Dance Magic 808 Appreciation Dance

Aloha Dancers,
The MAGIC of Dance Magic 808 1st Anniversary Ball was so successful that the spell has not yet gone up in smoke. It is with great pleasure that I post some of the photos of the showcase dancers, singers, and Belle of the Ball Contestants before reading a comprehensive description of the Dance Magic 808 Appreciation Dance written by Lynn Nakamura, Dance Magic 808 President. (All photos courtesy of Calvin Ota; a terrific photographer, an excellent Blog writer, a good friend, and an excellent dancer).  Thank you, Calvin!
(Left click on photo to zoom in)

Mahalo Everyone!!!

Our 1st dance at the palladium was a huge success thanks to all of our members that help set up and took care of just about everything.  With a crew like ours, we didn't have to worry about anything and we were extremely grateful because I (Lynn) was out sick for the whole week and was not feeling totally well that night.

We want to thank John & Ann Manuel who picked me (Lynn) up and helped with just about everything from setting up to serving to clean up.  There was also Creighton & Beverly Goo, Stan Akamine, Dorinda & Dale White, Ed Ho & Veronica Munez, Lynn Duong, Millie Chun, Gayle Kawahakui, Connie Laderta, Roxanne Kaino, Diane & Bob Nishimura, Audrey Fu - Emcee, Larry Arinaga, Candace Yap, Lester & Henrietta Muramoto, DJ - Paul Lee, Joyce Sakamoto & Wayne Fuchigami who all helped with putting up the banners, chairs, snack tables and reception desk tables, wishing well, music equipment, and bringing all the cords, ladder, lights, decorations, bedding, table cloths, etc.  Besides setting up, everyone helped with serving the snacks and the clean up went very smoothly, with everyone doing their part.  We couldn't ask for  better volunteers than our club members.  We are very sorry if we missed mentioning your name.  We tried to list everyone's name but may have inadvertently forgotten to list your name but we do appreciate your help. We are just so fortunate to have members that are so willing to give from their heart their precious time to help us.  We consider all of them our friends.

Special thanks to Millie Chun who made a delicious dessert.  If you were one of the first ones in line, you were able to taste her delicious dessert.  Unfortunately, we were one of the last people to get our refreshments and her dessert was gone by the time we got our spam musubi but we heard how good it was.

We could not have done all of this without the expertise help from our club member, Gayle Kawahakui.  She was so awesome providing all the necessary things we needed for our refreshments.  She advised our members on what they needed to do and made our refreshment tables look so inviting.  She is a long time board member with the Hawaii Gardenia Circle and we were very fortunate that she was able to help us with our first dance at the palladium.  She was our overall person in charge of the refreshments and reception desk.  Thank you Gayle for your hardwork and for bringing just about everything to make our dance successful.

Dance Magic 808 recognizes and appreciates all the things our members do to help the club.  It can be a simple thing like bringing a plug or a pair of scissors to something major like decorating the whole ballroom or teaching.  What matters is that we have members that are willing to share what they have and that it comes from their heart.

A organization is only as good as their members and we feel very fortunate and blessed to have kind, friendly, caring, unselfish, honest and giving people that we call our friends.

We decided to call our 1st dance at the palladium, an "Appreciation Dance" because we wanted to thank everyone that made Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball on July 6, 2012 so successful and fun.  It'll be an evening we will remember and cherish. Everyone who attended, helped decorate, participated in routines, etc. at the ball, played a major role in the success of our 1st Anniversary Ball.  We just wanted to acknowledge everyone and say thank you.

Ms. Audrey Fu, a board member of Dance Magic 808 and former owner of Villa Roma was our emcee for the evening at our Appreciation Dance.  She was also the emcee with Paul Tamaribuchi at the 1st Anniversary Ball on July 6, 2012.  Friday night she introduced and thanked the Presidents/Vice-President of the various dance organizations that attended Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball.  There was an applause for each President/Vice-President when there names were called.  She also thanked Marsha Ninomiya for the beautiful invocation and the DJs, Henry & Joann Rimas.

