| EVENT REPORT 06.16.09 11:23 AM |
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| Circus Act |
| Telus paid tribute to Cirque du Soleil's involvement in the closing weekend of Luminato with a cocktail party inspired by the troupe's show at Harbourfront Centre. |
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To mark the closing weekend of the Luminato Toronto Festival of Arts + Creativity, event sponsor Telus invited 430 clients and business partners to a cocktail reception Friday at Harbourfront Centre, the site of a special Cirque du Soleil performance that was commissioned for the 2009 festival. Chitra Anand, communications director for Telus, worked with 43degrees Design Collective to create two event spaces overlooking a pond on the waterfront where Cirque performed at 7:30 p.m.
"Basically what we wanted to do was recreate the space and the environments [being used in the Cirque performance]. The whole concept is about natural and urban settings, which is very much on brand for Telus," Anand said. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Telus hosted a cocktail party for 430 guests in two Cirque-inspired spaces at Harbourfront Centre.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Event producers 43 Degrees used greenery to fill the nature-inspired tent, which overlooked the pond where Cirque du Soleil performed.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Telus images hung on a clothesline behind a food station in the nature-inspired lounge.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Architectural images provided a backdrop for the food station in the urban lounge.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | A water feature sat at the entrance to the outdoor space.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Luanda Jones performed for guests on stage in the urban lounge area.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Purple accents, including arrangements from Forget Me Not Flowers, filled the urban lounge.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Servers passed mojitos to guests at they arrived.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Telus guests could sit at stools positioned along the railing overlooking the Cirque du Soleil set in the pond at Harbourfront Centre.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Cirque du Soleil performers splashed around in the pond behind York Quay Centre during the performance, which was the first of several free shows held throughout Luminato's closing weekend.
Photo: BizBash |
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The Cirque performance centred around two communities that formed on the waterfront on Friday night—one, called Na, representing the natural world and the other, Ban, representing the urban community. The two tribes performed at opposite ends of the waterfront, with Na taking to the pond at Harbourfront Centre and Ban setting up camp at the Music Garden further west. The two groups performed several shows in various locations along the waterfront throughout the weekend and unified at HTO Park for one final performance on Sunday night.
To honour that performance, 43degrees created indoor and outdoor spaces inspired by the two groups. The design company filled the indoor urban setting with white furnishings from Contemporary Furniture Rentals, including long communal tables. "We want to allow for an environment that is interactive. We want our business partners to meet each other," Anand said. Purple arrangements from Forget Me Not Flowers topped tables; Luanda Jones performed on stage; and a large screen above the food station displayed architectural images.
A purple carpet—a common element at Telus events—ran the length of the walkway that connected the indoor space with the outdoor tent, where three food stations and a bar surrounded a display of greenery and an ice sculpture of a flock of Canada geese. "In the tent we have leaves and a soft Zen feel," Anand said. "We used our own imagery and it looks amazing." Images of leaves and butterflies, commonly seen in Telus ads, hung from clotheslines behind the food stations.
Anand called on Liberty Grand Catering to cater the event. Servers offered dishes like tandoori chicken kebabs, steak frites, and crispy jumbo tiger prawns at food stations throughout the venue. Passed hors d'oeuvres included items like shitake mushroom and asparagus dynamite rolls, mini sirloin burgers with roasted onion confit, arugula, and garlic aioli, and hoisin-braised short rib mini shepherd's pie topped with scallion mash.
—Susan O'Neill
RELATED TOPICS
Luminato Toronto Festival of Arts + Creativity, Telus, Cirque du Soleil
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