.png)
Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) celebrates Fifteen Years of Outstanding Performances at its Season 15 Gala. This special virtual event will take place on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
The Gala will feature stunning excerpts from the best of Los Angeles Ballet’s performances with special guest presenters including Paula Abdul, Robert Davi, Siedah Garrett, Harry Lennix, Nigel Lythgoe, Neal McDonough, Kenny Ortega, Joe Pantoliano, Jane Seymour and Adam Shankman, directed by Ryan Parma. Guests will enjoy a dinner provided by Crustacean of Beverly Hills. The event will help Los Angeles Ballet recover from the cancelation of several of their 2020 performances including holiday favorite The Nutcracker, while LAB looks forward to bringing dance back to the stage later this year.
“As our stages, as well as those of our fellow arts organizations, have been dark this past year, we want to celebrate dance and honor the fifteen years of Los Angeles Ballet,” said Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, artistic directors of Los Angeles Ballet. “We know that the arts bring people together in both happy and hard times, and we look forward to when our dancers are able to share their talents with the Los Angeles audiences that have embraced and supported us for fifteen years, but most notably this past year.”
The evening’s co-chairs are Leslie Kavanaugh, Lori Milken and Kirsten Sarkisian.
Proceeds from the Gala support Los Angeles Ballet’s mission to provide world-class performances and provide diverse arts education outreach opportunities throughout Southern California. Los Angeles Ballet strives to share the gift of dance with the broadest possible audience and to give back to the community that has so generously supported it. LAB’s A Chance to Dance program now offers free virtual classes to an international audience of all ages, and in the coming year, the Power of Performance (POP) program looks forward to once again providing thousands of free tickets to special needs children and adults, military families, veterans, seniors, and others through collaboration with 50 social service community partners.
Los Angeles Ballet is known for its superb stagings of the Balanchine repertory, stylistically meticulous classical ballets, and its commitment to new works. The company was founded in 2004 by artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary and retired executive director, Julie Whittaker.
Past Gala honorees include Paula Abdul, Lawrence Bender, Sofia Carson, Governor Gray Davis & Sharon Davis, Robert Day, Jenna Dewan, Linda Duttenhaver, Derek Hough, Ghada Irani, Nigel Lythgoe, Lori Milken, Kenny Ortega, Gelila Assefa Puck, Jane Seymour, Adam Shankman, Antasia Soare, Johnese Spisso and Ben Vereen.
Additional information, including tickets and sponsorship, can be found at LosAngelesBallet.org/event-gala-2021