After all the thank yous, she called on Candace Yap, our "Belle of the Ball" to come to the dance floor and as Candace walked on the dance floor with her pageant hand waving, Audrey explained that we had a "Belle of the Ball" contest at the anniversary ball.  The woman that best represented the enchanting evening theme from head to toe would win the title of "Belle of the Ball" and the cost of 2 dinner tickets for that evening.

It was so much fun and it was cute watching Candace parade on the dance floor waving her hand like the pageant queens. She looked beautiful just like she did at the anniversary ball.

Next, Audrey introduced the instructors that had taught for Dance Magic 808 for this session.  While she introduced the instructors, Roxanne Kaino, Ed Ho & Veronica Munez, Lester & Henrietta Muramoto and Joshua Manzano, Richard & Lynn gave the instructors a token of their appreciation from the club.

After the introductions, we had some general dancing so that the props could be set up for a performance.  Once the bed was set up, we were set to continue with the program.  Audrey introduced Tiffany Au, 2012 Narcissus Queen and a candidate for the House of Representative, District 26, which comprises of Downtown, McCully, Kakaako and Ward communities.  Every year we (Richard & Lynn) help the Narcissus Queen and her court by teaching them the waltz to be performed at the Narcissus Coronation Ball.  When we saw Tiffany do the hip hop at the Narcissus Pageant, we asked her if she would perform at our anniversary ball. She would have loved to have performed except that she had just gotten back from China and had to hit the campaign trail right away so she could not attend the ball.  Luckily, she was able to squeeze some time in her busy schedule to perform for us this past Friday night.  She did a great hip hop number.  We wished we were younger so we could do some of her moves. At the end of the performance, there were claps and Audrey thank her and told everyone to visit her website - VoteForAu.com

Next Leilani Soon, 2011 Miss Hawaii International was introduced.  At Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball, Leilani performed a beautiful hula to the song,"The Prayer". Last night, she danced the the hula to the song "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, and added in some sign language.  Her hula was again, beautiful to watch.  Thank you Leilani.

Now the fun part, Audrey told everyone to get up on the dance floor and that Richard would be teaching everyone to do the Wild, Wild West.  Men on the inside looking out and women on the outside looking in, forming 2 circles.  It was a circle line dance where everyone changes partner and while dancing moves to the right to a new partner.  It was a lot of fun. The steps were simple so everyone could catch on.  The funny thing is that everyone had their own style of doing this very simple dance so when you change partners you can expect the unexpected.  This ended our program for the evening.  We had a very short program to convey our appreciation.

The DJ, Paul Lee, continued to play his music which everyone enjoyed.  There were some exciting and beautiful music that made you want to dance.  As Paul played his music, everyone was invited to have a snack outside.

My (Lynn's) youngest daughter, Rachelle "Shelly" Young, made a lot of spam musubi for everyone to enjoy plus we had red velvet cupcakes, Millie's delicious dessert,chocolate covered macadamian nut, and water, juice, and coffee to go with the musubi.  This was a real bargain for just $3.00 which was the cost of the admission for members and non-members.

At 8:30pm we had the partitions opened so that everyone could enjoy dancing the whole ballroom.  Thanks to Pan Pacific we could share the entire ballroom with all of our members and guests.

When the partitions were opened, our members got busy trying to clean up and take down the banners, etc.  We hope our members were able to enjoy some dancing because we didn't have much time to do a lot of dancing.  We might have danced maybe about 5 dances the whole evening and wished that we could have danced more.

Well, all good things must come to an end so at about 9:30pm we started to put away the chairs and make sure the room was clean.  It was a very enjoyable evening thanks to everyone that came and participated.  You never know what to expect at Dance Magic 808's dances.

Mark your calendar for Friday, July 12, 2013 for Dance Magic 808's 2nd Anniversary Ball at the Pacific Beach Hotel.

We hope you'll join us again when we have another dance event either at the palladium or at the hotel.

Thank you for making Friday night such an enjoyable evening.

