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Clutching my £35 ticket for a seat with a very restricted view, from the moment of arrival I felt as if I’d bought a ticket (at an inflated price) for the ‘cattle class’ of an overcrowded train to Kabul. Instead of clinging to the carriage roof, I was unceremoniously ushered to the second circle, with no stopping off on the way, the worst of it being that these tickets didn’t allow access to a cloakroom; a particularly shallow abuse of paying customers on a wet and cold November evening.

At both the start of proceedings and after the interval, everyone in the second circle was dutifully seated, patiently waiting for the dance to begin. Whilst I could look sideways at a full auditorium, gazing downwards revealed an almost empty chamber. Several minutes after 7.30, a minority of seats in the stalls and first circle had been taken. One elegantly dressed woman was still volubly welcoming her guests at the side of the stalls, a full five minutes or more after the show should have started and all still standing as the lights went down, at which point I counted 13 empty seats in the front rows of the first circle and saw many more further back. All but two of these had been filled by the end of the second work, with one group of four noisily arriving at well past 8 pm. The start of the second half was even worse with many VIP guests still standing and chatting at the sides as Emanuel Gat’s initially silent work began on stage.

It’s difficult to conclude anything other than that many people were there for anything but the dance. By contrast, almost all the people that I see, supporting Sadler’s Wells, week-in, week-out, were not there, no doubt priced out of the market for this one glittering occasion.

Another phenomenon I’ve not previously encountered can only be described as a sort of inverted ‘Sky at Night’ experience. In the dark pause after each work was finished, countless glittering stars twinkled all over the auditorium as attentions were turned to blackberries, i-phones and other communication devices. All I needed was Patrick Moore to point out the Orion of the stalls and the Plough of the first circle. It would be charitable to suggest that the twinkling came from people straining to cast light on their programme notes but – from where I sat – I could see many fast fingers and thumbs working their way speedily over the keys. Most – but by no means all – at least had the decency to hide the light when the next work commenced.

Galas are always difficult menus to digest; a morsel of this, followed by a spoonful of something entirely unrelated and so it goes on. It’s difficult to build up a momentum of being suitably engrossed, in any event, but with the irritating distraction of an audience that seemed, for a large part, unwilling to leave the champagne for the spectacle, it became a lost cause for much of the evening.

It was a clever and appropriate move to open with a foretaste of Rambert’s new work, with three movements of ‘Eternal Light’, thereby both looking back since this company opened the very first night at the barely finished theatre in 1998 and looking forward because the full work is to be performed at Sadler’s Wells, next week. Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’ started life in the old theatre (back in 1995) so its relevance to a celebration of work in the new space was tenuous. Pas de deux are often incongruous when taken in isolation from their setting and the significance of the meeting between the Swan and the Prince within the particular narrative of Bourne’s version was entirely lost on anyone unaware of the context.

Of course, many people came to see Sylvie Guillem dancing with the choreographer in an excerpt of Russell Maliphant’s duet ‘Critical Mass’. It was originally made on Maliphant and Robert Tannion, so the new dynamic of Sylvie established her unique slow, long, feline quality upon this intimate pas de deux of intricate and perpetual movement, yet firmly rooted within a 3m square. It has the same stunning adagio quality as Maliphant’s ‘Broken Fall’.

Carlos Acosta breezed his way through the gala showpiece of ‘Les Bourgeois’ with the added promise of some mystery guests. However, since the ‘Strictly Come…’ pairing of Anton du Beke and Erin Boag were very publicly thanked in the programme, attempts at covering them up were perhaps futile for many who had read their notes (even if by the light of a blackberry in the dark!) Anton and Erin are Strictly’s most elegant professional pairing but their hammy, ballroomy, tangoey showpiece was disappointing.

The real highlights – both of which were well worth my 35 quid – were an excerpt from Wayne McGregor’s ‘Entity’, thrillingly performed by five members of Random Dance, amongst whom, Agnes Lopez Rio was eye-openingly outstanding; and the simple theatrical brilliance of Pina Bausch’s ‘Memories’ – an artistic executive summary of the work of her outstanding Tanztheater Wuppertal dancers, 24 of whom cast their magic here, and to such an extent that it provided the only sense in the evening that the audience was fully engrossed in the performance.

Of course, Sadler’s Wells’ defence of this enterprise will be that they have raised much-needed money with which to commission new work and that, in due course, we shall all benefit. I’m sure that this is undeniable. It’s ironic, however, that the rebuilding of the theatre eradicated much of the obvious signs of elitism, making the Wells more accessible to local people, broadening the dance appeal through such innovations as the fabulous ‘Breakin’ Convention’ showcases and promoting new young dance makers across a wide range of disciplines. Where was this being celebrated?

Where were all the people whose ticket purchases have made Sadler’s Wells a success over the past decade? It was like having a birthday party without your friends, just with any random people who can buy you a big present.

What a shame!