Admit One: Cirque du Moncur Holiday Party

Take your seats, s’il vous plaît, and prepare for a night full of tequila, tumbling, and top hats, in no particular order. And please, pardon our French—the best we have is a Canadian designer and Google translate.

This past Saturday, all of us at Moncur with our +1s in tow, gathered at the Belle Isle Boat House. The beautiful 116-year-old building was decked out from top to bottom with French-inspired big-top antiquities, lights, and holiday decor that gave a feeling of both aristocracy and vintage charm.

On the cocktail hour menu; Pink Elephant, Rosemary Ringmaster, and Grandstand Gin Fizz, with French hors d’oeuvres to snack on while we mingled.

After the meeting and greeting among cocktails, the enticing entertainment began. Fortunately, we were not the ones doing the tumbling — yet. I don’t know how many of you are adept in balancing unicycles on your face, but we were shown one hell of a comical — and impressive — reason to keep your chin up.

Also included in the show was sword juggling, miming, acrobatics, and a mousetrap-to-the-tongue trick that sparked both curiosity and terror amidst the audience. The undisputed highlight was David’s showcase of elegant fan dancing.

We’re a little bit of a circus ourselves, so of course we jumped on any chance to let our eccentricities shine. Throughout the rooms in the massive house, we snapped photos at the photo booth, hula-hooped til our abs hurt, and danced enthusiastically enough to consider putting “Elite Dance Team” on the list of Moncur’s services.

Our dance-induced appetites were met with a buffet of French-inspired cuisines like Chicken Louise, roasted beets, Roquefort salad, and a vast range of other deliciousness. As we ate and drank in the main ballroom, singer Brianna Holmes and the aerialists wowed us with another show!

Wrapping up our meal, we gathered around for some words from our ringleaders, Ken and David, sharing stories of Moncur’s beginning, this year’s success, 2019’s vision, and all-around thank-yous to incredible people that make up our rockin’ team.

To fire us up a little more before the afterparty, we watched performers literally dance through rings of fire from the boathouse balcony.

Then, we took the party to the NEXT LEVEL! ….. Upstairs!

In the vintage bar on the second floor, we kept the celebrations going! Some of us chatted in the sitting area with popcorn, chips, and croissant sandwiches, while others took to the bar for more drinks, and others wandered for photo ops!

We partied into the night with three of the best things; snacks, drinks, and great company. As is the true meaning of the holiday season, we were thankful for the big ole’ creative circus that we are. We come together every day to get things done, and together again to celebrate a year of hard-earned success, hugs included.

Work hard, play harder, and when all else fails, join the circus! Happy holidays from all of us at Moncur!