Richard & Lynn
cell 372-2256 (Lynn)
check our website
www.dancemagic808.com

IBDI 3rd Term Student Party 2012

IBDI held their 3rd Term Student Party on August 23 at the Palladium. For a buck, the students got to dance to the good music from the collection of George Suetsugu., and savor the delicious bento of breaded boneless chicken, and breaded fish over a bed of rice and topped with an Okinawa donut. General dancing went on till about 7:45. Then Dance Director Steven Sambrano. took to the mike to start the program. 

Dance Director Steven with DJ George

3rd Term students who took to learning the International Rumba, American Foxtrot, International Waltz, West Coast Swing, International Tango, and the International Cha Cha were called to demonstrate their new  learned skills, respectedly. Prizes were given to the students who remained on the dance floor for all six dances, 5 dances, 4 dances, 3 dances, 2 dances, and one dance. The more the dances, the more the value of the prizes.

It was also a night for the students to see a demonstration of the dances that will be offered for the 4th Term. Guest Instructors Ed Ho and Veronica Munez were first to demonstrate the BACHATA. It was announced that the dance originated in the Dominican Republic and both dancers danced very well to the delight of the audience.

Veronica and Ed demonstrating the BACHATA

Guest Instructors Frank and Lani Sierra were called next to demonstrate the MERENGUE. That's another fun Latin dance from the Dominican Republic. Aside from these two Latin dances, there's the American style Foxtrot II, and rthe International style of Tango II, Waltz I, and Quickstep I/II. Registration for the 4th Term dance classes is on Monday, July 30 at the Palladium and starts on Monday, August 6.

Frank & Lani with Sherline Yuen and Dance Director Steven Sambrano

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Dance Magic 808 1st Dance @The Palladium

Hi Everyone,

Don't forget, tomorrow, Friday, July 27, 2012, is Dance Magic 808's 1st dance event at the palladium. We are all getting excited because it's our very first dance and we want it to be a memorable and fun evening.

It's going to be very casual (members wear your purple shirts). We are calling this an "Appreciation Dance". We are very appreciative of all the people that helped to make Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball so successful.

Who are the people that made the Anniversary Ball so successful? It was everyone who attended the ball, helped decorate the ballroom, was part of our program, and also participated in our "Belle of the Ball" contest. Without everyone's support the "Ball" would not have been much fun.

This dance is to acknowledge all the people that made the anniversary ball so successful and to invite everyone whether they came to the ball or not to have fun at our appreciation dance. We also want to recognize our instructors especially the instructors that have taught for this session.

If you are planning to help set up, please come by 5pm. We have the stage side. We plan to open the doors at 6pm. Cost for admission is $3 for members and non-members. If you've prepaid in advance, just give your name at the door and they can check it off. We will have a list of the people that prepaid the admission fee and a list of our guests that will have a complimentary admission to our dance.

There will be a very short program from 7:30pm - 8pm and a light refreshment will be served. At 8:30pm, the partitions will be opened and we will share the ballroom with Pan Pacific (thank you Pan Pacific).

It will get very busy during the night so in case we don't get to thank everyone individually, we want to say to you now, "Thank You for coming to Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball and to this Appreciation Dance and for making it a fun and successful evening".

See you tomorrow night.

Richard & Lynn Nakamura
Co-Founders of Dance Magic 808
cell 372-2256 (Lynn)
www.dancemagic808.com

Thank You, Charlene!

More Dance Magic 808 1st Anniversary Ball on Town Dancer

Finale: Dance Magic 808 1st Anniversary Ball

Aloha Everyone,

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball which was held on Friday, July 6, 2012, at the Pacific Beach Hotel.

Whether you were one of the many dedicated volunteers, special entertainers, guests, family members, or other dance organizations’ members, you were all part of what made the evening enchanted and enjoyable at our first anniversary ball.

This “Ball” would not have been successful without everyone’s participation and we really appreciated everyone’s support of Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball.

Here’s a recap of the Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball for those who missed attending this fabulous and enchanting evening.

On the day of the “Ball”, Friday, July 6, 2012, volunteers were already arriving at 2:00 pm to put on the finishing touches to all the decorations that was worked on the night before. There were also performers who came early to practice. The “Grand Ballroom” was buzzing with excitement.

