Island Moving Company dances into the night at Bellevue House Friday

Evoking the legendary all-night arts festival that takes place throughout Paris each year, Island Moving Co. creates a Nuit Blanche in Ronald Lee Fleming’s gardens at Bellevue House, 304 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, R.I. on Friday, July 12.

Newport’s resident contemporary ballet company has invited musicians, singers, painters and other artists to join the Company’s dancers in short performances set among the allées, follies and ornamental pools of the gardens. The evening, which begins at 8 p.m., will also include a live auction emceed by Emlen Drayton, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails and dancing for all to music by New York’s Tin Pan Band.

Tickets start at $150; all proceeds support the education programs and collaborative creative programs of the Island Moving Co. The IMC has partnered with local Newport restaurants to offer patrons a complete evening including dinner before the event, valet parking at Bellevue House and an unforgettable evening celebrating the arts.

Partner restaurants include 22 Bowens and The Mooring, where a special block of reservations is being held until June 30; Asterisk, which is offering a prix fixe menu; La Forge Casino, Perro Salado and Canfield House. All are close to Bellevue House and all are offering special pre-gala dinners that will guarantee that patrons don’t miss a moment of the party. Details of each restaurant’s offers can be found at www.islandmovingco.org.

 From 8-9 p.m. on July 12, the nine dancers of the Island Moving Co. will present selections from the Company’s repertoire, reworked for the garden’s environments by Artistic Director Miki Ohlsen. The dancers will be joined in the garden by ballroom dancer Sara Barker, dancer Michael Bolger and his collaborator, opera singer Stephanie Trotter, pianist Dave Manuel, singer Victor Sandman and Tin Pan Band of New York. The audience will tour the garden and the performances at their leisure for the first hour of the gala. At 9 p.m., musicians and dancers will lead the guests into the tent for a live auction led by Emlen Drayton and a silent auction of select items donated by the Newport merchant and non-profit community. Blackstone Caterers will offer a variety of charcuterie, breads, cheeses and other hors d’oeuvres and an open bar will offer drinks, beer donated by Lagunitas Brewing Company of California, spirits by Sons of Liberty Spirits and wines sponsored by Bellevue Wine & Spirits and wine expert Laurine Ryan Perry.

 Tickets begin at $150, which includes open bar, hors d’oeuvres and the entire evening of performance and dancing. For reserved seating in the tent, guests can purchase a premium table, with tableside service, for $5,000; four tickets at a reserved table for $2,500; two tickets at a reserved table for $1,250. A Sparkler sponsor receives one ticket at a reserved table for $500. All sponsors will be listed in the evening’s program. Patrons can also buy a ticket to the party for one of the Island Moving Co. dancers or their guest dancers in town for the Great Friends Dance Festival, which begins on July 18. To Sponsor a Dancer is $75. All tickets may be purchased at www.islandmovingco.org. For more information please call 401 847-4470.