Area artists, aerialists show compassion for child cancer victims
To hear her tell it, you'd almost think Erica Linz has her head in the clouds.
"I spend a lot of my life hanging from my partner's feet and hands 40 feet in the air," she says.
But when it comes to raising money to help fight childhood cancer, her feet are firmly on the ground.
Linz, a featured aerial acrobat in Cirque du Soleil's "KA" show, is the driving force behind Sunday's Circus Couture fashion show/art auction fundraiser at Rain nightclub inside the Palms. With advance tickets priced at $35, the show starts at 7 p.m., and $15 more gets you into the after party at ghostbar (www.wantickets.com).
The best part is proceeds from the event benefit the Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases of Las Vegas and St. Baldrick's, the charity that raises the most money in America for childhood cancer treatment and research.
(My cancer-fighting daughter, Amelia, shaves my head each year as part of the local fundraiser at McMullan's Irish Pub at 4650 W. Tropicana Ave., a rollicking, heart-warming event I call St. Patrick's with a soul. This year's event is set for March 6 and has expanded to include participation by Nine Fine Irishmen at New York-New York and Fado at 9470 Eastern Ave.)
For Linz, the path to participating in St. Baldrick's began after she saw a couple from Cirque's "Zumanity" lose a son to leukemia.
"It was a really challenging experience," she recalls. "There doesn't seem to be any justice in children getting sick."
When she learned about the annual St. Baldrick's event, Linz donated her locks and devoted herself to fundraising as part of the "Cirque du SoBald" team. But she wanted to do more.
And the Circus Couture idea was born.
Although not officially associated with Cirque, Sunday's event will feature many performers from the local productions. I'm guessing Circus Couture will be to typical runway fashion shows what Cirque itself is to carnival midways. The art auction will attract the work of some of the most creative talent in Las Vegas with proceeds benefiting the charity.
Many of Cirque's performers aren't able to shave their heads, she says, but they wanted to find a way to contribute.
"What we do have that nobody else has are world-class circus talent and world-class designers and artists with big hearts," Linz says.
And there's a soulful side benefit to bringing the Cirque community together with the St. Baldrick's movement. This year, if Circus Couture raises $50,000, St. Baldrick's officials will add another $50,000 and donate it to the Children's Center.
"I feel like St. Baldrick's has shined a spotlight on all the good and generous people we work with every day," says Linz, a Colorado native. "We found a way to combine our passion for the arts and our passion for the Las Vegas community."
With reasonable ticket prices and incredible talent, Circus Couture is sure to rank among the best shows of the year.
Although I am admittedly biased, it's hard to imagine a more worthy cause.
FLAT TIRE: With the state attorney general's agreement Tuesday in District Court to dismiss its civil Consumer Affairs Division allegations against Tire Works, the chain of local auto repair shops is cleared of any wrongdoing.
Now its chief financial officer, Roshie Weightman, and attorney Dominic Gentile are clearing the air about what they're calling exaggerations not only by the state but also by KTNV- TV, Channel 13, which broadcast a lengthy series of damning stories about the business.
Gentile asked, "Where do you go to get your reputation back? After the smearing that Channel 13 did, that kind of damage lingers even after the prosecuting agency recognized the proper thing to do was to dismiss the case because it simply wasn't there. How many people are going to understand the case was dismissed not on some technical notion, but on the facts?"
Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.