The night before, volunteers worked tirelessly to make this “Ball” beautiful for everyone to enjoy.

Audrey Fu, our Decorations Committee Chair, collaborated with her dear friend, Peter Ataie to come up with the beautiful decorations for our kingdom.

Peter is a successful entrepreneur from Los Angeles and is talented in building with a world of imagination and ingenuity. He constructed the beautiful entry to our magic kingdom and decorated the rest of the kingdom.

After everyone had finished decorating the ballroom and performers practiced their routines, it was time to change and get ready for the beautiful guests that would be arriving soon.

Our reception table had 5 lovely Princesses/maidens (Ann Manuel, Joyce Sakamoto, Lolita Nariyoshi, Diane Nishimura and Sandy Hamasaki) to assist of our guests in finding their table number.

The lobby area was starting to get filled with ladies in their gowns and fine clothing and the men in their coat & tie looking very dashing. We were going to wait until 6:00 pm to allow everyone entry into our magical kingdom because we wanted to make sure the performers had enough time to practice their routines.

There were ushers handsomely dressed in their coats, ready and available to escort the guests to their seats.

At 6:00 pm the guests quickly entered our beautifully decorated entry way to the ballroom. Many of them started to dance since our DJs, Henry & Joann Rimas, were playing ballroom dance music for everyone to dance to.

More guests arrived and filled the ballroom. There must have been over 400 people in that beautifully decorated ballroom. There were lots of ladies with tiaras and some even wore beautiful gowns.

The “Ball” was in full swing when the “Welcome & Introductions” started at 6:45 pm.

Emcees, Audrey Fu and Paul Tamaribuchi (dressed in uniform), Welcomed everyone to Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball.

Paul introduced his co-emcee, Audrey Fu and gave a little background on her, telling the audience that she is a retired business women and owner of popular fashion boutiques, Villa Roma and Chocolates for Breakfast which were located in the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Ward Warehouse, and the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. She is a Board Member of Dance Magic 808 and the Decorations Chairperson for this event.

Audrey introduced Colonel Paul Tamaribuchi saying that he is a member of Dance Magic 808 and is married to Gail Tamaribuchi. He is a Colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Deputy Commander of the 29^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and since tonight is in appreciation of our military, he’s in uniform representing the Brigade and National Guard.

Paul mentioned some housekeeping information and advised everyone that tonight’s event is being videotaped for future cablecast on ‘Olelo Community Media and their camera crew will be out and about videotaping. He also mentioned to check for the cablecast dates or to watch online, you should log onto www.olelo.org

Next the Co-Founders, Richard & Lynn Nakamura, of Dance Magic 808 were introduced. The emcee mentioned that Richard & Lynn are volunteer dance instructors, teaching the International style of dancing as well as American Social, and some swing dances like the Hustle and West Coast Swing. Richard told the audience that they had a short speech written but now could not find it so they would try to remember what they wanted to convey to the audience. They mentioned that about a year ago, they formed Dance Magic 808 to provide lessons to friends who expressed an interest in ballroom and line dancing. They started their first classes at Hale Ikena at Ft. Shafter and currently have classes at the Salt Lake District Park. Richard mentioned that seeing so many of their members hard at work on Thursday night to prepare for Friday night’s big “Ball” really amazed them. Richard & Lynn thanked all their members who volunteered to help at this anniversary ball and thanked them for their support of the club this past year. They will try their best to continue to provide more fun times be it with classes, socials, or other special events. Finally, they thanked everyone at the ball for attending and celebrating Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball with them.

After their speech, the following volunteers were called up to the stage to be recognized because without these volunteers, Dance Magic 808 would not be possible.

Everyone was told to hold the applause until everyone was on stage.

