patricia Kennedy and Anka Palitz with gala co-chairs Denise Cobb and Yolanda Santos Garza and Allen Brill, CEO and president of Rolex USA. They created a gala that was the most successful in the history of the organization, raising $1.12 million from CTFD programs to help dancers to develop new careers when dance is no longer an option.

Setting the stage for an evening of exotic treats, Drum Café NY opened the show with throbbing drums and dancer from Africa’s Ivory Coast. Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth welcomed the crowd and then in rapid succession there was a kaleidoscope on the vast City Center Stage; traditional folk dancers from Sounds of Korea; exotic Khathak classical movements from Parul Shah Dance Company; a twirling Hoop Dance of the American Thunderbird Indian Dancers; a delicate solo Kabuki dance by Japan’s legendary Sachiyo Ito; the wildly colorful and acrobatic Red Ribbon Dance by Dance China NY and a gracefully athletic martial arts influenced piece from Brazil’s Ologunde based on legendary slave practices.

Tony Award winner Sutton Foster presented the CTFD Award to the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation.  There were thrilling performances by American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, and the New York debut of the beautiful Ballet de Monterrey (thanks to co-chair Yolanda Santos Garza).

Two weeks ago, Fashion designer Alvin Valley, Fabiola Beracasa and Zani Gugelmann hosted a private screening of Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, presented by Rado watches and THE WEEK at Soho House on Thursday, October 26th. Guests including Maggie Betts, Grand Classics co-founder Katrina Pavlos and fashion designer Carlos Mota chatted with the President’s daughter Barbara Bush about living in New York City, working with children and what she’d be wearing for Halloween. Luigi Tadini, Melissa Berkelhammer, Helena Khazanova, Kipton Cronkite, Patti Kim, celebrity hairstylist Kevin Mancuso and Mark Langrish were among the crowd who took in the buzz-worthy flick starring Penelope Cruz.

“I jumped at the chance of being a part of this special screening of Volver. Since childhood, Pedro Almodovar has been an incredible influence on me and I have been a great fan,” said co-host Alvin Valley. “His work is a perfect blend of Spanish culture and style, while challenging the traditional beliefs of a conservative country.

Actress Sigourney Weaver hosted a Grand Classics screening of Ninotchka presented by THE WEEK at Soho House. Weaver said that the 1939 Oscar nominated comedy classic, starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas, was the film that most inspired her career.

A special cocktail reception courtesy of Grey Goose took place in the White Room with guests including actresses Famke Janssen and Christy Scott Cashman, directors Michel Gondry, Douglas McGrath and Sydney Pollack along with designers Geoffrey Bradfield, Joanna Mastroianni, Anait Bian and Secrets of Charm’s Estee Elkayam. Philip Stein Teslar creator Ilonka Harezi and GRAND CLASSICS co-founder Katrina Pavlos presented Weaver with a Double Diamond Philip Stein Teslar watch in gratitude for her participation in the special evening.

Sigourney immediately donned the feel good watch, which Madonna and Oprah Winfrey swear by that neutralizes the negative electromagnetic fields put out by cell phones, computers and other electronic devices.

Others attending the screening were Ariane Benett, Allison Weiss Brady Celerie Kemble, Dr. Peter Theodorou, Emma Snowdon Jones, Mark Langrish, Cheri Kaufman, Kate Schelter, Luigi Tadini, David Gruning, Rose Astor, Teresa Emanuele, Sarah Farah, Montgomery Frazier, High Voltage, Nick Raynes, Amanda Peters, Mike Latham, Gillian Miniter, Olga and Valentine Rei.

The Grand Classics film series features a selection of the world’s most renowned filmmakers and actors who present the films that have influenced their careers the most. The film series benefits the important cause of motion picture preservation through contributions to the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute (bfi).

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