The theme was Latin Fever, but it was Malcolm Fever that gripped the 400-strong crowd of VIPs at Saturday night's Sydney Dance Company annual Dance Noir party, one of the highlights on the Sydney social calender.

Turnbull arrived by water taxi at Walsh Bay Pier 2 with his Point Piper neighbour and fellow Liberal, Woollahra councillor Deborah Thomas, after his wife Lucy cancelled, having come down with the flu.

Without so much as a drop of sea spray on his pristine, glowing white jacket, Turnbull flashed his equally white teeth as the inevitable round of hand-shaking and air-kissing followed.

Tony Abbott's deputy, a fit and tanned looking Julie Bishop, followed soon after, with her equally fit and tanned boyfriend, David Panton, firmly by her side.

While their conversation appeared breezy and bright without so much as a hint of what was to transpire just 48 hours later, it was clear both Turnbull and Bishop were comfortable in each other's company, with pleasant exchanges ranging from the superb Sydney spring weather to Latin fashions bubbling away.

Indeed it was the sort of crowd in which both Turnbull and Bishop would feel right at home. Among the guests mingling were billionaire arts philanthropist Judith Neilson, Google Australia boss Maile Carnegie, the 18th chancellor of the University of Sydney, Belinda Hutchinson, Westpac boss Brian Hartzer, Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein and head of investment banking at Morgan Stanley Richard Wagner.

As the Piper-Heidsieck flowed, the political duo practically glowed in the reflected glory as the gathering of some of Sydney's bluest Liberals basked around them. Even those few lefties attending the party begrudgingly admitted how radiant they appeared.

"They call it the Point Piper branch of the Liberal Party," noted one observer as the gathering of old Sydney names like the Coppelsons, the Playfairs, the Inghams and the Carriols - names which once commanded the social pages in this city - warmly embraced the pair.

Fashion designer Carla Zampatti, the former wife of Liberal stalwart John Spender, slinked over to offer salutations to the pair, later commenting on how "chic" they both looked.

Even television personality Kerri-Anne Kennerley swooned as Turnbull and Bishop sailed by, both of them peppering her cheeks with kisses as all eyes in the room remained transfixed.

As the camera phones waved about them and the pair happily posed for obligatory selfies with their adoring masses, it was noted that Turnbull and Bishop did not pose for any shots together.