President: Lynn Nakamura

Vice-President/Treasurer/Dance Director: Richard Nakamura
Secretary: Candace Yap
Board Members: Audrey Fu and Gail Tamaribuchi

Instructors:

Andy & Monica Pascua – American Social & Filipino Tango

Elsie McGrew & Roxanne Kaino – Line Dancing
Joshua Manzano – American Social
Stephanie Shimizu – American Social & International Assistant
Robert & Vanelle Hirayasu – American Social & Argentine Tango
Frank & Lani Sierra – American Social
Lester & Henrietta Muramoto – International
Ed Ho & Veronica Munez – Bachata (not in photo)

Other volunteers:

Dance Class Registrar – Lynn Duong

Webmaster – Noli Boado, who created and maintains Dance Magic 808’s website.

Please check out our website at www.dancemagic808.com

After everyone was on stage, there was applause from the audience.

The Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball Committee Chairs were also recognized:

Anniversary Ball Chairperson: Lynn Nakamura

Decorations Chairperson – Audrey Fu and her committee members:

Assistant Decorations Planner – Peter Ataie

Table Decorations – Gail Tamaribuchi

The Stage (castle) Decorations – Linda Quon

Banner & Wishing Well – Stan Akamine

Thank you Paul Lee for making the Wishing Well

Reception Table – Ann Manuel

Ushers – Roy Hamasaki

The emcee thanked all the volunteers above and to the other volunteers, too numerous to mention that assisted in this ball and helped Richard & Lynn with Dance Magic 808 throughout the year.

Whenever possible, Richard & Lynn tries to recognize all of their volunteers because they are the core of this dance organization and are appreciated for all that they do for Dance Magic 808.

The emcees, Audrey and Paul, introduced the Presidents of other dance organizations, professional instructors and people who traveled across the ocean to attend this event.

President Chris Jay – International Ballroom Dance Association

President Rudy Luat – Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Club
President Glenn Okazaki – USA Dance
President Ivan John – Hawaii Gardenia Circle
President Deanie Bates – Aiea Ballroom Dance Club
President Diane Wong – Ilima Dance club
President Peter Sy – Wahiawa Ballroom Dance Club
Dance Director Michael Yap – Friends of Ala Wai Dance Academy
Vice President Shirley Ota – Hawaii Ballroom Dance Association

Not mentioned was President Roland Reaver of the Swing Club – our deepest apology. Richard & Lynn were not too familiar with the Swing Club and had they known he was the president, they would have mentioned him. Richard & Lynn want to “Thank you” and your members for attending Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball.

Professionals:

Simone Escano

Sergio & Renna Villanueva
Geoffrey Fells
Leeanne Bampton (7 times 10 dance champion of Australia, Dance Director of Dancing with the Stars in Australia)
Iwalani Tseu (Reknown Kumu Hula Instructor with daughter, Aureana Tseu was Miss Hawaii USA and Miss Teen Hawaii and held many other titles 

Off-island Guests:

Carol Tokuda & Stanley Okinaka, Dance instructors from the Hilo Ballroom Dance Club

Ken & Ellen Kitabayashi & their dance group from the Kauai Ballroom Dance Club – Lihue Chapter

Roy & Glenda Tamashiro and President Dan Works and their members from the Kauai Ballroom Dance Club – Hanapepe Chapter

From Los Angeles, Members of Dance Now, they will be performing for us

From the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), local boy, Joshua Manzano, Sonya Petkova, & Sonya’s sister, Nina Petkova

Now the fun part:

At the ball they held a “Belle of the Ball” event to honor all you beautiful ladies at the ball. Distinguished panel of judges circulated amongst all the beautiful ladies and selected 6 “Belle of the Ball” finalists. The one who best represented the "Ball's" Enchanting Evening Theme from head to toe would win. How did these lucky ladies know they were a finalist? The judges gave them a finalist card and these lovely ladies would be asked to come up to the dance floor to make their final impression on the judges later this evening. The winner would receive a cash prize that totaled the evening’s dinner for two.

The emcees introduced the judges for the “Belle of the Ball” contest:

Peter Ataie is a successful entrepreneur from Los Angeles and a talented builder with a wealth of imagination and ingenuity. He constructed the beautiful entry to our enchanted kingdom and is a very dear friend of Audrey Fu.

