Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The ballerinas of American Ballet Theatre are graceful creatures to be sure, but Monday night at the company’s spring gala, all eyes were on Blaine Trump, who was celebrating the 20th anniversary of her work on the event, which she helped turn into a blockbuster. This year’s gala raised $1.8 million and drew 1,200 people who filled two dance floors after dinner.
“To me the difference between Blaine Trump and every other society lady I’ve worked with is that she’s a worker,” a former chairman of ABT, Melville Straus, who was chairman when Ms. Trump first got involved, said.
And galas take a lot of work. “A lot of people here have no idea what it takes to put this together,” one of Ms. Trump’s closest friends, the actress Lynda Carter, said.
When her son Christopher was a boy, Ms. Trump would take him with her to the ballet’s offices after school. “I’d futz around with the dancers,” Mr. Trump, now 28, said. “I’m just so happy for her tonight.” He has become involved in another cause of his mother’s, God’s Love We Deliver.
Life isn’t perfect. Ms. Trump is in the midst of a divorce. But she is still a woman envied. “She epitomizes the grace and beauty we all strive to achieve,” Julie Kent, who is celebrating her 20th anniversary as a principal dancer, said. “To be supported by her is such a gift.”
Ms. Trump was plain and simple about what inspires her. “Tonight when I looked at the dancers on stage, I felt incredible happiness and joy. Working on this party has been a labor of love,” she said.
