And we were not disappointed. Arriving at Nation around 1am, we could hear DJ Abel’s thunder from half a block away. We’d just grabbed drinks and made our way to the third-level mezzanine when the stage at one end of the dance floor was illuminated (the incomparable Mr. Berger again), revealing two jaw-droppingly gorgeous boys in silver singlets dangling from twenty-foot ropes. These were the men of Eye of Newt Circus, and they favored the crowd with a remarkable display of aerial skill, winding and twisting far above the floor, making us all feel like fat toads in light of their off-the-hook physiques. (Right. Well, maybe just me—but you should’ve seen these guys.)
Perhaps inspired by the Eye of Newters, the crowd went wild for the rest of the night—Abel turned in one of his phenomenal-as-usual sets, replete with aggressive, vocal-infused, heavy-yet-uplifting mixes and sparkling, crystal-clear breaks. We tore it up until we could see dawn breaking over the Capitol Building through an open exit door, then scampered—okay, limped—to the nearest Metro stop and made for home. Overall, Cherry 8 was a pretty damn good time. Though not as consistently fabulous as last year, the all-volunteer staff of the Cherry Fund (the party’s steering organization) managed to do us all proud and show that philanthropy can be just as great a motivator as profit. This year, the beneficiaries of Cherry ticket sales included the proposed DC Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered People, The Victory Foundation—which seeks to put more openly-LGBT people in public service positions; SMYAL, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League—which provides queer DC youth with “a place to be themselves” —and the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer, a health organization dedicated to health issues particular to lesbian-identified women. Last year, the Cherry Fund raised $175,000 for their chosen charities—and that more than makes up for the hours I spent bedazzling this year’s party-shirt.