Racyne Sugai is the lead artist and co-owner of Sassarella, an on-location hairstyling, makeup artistry and spray tanning company. Her work has been seen in MidWeek, Hawaii Weddings and Honeymoon Escapes, Look Hawaii and Military Spouse. She also works with Wilhelmina Hawaii and freelances for Dior. Racyne has done extensive work with many pageant title holders and being a former title holder herself, she continues to support the Miss Hawaii USA and Miss Chinatown Hawaii pageants. She is also the oldest daughter of Lynn Nakamura.

Our last judge needed no introduction; she’s the marvelously talented, internationally renowned and lovely Melveen Leed. She too is a very close friend of Audrey Fu.

After the judges were introduced, Marsha Ninomiya was called upon to give the invocation. Marsha gave a very beautiful and heartfelt invocation. Marsha is a very giving and caring individual so her invocation had a lot of meaning for everyone especially for us.

It was a very meaningful invocation, thank you Marsha.

2011 Miss Hawaii International, Leilani Soon, in her beautiful red gown, performed a hula to the song, The Prayer. Leilani who is Hawaiian, Chinese, German, and English represented Hawaii at the 2011 Miss International pageant in China. Lani has a BA in teaching English as a second language as well as a certificate in Asian Studies from the Hawaii Pacific University. She is currently pursuing a MA in Korean at the University of Hawaii at Manoa while working at JTB as a customer service associate. Lani speaks Korean, Mandarin, and American Sign Language. She loves dancing ballet, hula, and sign dance as well as playing the piano and believes that dance is a language that can speak to the heart without words. When she danced the hula, the first phase of the song was done in sign language. She performed a beautiful hula which everyone enjoyed.

At 7:15pm, all performers were invited to the buffet line first. From 7:15pm to 8:15 pm there was general dancing while some people went to the buffet line. The buffet stayed open until 8:45pm.

8:15pm – the emcees, Audrey Fu and Paul Tamaribuchi, welcomed everyone back to start the program.

The selection of “Belle of the Ball” was beginning. The 6 finalist were called to the dance floor and had to parade around the dance floor and when they reached the judges, a selection was made. The 6 finalist were: Debra Ota, Lynn Duong, Violeta Mata, Candace Yap, Renna Villanueva, & Gail Tamaribuchi

The judges have made a selection and announced the Dance Magic 808’s 2012 Belle of the Ball was Candace Yap. She was given a scepter that lighted up and an envelope with the cash prize. She had sparkling pins in her hair, had a beautiful yellow gown and beautiful shoes. She looked gorgeous, just like a princess and represented the look for this enchanting evening. Congratulations Candace!!!

There were a few more introductions and acknowledgements of some very special people that attended the ball.

Sherri Yoshimoto, co-worker and friend of Lynn Nakamura, helped to design Dance Magic 808’s Anniversary Ball flyers, tickets, invitations, and favors.

The leaders of the 29^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and their lovely wives and partners were introduced.

In recognition of our nation’s birthday, we’d like to honor all of our military service members and veterans. Thank you all very much.

Kim Anderson and Tony Butindaro – they would be performing (singing) for us.

Melveen Leed and her husband, Mike Reyes were introduced.

Part I – Dance Exhibitions Begins

Our first entertainer and a very good friend of Audrey Fu is the legendary Melveen Leed. She is nine times Na Hoku Hanohano award winner for best female singer and has traveled the world representing Hawaii. Melveen performs every Saturday from 11 am – 2 pm at the International Market Place, Food Court in Waikiki free of charge. It’s a show you don’t want to miss as it changes each time according to her special guest for that day. She will be performing at her jazz concert to a sold out crowd at the Ala Moana Hotel. Melveen sang her popular song, “Paniolo Country”, and the emcee invited all the line dancers to the dance floor to dance the electric slide to this song.

It was so much fun watching everyone get up on the dance floor and start dancing. Instead of singing from the stage, Melveen was down on the dance floor too singing her song while everyone did the line dance. Everyone was having so much fun and it was so nice to watch.

Melveen did another song entitled, One Note Samba, and the audience just loved her. She is a true entertainer. She had a grand time performing at this event.

