Whether on stilts or suspended from the ceiling, the troupe of flexible performers who took over Santa Monica Airport’s Hangar 8 for accounting firm Grant Thornton’s post-holiday party added an air of awe and wonder to the company’s celebration. (The event was postponed until January due to a heavy December workload.) Contortionists and stiltwalkers flanked close to 500 employees from the company’s Southern California offices as they made their way through a tented walkway toward the hangar, where a yellow gobo reading “Welcome to le Cirque de Grant Thornton” decorated the center of the back wall.Working with an in-house committee, Grant Thornton’s Crystal Cochrum called on Andrea Wyn Schall to help create the lively sense of movement associated with circuses. Schall incorporated special acts such as an in-line skater who managed 30 hula hoops at once, and a pair of aerialists who struck intricate poses in midair. Guests checked out performances before, during, and after a buffet-style dinner, which ditched the traditional popcorn and cotton-candy fare in favor of spice-rubbed New York steak and roasted king salmon entrees. Brightly colored table centerpieces, accented with feathers and streamers, kept with the circus theme.
Guests also found a boxed Godiva chocolate treat and a Cirque du Soleil keychain on tabletops, and—in a move more reminiscent of a high school dance than the greatest show on earth—could have complimentary portraits taken with their dates.
—Rosalba Curiel
Posted 01.23.07
Photos: James Sequenzia
Related Stories
Santa Monica Hangar Goes Wild for Eco Dinner
Vegas Cirque Premiere Goes All Night
Guests also found a boxed Godiva chocolate treat and a Cirque du Soleil keychain on tabletops, and—in a move more reminiscent of a high school dance than the greatest show on earth—could have complimentary portraits taken with their dates.
—Rosalba Curiel
Posted 01.23.07
Photos: James Sequenzia
Related Stories
Santa Monica Hangar Goes Wild for Eco Dinner
Vegas Cirque Premiere Goes All Night