OCPAC gala seeks to raise reputation

In most cases, a "gala" evening at a venue of the stature of the Orange County Performing Arts Center involves jetting in big-name stars for a one-night stand performing their "greatest hits" for an audience studded with major donors, all in the name of fundraising -- accompanied by a lavish black-tie dinner that requires a gift to the organization affordable only to a moneyed few.

With its "Tour de Force: A Gala Dance Spectacular" on Thursday night at Segerstrom Hall, the center's first gala dance performance of this kind, OCPAC is trying something a little different. It's centered on the world premiere of "Fallen Angel," a new work by Boris Eifman.

Yes, big-name dance stars will be onstage, and they will be available to dine and mingle afterward with audience members who pay $280 to attend the after-party (including a $150 ticket to the show).

But that fee is meager compared with the $375 to $3,500 that San Francisco Ballet-goers forked over to be part of that company's annual opening-night gala in January, an event that raised $1 million for San Francisco Ballet.

Indeed, unlike most galas, "Tour de Force" is not a fundraiser, says OCPAC executive vice president Judy Morr. Ticket sales are expected simply to cover the lean, under-$200,000 budget, which Morr says is less than it might cost to present a lavishly staged performance of a story ballet such as "Swan Lake."

The idea behind this program, Morr says, is to make an investment in OCPAC's reputation as a presenter of international dance and center for the development of new work.

The gala is timed to take advantage of the four-day run of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia, which is returning with the Southern California premiere of Eifman's "Onegin" tonight; the center can keep gala costs down by tapping the dancers to participate. Though dancers' salaries and travel expenses are covered, they bring their own costumes and perform with recorded music and minimal sets.

Tickets to the gala performance, at $35 to $150, are, relatively speaking, not too much higher than the $25 to $85 patrons will pay to see "Onegin."

The gala will be presented in association with Ardani Artists, under the direction of impresario Sergei Danilian, a longtime associate of OCPAC who has brought European companies to the center and co-produced "Beauty in Motion," last year's showcase for ballerina Diana Vishneva that traveled to Moscow. Danilian's "Kings of the Dance," built around four top-flight male ballet stars, originated at OCPAC in 2006 and also toured to Moscow the following year.