Fanciful dress ball staged to benefit African orphans

 Grania Litwin Times Colonist

Wednesday, September 28

Extreme pumpkin artist John Vickers has set aside his knives and spoons for the time being, and is busy carving out an exciting and exotic new event for Victoria -- a masquerade ball.

The black-tie fundraiser for UNICEF will feature the Victoria Symphony, lavish nibblies and live and silent auctions. It is being held Oct. 7 at the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort.

"Proceeds will help orphaned children affected by Africa's AIDS crisis,"said the artist.

 Vickers previously made a name for himself creating hundreds of pumpkins for display at Government House during Halloween. Last year almost 24,000 people attended the celebration, admired more than 300 illuminated carved faces, and helped raise $12,000 for UNICEF.

 This masked event only has room for about 240 guests, but Vickers hopes it will raise $10,000 and participants will be dressed to the nines and even tens, in tuxedos, evening gowns or vintage costumes.

Some people are already up to their elbows in glue and glitter, making their own unique creations, while others are resorting to Tony's Trick and Joke Shop (which has brought in dozens especially for the event).

On his website Vickers also recommends people check out the hand-made masks of Odette Renaud Leuthard, a Toronto artist who makes them for about $80.They are snapped up by people all over the United States and England, mostly masquerade party-goers, but are also bought by art companies which use them in everything from advertising to CD covers.

Each mask takes her three to five hours to make and is based on a plastic mould. "People phone or e-mail me about the colour and style of dress they are wearing, and what the event is, then I start getting creative with feathers, lace, rhinestones, pearls. Each mask is original," says the artist who stresses this is her hobby, not a job, and she only makes about 50 a year.

 Her company -- at www.maskasoo.com -- sprang to life six years ago after she threw a masquerade ball for her own wedding and created masks for all her guests. People were astonished by their beauty and began asking her for more. Her full and half-face masks are on sticks -- "so they don't mess your hair" -- and clients often hang them on their walls or frame them after use.She can be reached at 416-252-6644.

Vickers notes there will be a limited number of masks available for sale at the event too, just in case someone forgets to come incognito. The ball starts at 8 p.m. and ends at 1 a.m. and will feature finger foods, mingling and dancing. The symphony will play two 45-minute sets and in between there will be an auction of items including deluxe weekend getaways, trips, paintings and a country dinner for 10.

Tickets are $135 (including three-drink tickets, and gourmet appetizers).

More details are at www.victoriaball.com

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TRADITION REVEALED

 Masks aren't just for Halloween. For eons they have been used as sacred objects in funerals, worship, fertility rites and festive ceremonies.

The classical Greeks made them slightly larger than life, out of canvas, and often fitted them with small megaphones during dramas, while the Japanese wore them to represent a wide variety of emotions.

 In medieval times Europeans used them to celebrate everything from marriages to dynastic events, and elaborate face coverings reached the height of popularity in Italy during the Renaissance. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival carnevale -- which means "to put away meat" -- and the festivity is still held every year in Venice.

 It is said that Catherine de Medici introduced grand masked balls to the French court, starting a huge rage in European society.

The festival travelled to Dominica with French settlers, where it mingled with Caribbean rhythms and colour, and spread to the States where it became known as Mardi Gras.

Masquerades have flourished for centuries as an exuberant form of entertainment although not everyone approved.

British writer Henry Fielding believed such events encouraged immorality and "foreign influence."