Montreal`s Shanghai night

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SOCIETY
T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L
S AT U R D AY , M AY 2 , 2 015
ON THE SCENE
Montreal’s
Shanghai
night
Revellers at the
Daffodil Ball looked east,
dining and dancing well into the
night in support of a good cause
NOLAN BRYANT
nbryant@globeandmail.com
@NolanBryant
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ix hundred or so of Montreal’s brightest social lights flooded Windsor
Station recently for the Daffodil Ball,
Canada’s most successful cancerrelated fundraiser, now in its 22nd year. The
must-attend spring mega-do found visual
and gastronomic inspiration in Shanghai this
year, bringing the beauty of the storied city to
Montreal for a night. Red lacquer moon gates
and foo dogs greeted guests, while a mammoth double-sided wall built of oil-paper umbrellas in varying hues boldly divided cocktail
hour from dinner. Dozens of silk lanterns lit
the dining and dancing space and, yes, daffodils – some 30,000 of them – set the opulent
tone of the evening.
The more-is-more theme inspired the
philanthropist-heavy crowd as well: North
of $1.5-million was raised in support of the
Canadian Cancer Society’s fight against the
disease that is the leading cause of death in
Canada. This latest figure brings the grand
total to $28.5-million raised in 22 years for the
cause, proving that in our present-day lessis-more approach to event’ing, occasionally
going big pays off.
On the warm spring evening of the ball,
party-goers dressed the part, donning gowns,
many Canadian-designed, that took inspiration from the “Shanghai Silk” theme: Dominique Bertrand was regal in frothy black
silk layers by Montreal designer Duy Nguyen.
(Also wearing Duy was fragrance maker Ruby
Brown.) Fashion plate Vânia Aguiar and committee member Figi Elman both wore looks
from Montreal label Rush Couture by designer
Claudette Floyd. Committee member Shirley
Quantz went with the great Japanese designer
Hanae Mori and Jeannie Saunders donned a
dragon-printed Wayne Clark, while the woman at the helm, Alison Silcoff, event-maker
extraordinaire, chose local designer Ariane
Carle to create a vermilion-hued number for
the big night.
The evening wasn’t all fashion and fantasy,
however. Heavyweights of business and
fi nance are what keep these big balls rolling.
Co-chairing the evening was a trio of gentlemen: Robert G. Card, SNC-Lavalin president
and CEO, who attended with his wife, Nancy;
CIBC chair Charles Sirois, who attended with
wife Susan McPeak Sirois; and Frank Vettese, managing partner and CEO of Deloitte
Canada, who attended with wife Cinzia.
Montreal is most defi nitely a city that
dances. Spotted tearing up the dance floor
well into the night: past event chairs Air
Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu
and his wife, Elaine; CAE CEO Marc Parent
and his wife, Sylvie Lecours; RBC’s Jacynthe
Côté; GardaWorld CEO Stéphan Crétier and
his wife, Stéphany; political types Gaétan
Barrette, Minister of Health and Social
Services, and Jacques Daoust, Minister of
Economic Development, Innovation and
Export Trade and his wife, Ghislaine Guyon;
and business leaders including Desjardins
CEO and board chair Monique Leroux and
Marc Leroux; Cossette president Mélanie
Dunn; Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Côté;
McCarthy Tétrault’s Gérald R. Tremblay;
Cirque du Soleil COO Charles Décarie and
his wife, Nathalie Schwartz Décarie; Bell
Media’s Louis Douville and his wife, Sylvie;
Mark Mulroney, National Bank of Canada’s
managing director and head of Equity Capital
Markets; and Telesystem president and CEO
François-Charles Sirois. Also on hand:
Pierre Lafrenière, Canadian Cancer Society’s
Quebec Division board chair, and Pamela
Fralick, national president and CEO of the
Canadian Cancer Society.
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DAFFODIL BALL,
MONTREAL
1. Figi Elman (right) chats
with a party guest, while
dozens of silk lanterns light
the scene in the background.
2. The same guest dazzles in
a dragon-emblazoned gown.
3. A wall of silk parasols
divides the room for cocktails
and dining. 4. Author
Dominique Bertrand.
5. Actress, model and
maîtresse de cérémonie Julie
du Page. 6. SNC-Lavalin
president and CEO Robert G.
Card. 7. Cirque du Soleil chief
creative content officer
Jean-François Bouchard.
8. Quebecor president
and CEO Pierre Dion.
9. Event-maker Alison Silcoff
wears designer Ariane Carle.
10. Fashion writer Lolitta
Dandoy. 11. Past Daffodil Ball
co-chair and former head of
PricewaterhouseCoopers Chris
Clark. 12. Air Canada president
and CEO Calin Rovinescu.
13. A performance from
the Phoenix Huayun Artistic
Troupe.
PHOTOS BY NOLAN BRYANT
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Special to The Globe and Mail
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