Shaking Money-Makers at the Boston Ballet’s Oceanic Siren Ball
Plus, a fashion show hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and more.
Principal dancer Jeffrey Cirio with his wife, Anjuli; his sister, principal dancer Lia Cirio; and principal dancer Paul Craig. / Photo by Flavio D Photography
Boston’s A-list didn’t need to jet off to St. Barth for a warm dip in the sea this winter, because Boston Ballet held its ocean-themed Siren Ball at the SoWa Power Station. The evening, which we named Boston’s Best Gala of 2022, paid homage to last month’s production of Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning’s ballet, La Mer. It was also a seafood lover’s dream, with Peekytoe crab, hake fish sticks, scallops, and smoked salmon…and those were just a few of the canapés.
Front and center and looking fabulous were the likes of cochairs Ellen Wilson and Caroline Wilson Weber; biotech boss Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch and her handsome husband, Lars; the beyond fabulous Yndia Lorick-Wilmot and her pharmaceutical bigwig husband, Damian; Boston’s own double-Oscar-winning couple, David and Nina Fialkow; all three unstoppable Humphrey girls, Joanna, Caroline, and Victoria; travel titan Andy Levine and his other half, Deena Giancotti; Brazilian interior designer Simone Habermeyer and her husband, Stephan, and one femme fatale in a killer couture gown who proclaimed, “You gotta look good if you’re gonna behave badly.”
A few guests grumbled about the modest portion sizes at dinner, but the meal was fuel enough to make everyone crowd the dance floor and shake their money makers. Everyone, that is, except for one man, who pointed at his wife and said, “I’ve got a blood clot in my leg, and she wants me to dance. I think she’s trying to kill me.”
To which a friend responded, “Can you really blame her?”
However, the evening’s funniest comment came from the dazed-looking guy who gestured at the décor and said, “I don’t know if it’s the micro-dosed chocolate I ate, but this is way better than Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Photo by Michael Blanchard Photography
Photographer and model Ashley Soong.
Photo by Brooke Tresolini
Ji Young Chae, Sage Humphries, and Soobin Lee performed an excerpt from Nanine Linning’s La Mer.
Photo by Flavio D Photography
Boston Ballet board of advisers VP Martine Mangion and adviser Lianne Leventhal with dancer Lawrence Rines Munro, arts patron Melissa Karger, and adviser Aliya Page.
Photo by Flavio D Photography
Choreographer Nanine Linning and artistic director Mikko Nissinen.
Photo by Flavio D Photography
Bobby Perino and Matthew Thompson.
Nicie Panetta, Will Kiester, Jade Gedeon, and Erik and Uzo Erlingsson. / Photo by Michael Blanchard Photography
Trustees Snow Ball
Mother Nature was clearly listening when the Trustees hosted the Snow Ball at Castle Hill in Ipswich. The temperature dipped to what felt like a nippy negative 45 but did little to dampen spirits as guests dined in splendor throughout the Crane Estate mansion and then danced into the wee hours in the ballroom or kibitzed in the oak-paneled library. Everyone stayed up past their bedtime—so either it was one enchanted evening, or people just couldn’t face the wind chill.
Photo by Michael Blanchard Photography
Ashley Bernon and Christy Cashman.
Photo by Michael Blanchard Photography
Thomas Frank and Alexandra Hastings.
Photo by Michael Blanchard Photography
Peter Creighton, Gavin McGrath, and Duncan Mointyre.
Honoree Sue Brady Hartigan and Tiffany Ortiz. / Photo by Bobby Shakes
Boston Living Art Fashion Show
The culmination of Living Art Boston Week—a collaboration between the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the business development program MadeINcubator—took place at Artists for Humanity EpiCenter. A runway extravaganza showcased the work of local designers and featured a mix of models who actually knew what they were doing and klutzes like yours truly.
Photo by Bobby Shakes
Alex Veda Ortiz performing an original song to honor the evening’s champion, radio personality Sue Brady Hartigan.
Photo by Bobby Shakes
Colton Bradford modeling Just Add People by Diana Jaye Coluntino.
Photo by Bobby Shakes
Daniela Corte modeling her own design.
AJ Hernandez modeling Solo Jubin. / Photo by Bobby Shakes
A version of this was first published in the print edition of the May 2023 issue with the headline “Don’t Tell James Cameron…”
