The Capitol Ballet: 1987 Gala Salute

On April 19, 1987, The Capitol Ballet was honored in conjunction with The Washington Ballet at the Kennedy Center. The Galas were held on successive evenings as fundraisers for the dance organizations. Capitol Ballet’s performances were presented the Concert Hall, while Washington Ballet’s was presented in the Eisenhower Theater.

“The twin fund-raising evenings, both to be highlighted by the participation of internationally celebrated guest artists, will also be a double-barreled tribute to a pair of extraordinary women: Doris Jones, cofounder and artistic director of the Capitol Ballet, and Mary Day, founder and artistic director of the Washington Ballet,” wrote Alan M. Kriegsman in The Washington Post, “These two gifted, brave, determined individuals—’liberated’ long before the public movement in that direction—have played historic, indeed unique, pioneering artistic roles in ballet, significant not just for Washington, but for the nation as a whole. The timing of the two fundraisers (both for ballet companies) did not go unnoticed, prompting The Center’s artistic director Marta Istomin to assure that such a gaff would not occur again.”

The dancers included Carmen DeLavallade, Chita Rivera, Hinton Battle, Sandra Fortune, Sylvester Campbell, April Berry, Kevin Brown and Renee Robinson, Hope Clark (Jones alumna), and members of her Vintage Dance Company (including DeLavallade, Erin Martin, Robert Blanskhine, Miguel Godreau, Bertam Ross, and former Jones pupil and MacArthur Foundation honoree Elma Lewis).

Source:

Washington Ballet Bonanza, The Washington Post