Emcee, Paul, welcomed the “The Magic Formation Dancers” to open tonight’s dance exhibitions. They are all members of Dance Magic 808 and the formation was choreographed by Line Dance Instructor, Roxanne Kaino.

The dancers are: Arnold Chun, Manny Carreon, Benedict Duong, John Balmores, Eileen Nakano, Audrey Fu, Tandy Alconcel, Roxanne Kaino, Connie Laderta, Millie Chun, Lynn Duong, & Pat Balmores.

This was a very entertaining line formation and everyone did really well. They really worked hard to put this together. Many of them have never danced before and for some this was their first time performing for anyone. Thank you all for participating and being a part of Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball.

Next up were Richard & Lynn Nakamura. There performed their lively quickstep that they choreographed.

From here I’ll list the exhibitions and the dancers that went on:

Kauai Ballroom Dance Club – Lihue Chapter – performed the America Social Rumba, choreographed by Ken & Ellen Kitabayashi.

The dancers were: Bryson & Medina Cabalteja, Juanito & Amelia Duarosan, Ken & Ellen Kitabayashi, Eddie & Fely Ibanez, and Tom & Marites Yano.

Thank you Ken & Ellen and the Kauai dancers. We really appreciated you coming from Kauai to attend and perform at our ball.

Robert & Vanelle Hirayasu did a very romantic Argentine Tango. Robert & Vanelle are volunteer instructors of Dance Magic 808. Thank you Robert & Vanelle.

Our next performers were Gayle Kawahakui & Jun Lim. They did a beautiful International Waltz that was choreographed by Gayle Kawahakui. Thank you Gayle & Jun.

Our Dance Magic 808 members performed the Mambo, choreographed by Andy & Monica Pascua.

The dancers were: Mike Ihara & June Hasegawa, Andy & Monica Pascua, Manny Carreon & Tandy Alconcel, Wayne Fuchigami & Roxanne Kaino

Thank you dancers; it was such an exciting mambo. You all looked great. All that practicing really paid off.

To end Part I, Kim Anderson sang “Once Upon a December” and invited all dancers to dance a slow Viennese Waltz. Kim was recently seen as the “Muse of Epics” at Diamond Head Theater’s production of “Xanadu” and as Kate McGowen in “Titanic, the Musical”. Other credits and leading roles include “The Wizard of Oz” as Dorothy, a role for which she was honored with a Po’okela Award for “Leading Female in a Musical” at the age of 14, “Meet Me in St. Louis”, “West Side Story”, “The Musical of Musicals”, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, “The Wind in the Willows”, and “The Butler Did It”. Kim has written and directed several original musicals and works as a professional singer. She is also Richard & Lynn Nakamura’s niece. Kim started to sing and Richard & Lynn Nakamura and Joshua Manzano & Sonya Petkova started to dance the Viennese Waltz. Other dancers, Ivan John & Nancy Luckie, Calvin & Debra Ota, and Glenn Okazaki & Anne Ho also joined in. Thank you all for participating. There probably were others that wanted to dance but were shy. Next time, please come and dance. It was all in fun.

There was general dancing, with music being played by Henry Rimas, to give the audience a chance to dance before Part II.

During the evening, the emcees made announcement about the “Wishing Well” that Paul Lee made. It was located near the dessert table. It was so cute with a little pail and it was decorated with lights. The donations collected in the “Wishing Well” would be donated to various deserving organizations.

Part II began with Richard & Lynn Nakamura asking Ralph Hasegawa if he would come to the stage. They wanted to give him a lei. Ralph is a fellow ballroom dancer and is being deployed to Afghanistan. He didn’t know that he would be called to the stage. He mentioned to his girlfriend that if you serve in the military you do it because you want to and it comes from the heart. He didn’t want a lot of fanfare. We felt that we wanted to recognize him because what he and other military personnel do is to give us our freedom.

Next, Lynn Nakamura gave a donation from Dance Magic 808 to the Hawaii National Guard Association. On behalf of the 29^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Hawaii Army National Guard, Colonel Paul Tamaribuchi accepted the donation. Lynn said that we can never repay the military for what they do for us every day. They sacrifice their lives for us so that we can have the freedom to do what we want. The donation was just a small token of their appreciation. Thank you to all the military personnel.

