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Raise a glass, take a vacation or shoot some clay for the ballet!

2/4/2008

RICHMOND BALLET
MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 04, 2008

Media Contact:
Aaron Sutten
Director of Marketing and Communications
Richmond Ballet
(804) 344-0906 x244
asutten@richmondballet.com

Special guest emcee Spencer Christian
and Board president Mary Anne Hooker

Raise a glass, take a vacation or shoot some clay for the ballet!

Richmond Ballet’s 15th Annual Auction offers fine wine and anything-but-ordinary auction items for a good cause

RICHMOND — The idea of a trip to St. John, with its inviting turquoise waters and sunny sky, could warm up any cold winter evening, as one lucky bidder discovered on Saturday, February 2. The trip was one of many enticing items available at Uncorked, Richmond Ballet’s 15th Annual Auction at the Commonwealth Club.

Uncorked is the Ballet’s largest social event of the year and is hailed by its co-chairs – Mary Anne and Walter Hooker, Elizabeth Harvard, Cyndi Massad and Kendal Thompson – as “a special tradition that celebrates the finer things in life…wine, food, travel, art and ballet.” The eventmet enormous success this weekend, raising approximately $150,000 for the Ballet’s ongoing mission to “awaken and uplift the human spirit, both for audiences and dancers.”

Special celebrity guest and emcee for the evening was Virginia’s very own Spencer Christian, best known as the weather forecaster on ABC’s “Good Morning America” from 1986 to 1998. Christian was among approximately 300 guests in attendance, who were excited to start the bidding after an exhilarating performance by Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion Team XXL.

With auction items as rare a bottle of 2000 Kluge Estate New World Red and as exclusive as tickets to New York Fashion Week, Uncorked produced as many “oohs” and “ahhs” as a performance by the dancers of Richmond Ballet.  Nearly140 individual and packaged auction items in categories ranging from “Personal Indulgence” to “European Getaways” were available.

The live auction had no shortage of luxurious and alluring selections, including a 1.94-carat Emerald from Carreras Jewelers, ready to be mounted to the winner’s specification. Guests interested in getaway vacations also had a wide range of options, with trips to St. John, Alaska, Sonoma Valley and Chateau Coujan in southern France available.

Not distracted by the sparkle of jewels and the lure of a warm ocean breeze, wine connoisseurs in attendance had their pick of world-class wine bottles and wine packages. “Nineties’ Nirvana,” a collection of nine world-famous wines from the 1990’s, including the 100-point 1995 Chateau Margaux, was a hit with bidders, while “The Pleasure of Pinot” wine lot, which contained ten pre-release Pinot Noirs, found a happy home that evening.

There was something for virtually every interest and taste, from a skeet-shooting package – complete with shooting instruction and 125 clays and shells – to a bowl hand-painted by the dancers of Richmond Ballet.  Other Richmond Ballet items included a custom-made American Girl doll costume – specially created by the ballet’s costume shop – and an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: a walk-on role in the 2008 production of The Nutcracker.  If a walk-on role wasn’t enough, one lucky bidder – along with eleven guests – won the opportunity to dance with the stars of Richmond Ballet at the sophisticated Studio 418 on Broad Street.  Richmond Ballet company members Maggie Small and Fernando Sabino had the entire room cheering as they performed a sultry salsa dance to give the audience a preview of the “Dancing with the Stars” package.

While the evening didn’t include a grand pas de deux filled with graceful lifts, the constant elevation of auction paddles and wine glasses more than made up for it.  Support from Uncorked not only helps make Richmond Ballet’s main stage performances possible, but also aids the School of Richmond Ballet and its outreach programs, including Minds In Motion. Uncorked is vital to the ongoing success of Richmond Ballet, as the auction raises more funds than any other event of the year.

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Richmond Ballet, The State Ballet of Virginia, is dedicated to the education, promotion, preservation and continuing evolution of the art form of ballet.  Richmond Ballet strives to keep meaningful works of dance alive and to produce and foster new works that remain true to these values.  Now in its 24th professional season, Richmond Ballet's mission is to "awaken and uplift the human spirit, both for audiences and dancers."

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For further press information contact:
 Aaron Sutten, Director of Marketing and Communications
EMAIL: asutten@richmondballet.com; CALL: (804) 344-0906 x244