Katie Holmes does her part for Dizzy Feet (by staying home)

By Matt Donnelly

July 30, 2012 12 AM PT

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise have seen considerably less attention paid to their abrupt split, thanks to the recent flurry of activity surrounding Kristen Stewart — but that’s not to say Holmes isn’t still sought after.

The “Dawson’s Creek” actress made headlines last week simply by turning down an invitation to the annual gala for the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a dance scholarship program for which she serves as board member.

The event, co-chaired by director Adam Shankman and “So You Think You Can Dance” producer Nigel Lythgoe, forged on without her, though the men explained Katie’s decision to sit it out.

“We just got off the phone with Katie, and she let us know that she won’t make it tonight,” the two said to the crowd at the top of the evening.

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“While she is very upset and disappointed that she is not here, we all agree that her attendance would make her the spotlight of the evening and it would distract from what tonight is all about: dance and the arts.”

Fair enough. Holmes remained in New York, where she and Suri are setting up shop in a rental home and preparing for the 6-year-old’s matriculation to the Convent of the Sacred Heart school come September.

Mother and daughter didn’t get to glam up for an L.A. evening — which saw attendance from Shirley MacLaine, Harry Shum Jr., Maria Menounos and Derek Hough — but the women did hit up Manhattan’s highbrow spot Pastis for some Sunday brunch.

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