Mayor on point at dance gala
WITH ELIZABETH HAMEL August 29, 2011 7:22PM
David Herro (from left), Jay Franke, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Lar Lubovitch at the Chicago Dancing Festival Opening Night Gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art. | PHOTOS © Dominika Irmina Photography
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Updated: November 20, 2011 2:21AM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel presided as chairman of the fifth annual Chicago Dancing Festival Opening Night Gala, held Aug. 22 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, as more than 250 high-profile supporters and dance aficionados gathered to celebrate the kickoff to the weeklong free festival featuring many of the city’s finest dance troupes.
A former ballet dancer himself, the mayor praised dance as “one of the greatest art forms” and vowed, with the help of the Chicago Dancing Festival, that under his watch, “Chicago may become the premier dance destination for not only the Midwest, but for the entire country.”
Partygoers packed the MCA’s theater to take in performances from five companies, including the Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Festival founders Lar Lubovitch and Jay Franke welcomed guests and briefly explained the mission of the fest before the show began, crediting the mayor, who Franke praised as supporting the event with “verve and gusto,” for all of the festival’s 10,000 tickets being claimed.
Following the show, guests made their way to the museum’s terrace for a light buffet dinner of mini pulled pork sandwiches, chilled gazpacho, Chicago-style hot dogs and summer cocktails. Notable names spotted among the crowd included philanthropist and major dance supporter Joan Harris, Sandra and Jack Guthman, Susan and Lew Manilow, Johnson Publishing chairwoman Linda Johnson Rice and entrepreneur Neal Zucker. Nora Daley Conroy, daughter of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, also stopped by the soiree and was seen chatting with Emanuel over a glass of wine.
Tickets to the Chicago Dancing Festivals’ performances (held Tuesday through Saturday at various locations around the city) might have been free, but to score a spot at the opening gala, guests shelled out $250 a person to partake in the festivities. All money raised by the event went to support the festival’s general fund.
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