Kim Anderson & Tony Butindaro sang a duet, “Time to Say Goodbye”. Tony was last seen as wide eyed optimist, “Sonny Malone” in Diamond Head Theater’s production of “Xanadu”. Previous credits include the role of “Jim Farrell” in Titanic, The Musical, “The Angels in Black Present the 7 Spirits of Christmas”, and “The Angels in Black Present Classic Bible Stories”. Tony is a member of the music team at Hope Chapel Kapolei and has written and performed several songs featured on the album entitled, “Now is the Time”. They sang a beautiful duet. Thank you Kim & Tony for sharing your talent with us.

Our next performers were Andy & Monica Pascua, instructors for Dance Magic 808. They performed the exciting Filipino Tango. Thank you Andy & Monica.

All the way from Los Angeles, California, we welcome our friends The Dance Now group. They performed the American Social Foxtrot to the song, Singing in the Rain.

The dancers are: Bill Steeber & Barbara Greenlaw, Bill Morey & Gee Gee Barden, James & Andrea Gutman, and Frank Trapp & Keiko Isshiki.

This was like a Broadway production. They had umbrellas and it was very entertaining. You had to be there to see their dance. Everyone enjoyed this routine because it was different and they performed so well. Thank you Dance Now for attending our Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball and for giving us a delightful dance.

Next up was our very own Dance Magic 808 instructors, Frank & Lani Sierra. They performed a lively Club Merengue and it was fun to watch. You may not have known it but Lani had a pinched nerve in her hip so at times it was a bit painful but like a true trooper, she performed the dance very well. Thank you Frank & Lani for entertaining us with your lively Club Merengue.

This young couple took everyone’s breath away. Joshua Manzano, Dance Magic 808’s youngest instructor & his competition partner, Sonya Petkova have competed in many college ballroom dance competitions and have placed first many times. They performed for the audience the Contemporary Night Club 2-Step. Thank you Joshua & Sonya, you dance was so outstanding. Thank you for being a part of our special evening.

Our final performance for that evening was the elegant International Waltz performed by Dance Magic 808’s members and choreographed by Richard & Lynn Nakamura. They dedicated their dance to all the military personnel, active and retired, that were in the audience.

The dancers were: John & Ann Manuel, Noli & Wowie Boado, Creighton & Beverly Goo, Roy & Marsha Ninomiya, Larry Arinaga & Candace Yap, Ron & Robyn Fujimoto, Richard & Lynn Nakamura, and Ed & Candy Matsuda. It was a beautiful and elegant waltz and the perfect ending to the entire program.

Thank you to all the performers and thank you to the awesome emcees, Audrey Fu & Paul Tamaribuchi.

A message from Richard & Lynn Nakamura:

We would like to thank everyone for attending Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball. Thank you for all your support and for making this a very successful 1^st Anniversary Ball for Dance Magic 808. We want to thank all of our volunteers who helped with the ticket sales, decorations, table favors, reception table, ushers, performers, and to Risa Myers and the staff of the Pacific Beach Hotel. We hoped that you enjoyed the evening. We enjoyed having you here with us tonight to enjoy this enchanting evening. Thank you all again for your support.

This concluded the program but there was general dancing until 11:30pm.

Again, Mahalo to everyone who made our Dance Magic 808’s 1^st Anniversary Ball so successful. We felt it was the “Ball” of the Year and it was because all the people that attended helped to make it so successful and fun.

We look forward to sharing more our events with all of you. Please check our website for more info…www.dancemagic808.com

Aloha,

Richard & Lynn Nakamura

Co-Founders of Dance Magic 808

Cell 372-2256 (Lynn)

(Photos courtesy of the following: Marie Laderta, Ellen Kitabayashi, Millie Chun, Gail Tamaribuchi, Dale White, Lynn Duong, Stanley Akamine, Glenda Tamashiro, Diane Yoshida, Lani Sierra, and Charlene Jay).