Dancing the Night Away : 9 Balls Still Hot Ticket Despite Cold Weather

Maybe it froze on President Reagan’s inaugural parade, but the 140,000 inaugural fans who bought tickets for nine officially sanctioned presidential balls Monday night had no intention of letting a little thing like the coldest temperatures on record stand in the way of a good time.

At the first stop on his rounds--and he was scheduled to visit them all during the evening--the President gazed lovingly out at an audience that looked far more like it belonged at a giant high school prom than at the usual Washington political gathering.

“I’m glad we started the evening here,” the President, with First Lady Nancy Reagan beside him, told the 8,000 teen-agers to 30-year-olds assembled for the Youth Inaugural Ball at the D.C. Armory. “I just wanted to tell you something: We love you.”

More than an hour before the Reagans’ arrival at the youth ball, girls in “Gone With the Wind” dresses and young men in their first tuxedos had begun swarming around the stage in anticipation. “We want Ron!” they chanted, a cheer that changed to “four more years” after Reagan took the stage.

“That’s against the rules,” the President responded laughing. The crowd, silenced briefly, then applauded while Reagan led the First Lady, who wore a spangly white sheath dress, in the first inaugural dance--a slow waltz to “The Tennessee Waltz.”

In the November election, more than 60% of America’s 18- to 30-year-olds cast their votes for Reagan. “Reagan is an example of the way America should be and the way the youth should be,” said Alan Ridgeway, 16, of Cerritos, Calif., who attended the youth ball. “He talks and kids understand what he says.”

The presidential party’s second stop of the evening was at the Air and Space Museum, where Reagan briefly thanked the 4,500 celebrants for their support and then swept the First Lady around the floor to the music of “Nancy With The Laughing Face.”

Soon after the election, a spokesman for the inaugural committee said, requests for the $125-per-person ball tickets began pouring in from across the nation. And would-be celebrants continued to purchase tickets to the balls even as a numbing cold snap gripped Washington.

A chance to see the President waltz with the First Lady was enough to attract many people to these black-tie extravaganzas, seen as the creme de la creme of inaugural events. Others would be satisfied with just a first-hand glimpse of the first couple in their celebratory finery, culminating in their near-midnight appearance at the vast California Ball at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

That ticket was the hottest in town--so much in demand that the ballroom, which normally holds 1,200 people, somehow was vastly oversold and the D.C. fire marshal slammed the doors shut at 10:30 p.m., prior to the President’s arrival, allowing no one else to enter.

Separated from Companions

Even those who had left to use the restrooms were not allowed back in, and scores were separated from coats, companions and spouses.

Bill Harris, a builder-contractor from Newport Beach, stood calmly outside with his $2,500 ticket for a box of eight seats.

“This happened to us four years ago, so I’m really not surprised,” he said. “We’re having a good time anyway. This is part of being at the inaugural. When you pay $2,500 for a box it’s mostly a donation anyway . . . makes it more interesting.”

Others, however, lost their tempers, and one teen-age girl who had become separated from her family while using the restroom stood sobbing.

At the youth ball, a group called the Blues Other Brothers was scheduled to perform. Also scheduled to entertain there and at the eight remaining galas were members of the All-American Entertainment Co.--the same “young people that we had such a flap over,” inaugural committee liaison John Buckley said.

The dispute involving these 200 “middle-of-the-road” musicians from across the nation had centered on whether they would be paid for their appearances, and how much. Under a contractual resolution, Buckley said, 90 of the performers would be paid, while the other 110 were not.

Other entertainers slated to perform at the various galas were characterized by one inaugural committee member as “older-type” dance groups, including Lester Lanin and Lionel Hampton and their orchestras.

Not to be left out in the cold, the Democrats had their own party, called “The Other Inaugural Bash: Dare to Be Different.” It was sponsored by Americans for Democratic Action.

“The thing we’re celebrating tonight is that the 1984 election is over,” Ann F. Lewis, the national ADA director and former political director of the Democratic National Committee, said. “And the 1986 and 1988 elections have just begun.”

Also in marked contrast to the formality of the Republican celebrations was another alternative inaugural ball at the Kilimanjaro nightclub, sponsored by former Sens. George S. McGovern and James Abourezk of South Dakota, with California Reps. Sala Burton (D-San Francisco) and Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley).

Here the setting was dark, the crowd was in jeans and tweed, and the music was noisy enough to fill the two lively dance floors.