Arts Group Passes Night in Dance

Local balletomanes avowed themselves thankful Nov. 22 that choreographer Eliot Feld likes parties.

Feld, the founder and ballet master of the New York dance company that bears his name, was quite literally the star attraction at a frothy little supper given by the San Diego Arts Foundation at the Cuyamaca Club after the troupe’s opening night performance at the Civic Theatre. About 200 friends of the ballet and the foundation stayed up late that evening to quaff champagne, mingle with the dancers, and show off their own terpsichorean accomplishments.

The soiree almost didn’t take place. Dubbed “The Grand Canon Affair,” in honor of Feld’s “Grand Canyon” ballet, the party’s fate temporarily tottered as precariously as a boozy tourist might at the edge of the Grand Canyon itself. Almost at the last moment, you see, Feld canceled the string of Western states performances that was to be crowned by his company’s San Diego appearance.

Since that would have been quite a loss for both local audiences and party addicts, Arts Foundation boss Suzanne Townsend went to work to persuade Feld to honor his San Diego commitment. Success ultimately rewarded her labors, a success that prompted a collective sigh of relief on the parts of Beatriz Bolton, Cheryl Jacobson and Jill Sellers, who shared the duties of mounting the supper.

Had there been time, this trio of party chairmen might have changed the event’s name, since “The Grand Canyon” ballet was removed from the program. “The Jig Is Up” might have served just as well, not only because this was the title of the wryly comic piece that capped the program, but also because so many of the guests looked quite ready to burst into jigs when Feld and his troupe strode into the cheerfully decorated (for that evening) sanctum of the Cuyamaca Club.

Feld, accompanied by Feld Ballet executive director Cora Cahan, immediately picked up a plate, browsed the buffet, and retreated to an alcove, where he seated himself on the floor and proceeded to dine in semi-solitary majesty. (Suzanne Townsend saw to it that Feld was well-provided with bubbly and whatever other comforts he desired, and reported that her conversations with the choreographer convinced her that the man was “incredibly intense and fabulous.”)

But while Feld somewhat removed himself from the immediate locus of the party’s activities, the other dancers did not. They seemed especially drawn to the dance floor (this surprised a few guests, including a matron who remarked, “You’d think they’d had enough of that for one night!”), where they swayed amiably to the jazzy squalls kicked up by Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and their group. Nor did the dancers arrive without their appetites; they all partook enthusiastically of the pates, cheeses, roast beef and assorted chinoiserie.

The party’s patrons, including Arts Foundation President Danah Fayman, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, and Marilyn and Vince Benstead, all were cheered by the news that the foundation intends to accompany each of its productions with a social event.

Among the many others present were Ann and Ken Poovey, Faiya and Mickey Fredman, Rita Bronowski, Sandra and Bob Kritzik, Mary and Dallas Clark, Frances and Jeff Freedman, Myra and Albert Grennan, Susan Cahill, Jacquelyn Littlefield, Lynn and Gloria Robinson, R’Leen Loving, Barbara and Paul Saltman, and Bebe and Marvin Zigman and Elena Mier y Teran, who came with Steve and Leth King.

Some 75 Globe Guilders celebrated the commencement of the Old Globe Theatre’s winter season by assembling Saturday for a pre-performance reception and dinner at Mission Valley’s Oscar Taylor restaurant.

The meal preceded the American premiere of New Zealand playwright Robert Lord’s “Bert and Maisy.” However, the menu chosen by dinner chairman Irene Cooper could as easily have preceded a reprise of “The Egg and I”; it was a fowl frolic, and one that left guests gasping in surprise as waiters placed platters containing entire barbecued chickens in front of them. (One guest who said he had never dined at this restaurant remarked that he now could tell people he had eaten there three times.) Nearly everyone dug in, and those who found themselves unequal to the task took doggie bags with them when they left for the Cassius Carter Centre Stage. Anyone who thought the atmosphere at the theater that evening to be faintly tinged with the aroma of barbecue sauce was not suffering from olfactory delusions.

The Guilders never seem to take a breather from their round of social activities, and although this event introduced the current season, it was not the first party of the month. Just two weeks earlier, the Guilders held their first awards dinner. Eleanor Mikkelsen, who was present at Saturday’s event, was still glowing from receiving the “Guilder of the Year” honor at the awards ceremony. She said that she was “absolutely charmed” by the honor, but she may have meant enchanted, since she added that she was so surprised that she was unable to rise from her chair.

Another pair of Guilder loyalists in attendance at Oscar Taylor were Dolly and Jim Poet, who had just returned from a leisurely four-month tour of Europe. Dolly said that returning to normal life after this extended holiday was difficult in certain respects. “I still don’t quite realize that I’m home,” she said. “Whenever I want something, I start to pick up the phone to ring for room service.”

It had been hoped that playwright Lord would be among the company, but the group was disappointed in this hope. There was a theatrical presence, however, in the form of New York playwright Albert Black, who attended with prominent arts patron and culture vulture Bill Purves.

Among others in attendance were new Guilders President Nancy Bayer and her husband, Robert; Annyce and Jacques Sherman, Marilyn and George Miller, Kay and Paul Black, Marilyn and Hie Thompson, Suzanne and Michael Turner, Sylvan Cooper, Marge and Lawrence Spear, Barbara Iredale, Jeanie and Art Rivkin, Anne and Mitchell Kay, Rheta and Leland Black, Lohme and Arthur Canfield, Rita and Dan Grady, Lillian and King Durkee, Joan and James Milton, and Lucille and Richard Ramey.