The Rite of Spring

Honestly, this is my first time going to the ballet,” confessed Selena Gomez in a delicate black Lanvin mini attire on Monday evening at the American Ballet Theatre’s Spring 2014 Opening Night Gala. Indeed it was a night of firsts for most people, as the affable company began entering the premiere Nuages, a delicate pas de deux choreographed by JiÅ™í Kylián, and La Vie Pétillante, an impressive performance by students of the famed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. A crowd of magnificent beauties dressed in Lanvin for the evening, including Zoë Kravitz, Kimberly Chandler, Alexis Stoudemire, and longtime friend of the ballet Sigourney Weaver.

Designers Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs arrived together, anxious to see their friends in the performance to fluff their feathers. “It’s always a very different experience when you’re watching and you know the person who’s dancing. You’re like, ‘Oh my god, they can actually do that?’ ” It might not be long before we see some Cushnie et Ochs cut-outs on the illustrious stage. “We’re doing soloist Isabella Boylston’s wedding dress,” the creative duo revealed. “We’ll start there!”

Victor Cruz of the New York Giants and longtime girlfriend Elaina Watley were also seen together to start off the season. “Our daughter starts ballet in a month,” the proud mother exclaimed. “She’s like her dad a true athlete.” the very authenticity and creativity of art attracted Amar’e Stoudemire to the event, alluring him to find parallels between the stage and the court. “It’s poetry in motion out there!” he declared just before the beginning of the show.

Once the lights went down in the Metropolitan Opera House, excerpts from the theatre’s thrilling spring season was displayed for the guests, bearing witness to a split-second scene change from the decadent salons of Manon in which principals Julie Kent and Roberto Bolle performed, to the starlit streets of Cinderella graced by Hee Seo and partner Marcelo Gomes.

After the second act finished, everyone was escorted to a grand outdoor tent where, fresh from a high lined performance a lead can-can girl in an excerpt from the revived Gaîté Parisienne, ABT superstar, Misty Copland, arrived for dinner in a skin-skimming LBD by Joseph.

She joined Coco Rocha and Taye Diggs at a table, and the group had a chit-chat over champagne. Call it a dancing fever, but Rocha could not help but wonder if she could find a future in the world of ballet. “I don’t even have to be in the performance,” she admitted. “I’ll be in the back holding a fan!”