2012 Valentine Dance

If you missed going to the 2012 Valentine Dance at the Palladium this past Sunday, then bro, you were not one of the more than 300 dancers who enjoyed a weekend evening of more dancing time, ono chicken bento, door prizes for the lucky ticket holders, free, yes free photo portraits by HUMANA, and a showcase of exhibition dancing. Sometime back, the Valentine Dance was billed as a Seniors event but this past Sunday the dance was opened to all age group. Just sparking the dancers in the ballroom, many of them couldn't qualify for a Zippy discount card, yet. Yeah! the young ones outnumbered the makule guys and gals. But then, looks can be deceiving cuz ballroom dancing can make a person look younger and full of energy when they glide around the dance floor with ease like a spring chicken (not literally, just metaphor speaking). Many of the dancers were from various dance clubs but fo' sure IBDI and Dance Magic 808 were there scattered all over the ballroom. Luckily, I was able to corner some of them for a photo shot.



As I mentioned, there were lots of time for dancing from 5 o'clock till 7:45 when the EmCee took to the mike. DeeJay for the evening was Tad Fukumoto, dance instructor for Makua Ali'i. Music was okay for dancing but since the sound system at the Palladium was not utilized, larger speakers would have served better to spread the sound of music more evenly throughout the large ballroom.



EmCee was Roger Izumigawa who kept the program moving at a smooth pace. Herbert Omizo was honored for ticket sales.



HUMANA, the firm that "represents companies that offer the products and services you may need in order to be better prepared for the future" gave away the free photo portraits. Gal photographer was Winifred who must've over worked her point-and-shoot camera over hundreds of time. By the way, she's quite a hoofer dancing the Electric Slide. Her side-kicks were Leslie and John who converted the images from camera to real time photo. There was another gentleman who inserted the photos into folders. Man, dat's class. Kudos to all four reps from HUMANA.


There was a "Mixer" to break the ice so to speak to get most of the seat warmers on the dance floor.....the Electric Slide Line dance and the Horseshoe Dance...that was coordinated by Sara Oyama. But before the "Mixer", EmCee Roger introduced Recreation Specialist Steven Santiago who delivered a message from the City & County of Honolulu.


More general dancing followed till it was Show Time which went pretty fast. The showcase opened with the Jive performed by Tad Fukumoto and Sara Oyama. It was an entertaining Jive exhibition and you gotta give credit to them for getting into the act. Except for the Jive, there were no other Latin exhibition dancing.



There were two International style Tango...first by Albert Lui and Shu Weng, and then by Sydney Chiu and Patricia Paliracio. Both performances were magnificent. Lani and I saw Sidney and Patricia perform the Tango on TV and they looked just as good in person.


Dr. Michael Uechi and wife Trudy danced another superb performance. This time with the International Waltz.


The quick as a flash Quickstep was danced by Richard and Lynn Nakamura of Dance Magic 808. There was something different this time on their performance as they zipped around the dance floor. The variation change from their former Quickstep was a welcome sight and added sparkles to their performance.


There was a break for awarding door prizes to the lucky ticket holders and then refreshments was served. General dancing continued till closing at 9:45.
(Left click on photo to zoom in).

More Candid Photos-63rd Narcissus Coronation Ball

Dragon exiting the runway and ready
to dance for the audience

The Dance by Two Majestic Dragons

Some of the Narcissus Contestants

Past Presidents gathered outside the Coral Ballroom

Another view of Halau Hula Olana

More Beauties outside the Coral Ballroom

Parade of Narcissus Participants

One of the colorful ornaments

Queen Tiffany after the Official Crowning

63rd Narcissus Queen and Princesses

The Royal Court with Distinguished Guests

Waltz Showcase Dancers Congratulating each other for a
well choreographed dance performance

The Queen & Court with State Reps Susanne and Corrine

63rd Narcissus Queen & Princesses

The 63rd Narcissus Coronation Ball

Boy, what a night it turned out to be this past Saturday in Waikiki. It's the little adventures that added some sparkle to Lani and me. We hadn't been to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for a big number of moons. Getting there was no problem except when we hit a gridlock at Kapiolani and McCully. So smart as I am (well I think I made a smart move), I pulled out of the left turn lane and headed for Atkinson Drive. Well it seemed like nearly everybody else had the same idea. More traffic but we got to the Hilton HV in plenty of time before the Open Bar opened. Lots of parking spots on the 3rd floor. Of course finding the Coral Ballroom was another task. I think we must've covered the whole acreage of the Village before we seeked help from one of the employees of this massive Village. "Eh, bro az da saym playc way ya wen pak yor car". Good thing, I'm local and can understand pidgin. Getting to the Coral Ballroom on the 6th floor was no problem. Hilton HV had gone high tech with the electronic prepay parking fee machine. Good feature and I believe every hotel needs a high tech device like this to speed the parking lot exit.....but you gotta read the instructions very cafefully if it's your first time use.....otherwise.........

Outside the Coral Ballroom were filled with guys in black suite and tie, and the ladies were mostly duked up in their finest Chinese garments. And the gals in the Coronation party..well pardon my French...OOH LA LA!

