Magnates from every corner of the entertainment industry donned their best black-tie garb Monday and flocked to the American Ballet Theatre's 65th annual spring gala, which raised $1.5 million. "I don't understand ballet but I appreciate it," said legendary third baseman Cal Ripkin Jr., who holds the record for most consecutive games played. "When I was playing baseball I couldn't come, but then I retired and I've been here the last four years. I grade them on their athleticism."

Following a six-set program that included excerpts from Swan Lake, a segment by tap dancer Savion Glover, and an all-star ensemble piece entitled Don Quixote Suite, silver screen bad boys Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, and Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson sauntered into a makeshift pavilion for dinner. "I'm such a horrible romantic," confessed fellow reveler, supermodel Natalia Vodianova. "I love the ballet and poetry and all those things." Nearby, husband Justin Portman chirped, "She was crying during Swan Lake."

Principal dancer and new mom Irina Dvorovenko, currently on maternity leave, looked on from the sidelines as her spouse, Maxim Beloserkovsky, danced center-stage. "To watch is harder than to perform," she said. "It's very exciting to see each dancer, but I already started taking classes. I really miss it."

—Sarah Cristobal