Grace & Kisses for Ailey
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The former head of Citigroup Inc., Sanford Weill, has watched the value of the company plummet recently, but on stage at the City Center for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s opening night on Wednesday, he was in good humor.
“What I have is half yours, and it’s worth a lot less than it was a couple of months ago,” Mr. Weill said to his wife, Joan, the chairwoman of Ailey, earning laughs from the audience.
Well, Mr. Weill did have a reason to be in good spirits: the couple’s investment in Ailey — including a major gift that built its new home on West 55th Street — is faring well: The company’s talent and esteem is soaring, as the performances, 1300 gala guests, and $2.7 million raised on opening night demonstrated.
Mrs. Weill has a lot to do with that success, but she wasn’t speaking: She had laryngitis. So her husband made the most of the opportunity. “I am so proud of her,” Mr. Weill said, pausing to kiss her. “Whatever success I had was her doing.”
Entertainment and philanthropy entrepreneur Russell Simmons, the honorary event chairman, spoke as the parent of two girls studying dance at the Ailey School. “I tell my daughters dance is like moving prayer, and that the grace you get through dance is the same grace that will get you through life,” Mr. Simmons said.
The other non-dancers on stage were event chairmen Herb and Simin Allison, Philip and Patricia Laskawy, and Katherine Farley (her husband Jerry Speyer was lighting the tree at his property, Rockefeller Center). After the performance, dancers joined patrons at the Sheraton for a dinner and more dancing.
agordon@nysun.com
