Out & About

By AMANDA GORDON
March 28, 2007

Salve for Romantic Tragedy

Fe Fendi may not be a ballerina (for the record, her dance of choice is flamenco), but as a patron of New York City Ballet, she has all the right moves. Last week she held a luncheon at the Fendi store on Fifth Avenue to help set the buzz at a high pitch for the opening night gala on May 1, of which she is chairwoman.

In just one sentence, she got me hooked: "Go to tragiclovenyc.com," she said.

The Web site, which launched last week, is devoted to the new ballet that will make its world premiere on opening night: "Romeo and Juliet," created by the company's artistic director, Peter Martins, with set designs by Danish painter Per Kirkeby.

In addition to streaming audio of Prokofiev's score, the site includes weekly video episodes created by dancer Kristin Sloan. This week's episode shows the dancers rehearsing their sword fights.

"Because this is such a large and involved production, and a milestone in the history of the New York City Ballet, we thought it would be a great opportunity to give people a behind the scenes view," Ms. Sloan, who runs a Web site for the global dance community at thewinger.com, said.

"When you have a story as wellknown as ‘Romeo and Juliet,' people have such set expectations. And I'm thrilled that we're breaking the mold on that," the general manager of the company, Kenneth Tabachnick, said.

Ms. Fendi also knew what she was doing by holding her luncheon in the Fendi store: Should any of the women attending soon suffer from heartbreak, they'll know exactly where to go to heal their hearts.

agordon@nysun.com