“Jeté Untamed” The Washington Ballet 10th Anniversary Dance Party

Images and Text by Tony Powell

There are parties in DC and then there are PARTIES in DC! Last Saturday’s 10th Anniversary of The Washington Ballet’s Jeté Society (a society of young ballet patrons) Jeté Untamed was a PARTY no one will soon be forgetting!

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The organizers of the much anticipated dance party made this year’s iteration all the more mysterious by not revealing the location of the soiree until the night of the event! “Look for the fire-breathers,” was the directive when asking for info from the Ballet’s representatives beforehand. The suspense leading up to the unveiling of the top-secret, never-before-used location on the Georgetown waterfront was well worth the wait, perhaps helping to make the 10th Jeté dance party the best one yet!!

Party Chairs Ashley Taylor & Winston Bao Lord presided over the Cirque du Soleil meets Folies Bergère-like atmosphere –  where something new and unusual seemed to await you around every corner as you made your way through the building’s labyrinthine layout.

Washington Ballet Artistic Director, Septime Webre, in his Sgt. Pepper best, was on hand to introduce a special performance by members of the Washington Ballet Studio Company. Former WB dancer turned choreographer, Aaron Jackson, fashioned the slightly naughty pièce d‘occasion, to the music of Lady Gaga, that sent more than a few tongues a wagging!!

urbandaddy.com/dc

Urban Daddy DC launch party. The W Hotel. February 12, 2010. photo © Tony Powell

Shooting last night’s Urban Daddy DC launch party at the W Hotel was the perfect remedy to a week of postponed-by-snow photo assignments and cabin fever. When I got the call from Fingerprint Communications co-chief Barbara Martin, asking if I was free, I jumped on it!

The "Harlem" James Gang © Tony Powell

Jeff Dufour and Jayne Sandman © Tony Powell

Sally Stiebel, Mark Ein, and Jeff Dufour © Tony Powell

There was a feast for the eyes and ears on the top floor of the W – intricately painted nearly nude models dishing out trays of cupcakes while – influenced by the roaring twenties/hip-hop/rap group –  The James Gang – belted out some of the most original music being made today! But we all really went there to celebrate Jeff Dufour, newly appointed editor of Urban Daddy DC, who along with new wife, PR meister Jayne Sandman, are one of DC’s youngest power couples.

Victoria Michael and Katherine Kennedy © Tony Powell

W Hotel Marketing Manager Kaitlyn Ferrara, White House speechwriter Jon Favreau, and Fingerprint PR co-founder Barbara Martin © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Christopher Reiter, Juleanna Glover, Christina Sevilla, Amy Holmes © Tony Powell

The "Harlem" James Gang © Tony Powell

Tyler Beardsley, Amy Argetsinger, Emily Miller, and Todd Flournoy © Tony Powell

Ashley Taylor and Omar Popal © Tony Powell

Pam Godet, top party planner Andre Wells, and Miriam Karim © Tony Powell

Dr. David Washington and Alexe Nowakowski © Tony Powell

Some of the politicos and night-lifers that braved the snowed-in side streets and snails-pace traffic of downtown DC last night included: Kastles owner Mark Ein with girlfriend Sally Stiebel, Meet the Press Executive Producer Betsy Fischer, White House speechwriter Jon Favreau, former Obama aide Dr. David Washington with CityDance Executive Director Alexe Nowakowski, Wash Post writer Amy Argetsinger, Hisaoka Communications prez Wendy Gordon, everywhere there couple Juleanna Glover and Christopher Reiter, CNN political contributor Amy Holmes, Marc Adelman, PEPCO VP Kim Watson and sister, JWoW Founder, Jacqui Watson, Rachel Pearson, a newly brunette Pamela Brown, Christina Sevilla, top bloggers Kate Michael, Emily Miller, Christina Wilkie, and Matt Dornic, my favorite new couple Ashley Taylor and Omar Popal, Becca Glover and Pepper Watkins, Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, L2’s Rodrigo Garcia and Philippe Lanier, Carlos and Erika Gutierrez, Victoria Michael, Katherine Kennedy, Andre Wells, Lee Brenner, Latin Concepts’ Anna Chaley, Brian Komar, Todd Flournoy, Lydia and Scott Logan, and Elizabeth and hubby Almus Thorp.

