Lani and I had a late start getting to the Palladium for Pan Pacific's Christmas Ball but enough time to pick up our prepaid bento. The parking lot was filled with cars and because of the late hour, I figured it is gonna be a bigger crowd than usual in the ballroom. Sure enough, the ballroom was jammed with guests. There were hardly any seats available on the dance floor or on the chair racks. That speaks loudly for the number of guests at this Christmas Ball.
After getting chairs for Lani and myself off the rack, we had to find a spot to sit. Fortunately, we found a place near the DeeJay.
The music was going on continuously and the floor was jam-packed with dancers. Music DeeJay for the evening was George Suetsugu and with his selection of good danceable music it's no wonder why.
The program started with EmCee Eric Brienzo (VP of Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society) taking the mike
with a "good evening" and welcoming all Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society Members and Special Guests. Than the mike was passed to Pan Pacific Prez Rudy Luat who gave his welcome message and thanking everyone for helping celebrate Pan Pacific Christmas Ball. Prez Luat has held the helm of Pan Pacific for a good number of years and his welcome message was a passionate one. Then VP Brienzo acknowleged the presence of the Special Guests (Dance Professionals, and Dance Club Presidents), and a short schedule of coming dance events. Door prizes for lucky ticket holders soon followed and then General Dancing continued.
The tickets had Chrismas stickers of various ornaments stuck in back of the tickets. I thought that was an innovative idea and that eliminated the calling of numbers. The ticket holders who held stickers of Candy Canes received beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts.
THE DANCE EXIHIBITION of the program opened with a group of young dancers ages 8-12 from Dance Force 24/7 Next Generation dancing the Hip Hop. The performers were Tayer Aril, Mailani Aurelio, Kaitlen Camora-Ah Yu, Kamaka'i Dickson-Kim, Tamryn Goo, David Kila, Noah McConnell, Jenny Lynn Nishioka, and Nikki Umeda.
The International Waltz was next and performed by Ravi and Synthia Narayan. According to VP Brienzo, this couple have performed at many special dance events and for Pan Pacific in recent years.
Following was the Filipino Tango performed by Romeo and Tessie Cabras. Romeo and Tessie had showcased the Filipino Tango at the 35th Anniversary Ball.
Ed and Matilda Felix performed the International Foxtrot. They are students of Akiyoshi Sugino (Founder of Pan Pacific BDS). Ed (the Dance Director of PPBDS) and Matilda are Dance Teachers who have taught many dance classes for Pan Pacific and other dance organizations.
Concluding the exhibition part of the program was the youth group from Dance Force 24/7 Next Generation performing a Jazz routine.
There was a "curtain call" and that gave me a chance to get a photo shot of the exhibition performers.
A "Snowball" dance came soon after and led by the dance exhibition performers, and Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society Officers and Directors to the tune of a smooth waltz. That gave Lani and me a welcomed chance to dance with some of our former dance students.
Santa's Elves: Candy, Ed, Greg, Robert, and Wally passed out candies while some guests headed out to the lanai for refreshments.
A second call for door prizes for ticket holders of Christmas Trees, and Bells stickers brought more lucky winners to the floor for Christmas gifts, and Poinsettia potted plants.
The last dance was at 9:30. Special Thanks go to the DeeJay George Suesugu for spinning the dance music, Joan and Arthur Oda of New Aala Bakery for the ono cookies, Marie Perreira for the beautiful leis and door prize donation, Prez Rudy, Lucy, Amy, and Robert for their generous door prize donations, Meryl Suetsugu for lovely flower arangements, Stephanie and Monday Verzon for the beautiful stage decor, and to the Pan Pacific Officers and Directors for all their hard work to make this event a successful Christmas Ball.
My personal thanks to VP Eric Brienzo for sharing the program menu with me and for giving Lani his Poinsettia potted plant. That sure brightened the evening for my main squeeze.
It was an enjoyable evening for Lani and me...dancing, the exhibition showcase, and socializing with friends and former students. But it was time to put away our chairs and head home and chow down the delicious bento. Dat's it fo' now.
(Left click on photo to zoom in)
WOW! 2013 has been a whirlwind year with all the dance events and showcases played at the Palladium, the Sheraton Hotel, and the Pacific Beach Hotel. The shows were spectacular, colorful, and some had that magic touch of entertainment which made them more enjoyable to watch. Which brings me back to a tale imagined many moons ago. It was way back at the dawn of dance. There was no Palladium nor any fancy hotels to put up a show and dance event.....just a nice open area in the deep forest. Some akamai chief of a native tribe decided to have a dance showcase after watching his people jump with Jive, Hip Hop with Break Dancing, and Partner Dancing with Smooth and Rhythm drum tunes. He was awfully proud of them. So he turned the warriors' playground into a Palladium-like-ballroom and sent runners throughout the kingdom to invite the neighboring Chiefs and their tribe to come to his showcase. Now this Chief was no rookie...he made sure that there was an admission fee at the entrance to his forest kingdom showcase. There was a feasting before the show and anyone who paid the runner for prepaid admission got a nice plate of bento. During those early dawn of dance, there was no such thing as money....payments were made with livestocks and fruits and vegetables. No one paid more and no one paid less. Everyone was treated at an equal level. There was no such thing as a chair so accomodations were the bare ground covered with soft leaves but it was open to everyone who paid to get in. It was pretty good going until some natives decide to make some good sitting spots reserved for special friends. Then all of a sudden there were leaves with the scribbled word "KAPU" on those reserved spots. The powers-to-be saw what was happening but turned a blind eye. So now not all paid guests were at an equal level. There was now a higher level of guests called VIPs and a lower level of guests called the spectators. The chief who was putting on the show made sure that there were lighted torches around the Palladium-like-ballroom since the showcase was gonna be held during the night. He had his followers install torches all over the Palladium-like-ballroom and when that was done, he was satisfied. Show time came and all the torches were lighted. All the Chief's male dance performers were handsomely attired in colorful costumes and the women were just as beautifully dressed in costumes that made the ladies of the visiting tribes envious. Just as ACT ONE got under way, a strong wind came over the forest and blew out the flames of the torches that were hanging in the middle and south side of the Palladium-like-ballroom. That made it the darkside of the Palladium-like-ballroom but still the show had to go on. Most of the performers were akamai. When they noticed the darkside, they danced where there were more lights. That was a real treat for the guests and more important it displayed the talents of the dancers and their skills in floorcraft. As for the others, they blindly or unconsciously performed in the darkside which masked their talent and skills. AUWE! However the Chief was so proud of his showcase performers that it never occurred to him to light the blownout torches again. As it went in ACT TWO and ACT THREE, the akamai performers danced in the lighted area and the not-so-akamai performers continued to dance in the darkside. AUWE! And the practice of the akamai dancers and not-so-akamai dancers continued for centuries and some who danced in the darkside even made it a point to perform facing only the VIPs. AUWE! As the pages of time continued to flip each passing year there came a light at the end of the tunnel. It was nearing the close of year 2013, when the International Ballroom Dance Inc. put on a Holiday Celebration featuring Divino Ritmo Dance Formation Team and Junior Pro/Am, and Dance Appeal Group Segue, some noticeable small changes were made.....like performing facing a larger audience of spectators (not a small group of VIPs) and performing mainly in the bright lighted areas of the Palladium. As this tale of Dancing In The Light and Out of The Box comes to an end, the Moral of this story is: To have some value of entertainment and if you want to show your talents in Dance Performance and Skill in Floorcraft, you gotta "Dance In The Light and Out Of The Box". Pau fo' now! 
