Venue: Circus Juventas
Attendees: 500-plus
Rental Companies: Midway Party Rental and Linen Effects
Decor: Circus Juventas and Smith Brothers Landing
Catering: St. Paul Hotel
Photographer: Bill Gilbertson
Event Planner: Desiree Abele, American Cancer Society
Circus Juventas, a circus
performing arts school in St. Paul, provided the setting for the Mendota
Heights–based American Cancer Society’s “Vivere—To Live!” Gala in December.
(“Vivere” means “to live” in Italian.) The school’s performance space—a steel
clear-span structure covered with a tensioned, fire-resistant fabric—achieves a
“big top” effect. The gala, an annual fundraiser now in its third year, began
with a reception and silent auction.
The gala took its theme—the mask-making carnival in Venice each March—from Circus Juventas’ summer production, says Dan Butler, founder and executive director of Circus Juventas. The circus set and backdrops provided a hand-painted skyline of Venice.
From the minute guests entered the building, there were circus acts going on over their heads. “When people walked in, there were aerial hoops all over the place with performers hanging from them, moving from one pose to another,” Butler says. Circus Juventas performers are young adults who have advanced circus performance skills.
Guests could browse silent-auction items, buy raffle tickets for a seven-day cruise, or buy a lemoncello martini for a chance to win a Mikimoto pearl ring.
Black-on-black striped tablecloths, gold polka-dot napkins, and gold tableware added richness to the decor. Smiths Brothers Landing designed custom wrought-iron candelabra centerpieces and donated them so guests could purchase the candelabras, with funds going to the cause. Gala committee members decorated the centerpieces with carnival masks, roses, and dried hydrangea. About 60 volunteers planned and set up the event.
The Irish Pipe Band called guests to the tables, followed by a performance by Circus Juventas. The performers used a variety circus objects—huge silks that hang from the ceiling, hoops, a hammock, a Spanish web (a soft rope that hangs from the ceiling and is spun by a person sitting on the floor), a triangle trapeze, and swinging trapeze—as they gracefully defied gravity.
“We tailor the performance depending on what the client wants,” Butler says. “The shows are very much in line with the Cirque du Soleil performances with themes and characters, and really elaborate costumes and lighting.”
Dinner was served as Circus Juventas performed throughout the meal. “One of our specialties is doing an act every 15 minutes over dinner so it’s almost like a dinner theater,” Butler says. “So it’s not a start-and-finish show where it’s hard to talk or get up and use the restroom or get another cocktail when there’s a show going on.”
After dinner, a fast-paced live auction called by Karen Lee Sorbo, a Minneapolis-based auctioneer, had guests vying for an autographed Joe Mauer bat and ball, a chef’s dinner at Oceanaire, and a seven-day trip to Spain, among other items. The evening wrapped up with an encore performance by Circus Juventas.