© Tony Powell

Pamela Brown and Tyler Boyd © Tony Powell

Moira Bagley, Pepper Watkins, Becca Glover © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Rodrigo Garcia and Kate Michael © Tony Powell

DJ Mia Moretti © Tony Powell

Carlos and Erika Gutierrez © Tony Powell

Kim and Jacqui Watson, Leslie Rogers © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

The ladies behind Fingerprint Communications © Tony Powell

In the Flesh, Darlington House, and Smith Point

© Tony Powell

Last night’s triple header started out with a visit to the Phillips Collection, probably the best chamber-sized museum in the country. I’d heard so much talk about the new artwork on view there now, that when I was invited by my friend Kelly Mayfield to see her new choreography being performed there, it seemed like a no-brainer. It was also an opportunity to try out my brand new Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM prime lens in very low light. As part of the Capital Fringe Festival, her fledgling company, Contradiction Dance, comprised of six diverse dancers, staged an hour-long dance piece inspired by the “Paint Made Flesh” exhibit currently running on the top floor of the museum. As I was photographing the performance, I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder. It was my friend and local dance impresario Meera Wolfe, who had just come down from the exhibit. From her whispered description, I knew I needed to see the paintings that inspired the dance that we were watching.

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Smith Point July 23, 2009

Nude by John Currin

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Q & A © Tony Powell

Like the excellent but smallish exhibit upstairs, her work explores a wide range of themes associated with flesh – physical attractiveness, disfigurement, aging, and sensuality, among others. Comprised of duets, solos, spoken words, and group interactions, “In the Flesh,” challenges us to examine our own conception of beauty and to ultimately question the origin of those beliefs. Mayfield and company continued this exchange of ideas in the post-performance Q & A with the audience.

Nude by John Currin

It’s such a small World! Meera was taking in the evening with the internet-based dance critic Carmel Morgan and yoga instructor Amy Dara Stoltz. Carmel says she knows of me via one of my Juilliard classmates Elizabeth McPherson, an esteemed author and dance educator. The four of us take in the artwork together. The 40 paintings that comprise the show are wildly different from one another, yet they all contain the common thread of humanness. The savagery of war, the beauty of the human form, the fleeting nature of love, the inevitability of death, all play out through pigments on canvas, paper, and board. Hyphen, by Jenny Saville has to be seen in person to feel the full effect of the work’s wall-sized brilliance. Hyphen begs one to find beauty in the seemingly grotesque depiction of the artist and her sister. I wanted to touch the canvas – the paint being so thickly applied in some areas. The strongest works for me, by far, were the pieces by Francis Bacon, Eric Fischl, Willem deKooning, and Lucian Freud. California artist Richard Diebenkorn was represented by a minor work of figuration which served to solidify my belief that his “Ocean Park” series is one of the most important collections of abstract paintings of the 20th century. I went to Juilliard with Diebenkorn’s granddaughter Phyllis and she had a miniature painted by him, for her, on the wall of her apartment at the Hotel Narragansett @ 93rd and Broadway. None of our friends realized just how valuable a piece of art it was at the time. But I knew.

All of the photos from the Contradiction Dance after party can be seen at: www.tonypowell.smugmug.com

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

After viewing the art we met up with the dancers at Darlington House for a cast party/cocktail party before I needed to leave to go over to Smith Point, for Washington Life Magazine, to cover Ashley Taylor‘s fundraiser. The bad weather didn’t dampen the spirits of those who braved the rain to show there support for Once Upon a Prom, a non-profit dedicated to providing prom dresses and scholarships to under served young women in the Nation’s Capitol. Ashley’s new boyfriend Jared Cohen was there, as well as Coventry Burke, Heather Guay, Lindsay Craig, Hadley Gamble, Tate Yost Lett, Gabrielle Malman, Becca Glover, Marybeth Coleman, Sara Lang, and Anna VanMeter. Just before leaving, my friend, the writer Carol Joynt, popped in from the rain with two of her pals and unwound in a back room. I’m very comfortable behind the camera so I got a little nervous when Ashley asked me to be IN a shot with everyone. We all had a great time inside while it poured down heavily outside.

“Once Upon a Prom” photos can be found on the Washington Life Magazine website: www.washingtonlife.smugmug.com

Smith Point July 23, 2009