| EVENT REPORT 06.06.07 3:23 PM |
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| Peruvian Panache |
| The Washington National Opera Ball headed to the Peruvian ambassador's residence for a night of sugary desserts and live Latin beats amidst a Lima-themed backdrop. |
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| More than 450 art patrons came out on Friday, June 1, for one of the gala season’s last (and glitziest) fetes—the Washington National Opera Ball—and the cocktails came early. Held at the 25-acre residence of the Peruvian ambassador, the event employed Marc Parc Valet to whisk guests up the driveway in open-air trolleys. “We provided trolleys for the guests because the driveway is long and narrow, and we wanted to avoid traffic congestion in the neighborhood,” said Washington National Opera director of special events Patti Humphrey, who had Occasions Caterers provide Pisco Sour cocktails aboard the buses. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Held at the Peruvian ambassador's residence adjacent to Rock Creek Park, the event showcased a historic stone mansion and 25 acres of untouched forest.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | New York-based designer Phillip Baloun decorated the foyer's descending staircases with fresh gerbera daisies.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | The Washington National Opera's Patty Humphrey placed supernumeraries dressed in zarzuela costumes throughout the party to direct guests and help them downstairs.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | Baloun decorated the dancing tent to mimic the main square of Lima, complete with 50-foot black-and-white photographic murals taken in Lima.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | DC Rentals provided faux marble buffets, from which guests sampled Peruvian desserts such as mousse de cherimoya, a light mousse flavored with custard apple and garnished with a pineapple coulis. Also available: tropical ice creams and sorbets.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | Bar tables with Peruvian tablecloths and mirrored tabletops accented Myriam Avalos's performance in the drawing room.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | Occasion Caterers' Eric Michaels created a four-layer cake resembling Machu Pichu for the event's chocolate room, in which other handcrafted chocolate artifacts in cocoa, pulled sugar, and 24-karat gold were displayed.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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 | At a mostly chocolate dessert station, guests sampled Peruvian candies and cakes such as chocolate caramel triangles, chocolate fondant with candied orange, and champagne mousse in chocolate cups.
Photo: Pepe Gomez/PPhotographics |
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Coming from 21 different dinner parties held at embassies around the city, the guests arrived at 10 p.m. for dancing and a lavish dessert party. This year, the receiving line (which in previous years had taken more than an hour to get through) was cut. “This is a very good thing,” Humphrey said. “The guests will have started their evening at 7:30 and they will be getting here at 10, so it’s nice that they can come in and hit the dance floor right away.”
Inside the historic mansion, New York-based designer Phillip Baloun decked two descending staircases in the foyer with red and pink gerbera daisies, a color theme that traveled throughout the party. Internationally known pianist and Peruvian native Myriam Avalos performed in the drawing room, which Humphrey converted into a coffee cabaret space. In the dining room, Occasions owner Eric Michaels created a chocolate buffet (which guests could smell as they entered the manse), the highlight of which was a four-foot-tall chocolate cake in the likeness of Machu Pichu.
“We are really going to be featuring the talent, culture, and cuisine of Peru, making everyone feel like they’ve just visited Lima,” Humphrey said several days before the event.
Outside, a 50- by 100-foot clear-ceilinged tent, washed with blue LED lights that could be seen from the driveway, showcased 50-foot photographic murals of the main square of Lima. Designed to resemble the square in a ballroom-esque format, the space featured gold velvet-covered chairs, matching silk tablecloths, and single orchid-plant centerpieces. Full-grown palm trees were brought in to top off the tropical feel, which was accented by Latin music and dancing throughout the night.
The New York-based Bob Hardwick Sound provided traditional ballroom music in the main tent, while Raymi, an Andean Latin fusion band, played in the secondary smaller tent, joining Zarzuela Di Si, a group performing music from the Spanish theater format, and La Casa de Felipe, a Peruvian dance troupe. “This is one of those events that people stay and have a good time,” Humphrey said. “Staying until past two in the morning on a Friday night in D.C. is a super success.”
—Meghan Mullan
RELATED TOPICS
Washington National Opera
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