Miami City Ballet Gala 2015 Turns Up the Heat with a $1 Million Gift From The Perles

Miami City Ballet threw its lush annual gala at Soho Studios this weekend with event chairs Ana and Robert Barlick. Guests walked an extra long red carpet surrounded by lanterns, only to arrive to a Champagne toast by Christofle of Paris.

The room was draped in red velvet curtains to evoke the theater.. which was totally fitting as later in the evening guests got to view a preview of Heatscape, a film installation featuring members of the Miami City Ballet in front of various street art pieces filmed down the street at the famous Wynwood Walls. The film was made by Gil Green of 305 Films and was inspired by this season’s Program IV which features a collaboration between ballet golden boy Justin Peck and Shepard Fairey.

All the dancers from the company attended the gala, with each table getting to enjoy the Le Basque catered dinner atop glinting table tops festooned with orchids and sumptuous platters. But the evening’s most exciting moment might have been when MCB’s Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez announced that Claudia and Steven Perles were making a $1 million gift to the company for its 30th anniversary season in 2016. On that news, the room broke out into dance, which was augmented by the present company’s talent.

Photography by World Red Eye and Manny Hernandez