Dancing with the Stars

So, some of you may have seen my Facebook post a few weeks ago about the opportunity I had to attend a benefit for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Buuuuuuuut, since it was one of the coolest things I've done since we've been here, I wanted to dedicate a whole post to it!

My friend, Jessica, works for the US consulate here in Auckland and had mentioned that she couldn't come to an AWC event I had set up on August 1st because she was hosting a work event for the RNZB. Of course, me being the dedicated cheeseball, rom-com fan that I am, I knew that Ethan Stiefel had accepted the role of Artistic Director of the RNZB a few years back. I'm sure some of you are thinking...who the hell is Ethan Stiefel...so I thought I'd show you this:

Or perhaps this:

So, now that you've seen those, you may realize that he is one of the premiere dancers in the world and it truly is a huge deal that he has taken over direction of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The video above is from 'Center Stage'...which, depending on who's reading this, you may or may not have seen. Me? I probably watched that movie and listened to that soundtrack no less than 100 times in the past 13 years and I love it every single time!

Anyway...when Jessica mentioned that this is how she was spending her Thursday night, I told her that I would change my own event if I got to go to this ballet benefit. So, she invited myself, Tally & Katie S. to join her to the benefit and that was that! We got to dress up and head to a tiny little art gallery over in Parnell where there were no more than 40 of us, including Ethan Stiefel and his wife Gillian Murphy whose porcelain beauty and raw talent are truly unparalleled. Gillian is also a dancer (she and Ethan met when they were dancing with the American Ballet Theater in NYC) and she is currently the Principal Guest Artist with the RNZB.

The benefit was to increase awareness and also raise money for the RNZB US tour that will commence in early 2014. They will be performing a variety of pieces in venues in four different cities.

So at this benefit, they had waiters passing out champagne and delicious food and I have to say that I felt quite posh for the evening! We got to meet some interesting people as well as some fellow Americans...and THEN...Jessica pulled me aside to introduce me to Ethan!! I am such a dork when it comes to celebrities, and even though most people would pass this guy on the street and never look twice, I was totally in awe. He was very friendly and polite and interested in what brought me to New Zealand. I told him I was a huge fan, but decided to refrain from mentioning 'Center Stage' as I'm sure that's not exactly what he wants to be remembered for. But I was so giddy and silly from talking to him that I'm not sure what else I really said to him.

After I collected myself, the ambassador spoke briefly and then one of the RNZB staff members did a question and answer with Ethan & Gillian. It was so fascinating to hear them speak about their journey and their passion for ballet. When it was time to ask questions, I made my mama proud by raising my hand and asking them both what there all-time favorite performances were. Ethan acknowledged that it was a great question and Gillian very quickly responded that Ethan's final performance at ABT that they did together was her favorite.

All in all, it was a really awesome evening and one I'm sure Drew was very happy to miss! It would not have been his cup of tea at all, but it was right up my alley! After we left, all of the girls who were there decided to buy tickets to go see the RNZB's performance of Swan Lake which is actually coming up next week (check back for a blog post on that!) We snagged tickets to the opening night which means we get to see Gillian star in the timeless roles of the white and the black swans.



They said the average career of a ballerina ends at age around 40 or 42, so I figured if I start training now and train every single day for the next 10 years, then maybe I could get a job in a small company for 2-3 years. Hey...a girl can dream, right??

Cheers,