The Grand Opening Ceremony started with "24 Seasonal Drums" and  "2 Majestic Dragons" performed by Gee Yung International Martial Arts Lion & Dragon Dance Association. The loud drumming was consistant to wake up the dragons that followed.....a Red Dragon and a Green Dragon. A very impressive dance by the young martial artists of one of the oldest martial arts organizations in Hawaii.

Remember my other blog on the Narcissus Coronation Ball about keeping an eye open for the "girl with the dragon tattoo"? Our table was about 10 or 15 yards from the stage but I manage to get close for a candid shot of the lady EmCee,  the pretty Stephanie Lum from KHNL/KGMB TV.

It was a huge annual event and there were three distinguished speakers to give the welcome messges.... Mr. John  Hui (President of Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii); Mr. Leonard Kam (President-Elect & General Chairman of the 63rd Narcissus Festival); and Honorable Peter Carlisle (Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu).

Mustn 't forget the introduction of some important guests.....too, too many for me to recount. So I leave it to the video guys to hammer that portion out.

There were a lot of beauties parading on the runway to the stage and they look like the royal court of 2011. Again, they were too numerous for a point and shoot camera buff like me. So it's in the hands of the video guys, again.

The invocation was said by 2008 Narcissus 2nd Princess Leilani Soon. Then dinner was served. It may have been a 6 or 7 course Chinese dinner but I lost count after four delicious entries cuz I'm not much of a big eater.  Maybe the other nine tablemates were small eaters, too, cuz there were so much leftovers for anyone to scoop up for the next day's dinner.

There was break before the main program started...so Lani and I went gallivanting around the ballroom to see if we can spark anybody we knew. There were some of our dance students scattered all over the place. but most of the hard core dancers were on four tables near the large dance floor.  Most of the dancers are members of IBDI, Dance Magic 808, and various dance clubs along the Moanalua Corridor.

The Main Program went smoothly thanks to the expert hands of Lady EmCee Stephanie Lum, and Michele Ching Choy, Chairperson of the Coronation Ball.

The Program opened with a hula dance by the Halau Hula Olana under the direction of Olana Ai. The hula with many dancers performed on the runway and on the stage. It was colorful and well done in unison. There was a solo hula dancer, too, which Lani described her performance as graceful and professional.

The hula performance was followed by the Parade of Past Presidents of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to honor Our Dragon Emperors on the Chambers 100th Anniversary. There were 18 presidents....too many to list here I'll let the photo tell the story.

There was a huge procession featuring the 2012 Narcissus Contestants and the 63rd Narcissus Queen and Court. All of them filled the stage and it was a colorful picture. Mayor Peter Carlisle crowned 63rd Narcissus Queen Tiffany Ho Yun Au as 1st Princess Amanda Mei Ling Wong, 2nd Princess Stephanie Hui Yuan Wang, 3rd Princess Julianne Joo Lai Cheng, and 4th Princess Cherie Oi Mei Ching looked on.

There were a couple of entertainment. Opera singer Bai He sang three operatic songs and she was magnificent. What a beautiful voice and what a treat to hear a singer that gives me chicken-skin. Okay, dat's how magnificent she sang. I didn't quite get a handle on the other act but they received a lot of applauses, too. Maybe a picture of that act can translate into a thousand words.

Richard and Lynn Nakamura of Dance magic 808 had choreographed a Waltz Formation dance for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Officers and 2012 Narcissus Queen and Court. Participanting officers were President John Hui, President-elect Leonard J.K.H. Kam, Immediate Past President Jeffery D. Lau, Past President Alvin C.P. Wong, and Past President Edward Y.W. Pei. Whether it was nerve-wrecking or joyous for dancing in front of a large audience, it wasn't visible. But the aftermath sure told the story. Outside the ballroom, the Officers and Royal Court were congratulating each other with hugs and compliments for a well performed choreographed dance.

With the program almost coming to an end, I made like a paprazzi and cornered some of the beauties  for some photo shoot with the help of Richard and Lynn Nakamura. I don't know if my point and shoot camera photos did any justice for this 63rd Narcissus Coronation Festival but I hope it did. One thing for sure it was a very colorful event with awesome entertainment....a program very well organized.

General dancing till midnight concluded the program. The dance music was chosen by Richard and Lynn and spun by DeeJays from LA Image Mobile Entertainment with a great sound system.

This was Lani and my first time attending a Narcissus Coronation Ball and we were amaze seeing some unusual but colorful ornaments such as the huge umbrella like shade that the Royal attendant is holding and following the Queen, and the foot piece that gave some height to the contestants as they paraded to the stage.

So was the "girl with the dragon tattoo" there? HMMMM!!!
(Left click on photo to zoom in)

IBDI Inaugural Ball Part 2

Boy, I really overloaded this time. Too many things happening this first month of 2012. The PLATE! The PLATE! Just like what my main squeeze keep warning me...."too much on my plate; goin' take long time to chew down; and can choke if you rush it." Yeah! she one smart wahine. So now I gonna try finish this blog with the utmost care before my plate gets full again.