Prelude: Dance Magic 808 1st Anniversary Celebration

WOWEE! The people who came were real! The Dance magic 808 1st Anniversary Ball was real! The Program was real! And the Showcase of Exhibition Dancers and Singers was AWESOME! There were more than 400 in attendance to be entertained and to celebrate the one year birthday of this young dance organization. From infancy a year ago, this organization has grown in numbers through the capable guidance of its co-founders Richard and Lynn Nakamura...so much so that now it can take its place and rub elbows with the other dance organizations.

Practice makes perfect: When Lani and I arrived at the Pacific Beach Hotel Grand Ballroom, the participants for the Showcase were busy rehearsing...the singers as well as the exhibition dancers. Only volunteers and those in the showcase were allowed in the ballroom till opening time of 6PM. Still more guests came early and were in the foyer waiting to get in. At the "gate" and Reception Table were Dance Magic 808 volunteers of lovelies,  Elsie McGrew, Diane Nishimura, Sandy Hamasaki, Joyce Sakamoto, and Lolita Nariyoshi. (Sorry we missed Ann Manuel). There were also a handful of ushers to guide guests to their assigned tables...Joe Domingo, Roy Hamasaki, Bob Nishimura, and  if I missed anyone, my apology. The ushers were moving so fast it was hard to keep track of them.

The sweet selection of dance music by DeeJays Henry and Joann Rimas echoed throughout the Grand Ballroom. As the tables were rapidly being occupied, so was the dance floor being filled with guys in debonaire apparel and ladies in colorful evening gowns. It gave an air of a Cinderella fairy tale picture.  Few Viennese Waltz dancers were whizing on the hardwood but when the Electric Slide music was played, room to dance was at a premium.

EmCees for the event were Audrey Fu and U.S. Army Colonel Paul Tamaribuchi. You gotta appreciate this dynamic duo....they were articulate in their delivery, they were funny that kept the audience interested and entertained, and kept the program running smoothly and on time.

Co-Founders Richard and Lynn Nakamura gave a wonderful and feel good Welcome Message. With her message came a brief history of Dance Magic 808. It was remarkable how much this dance organization has grown in membership since inception a year ago. Soon followed was the Introduction of Dance Magic 808 Officers and Board Members, Dance Instructors, and Volunteers. As each name was called the person got on the stage to be recognized. 

Before the Invocation by Marsha Ninomiya, a Hula was performed on stage by 2011 Miss Hawaii International Leilani Soon to the song, The Prayer. It was a beautiful and flowing dance. Then it was time to grindz.  After the buffet dinner, General Dancing resumed. Introduction of Special Guests followed and there were many from various dance clubs (Presidents and Representatives). Professional dance studios owners and teachers were also announced.  

Belle of the Ball Contestants paraded around the dance floor in their gorgeous colorful evening gown for the prestigious Cinderella title but alas only one was to win the title and a monetary prize. The selected judges named Candace Yap as the winner to the title of Belle of the Ball. She was dressed in a sparkling gold gown complete with full arm laces and wearing a tiara and shiny jewelry. EmCee Paul Tamaribuchi presented Candace with the prize. 

Guest Professional singer Melveen Leed opened Part 1 of the Showcase Performance with the up beat tune of Paniolo Country. That got a lot of Line Dancers on the floor to dance as Melveen belted out the Hawaiian cowboy tune. She is a terrific show person and continued on with the fast Latin tune of One Note Samba.

Millennium Dance Sport Comp @Tampa, Florida by Marie Laderta

We are here in Tampa with our teacher Lucas and Yanna and some fellow students competing at the Millennium Dance Sport Competition. Today is day #2 of the comp and we have a grueling schedule, competing from 7a in the morning till past midnight. Record entries of over 15,000 this year. Was told this is the second largest comp to Ohio Star Ball. Who knows, we just like the hospitality the level of dancing, the spectacular aura and great lengths the organizer Michael Chapman puts into this competition. This is our 3rd time at the Millennium. Divino Ritmo students were dancing under the lucky stars, or should I say, the Auspicious Fire Dragon - Here in a celebratory shot, Paul won 1st place in the 3-Dance American Rhythm Championship. I got lucky and won 3rd place in the 3-Dance American Rhythm Championship, and David Easa who danced his own age group took 2nd place. Anna Mae Schwartz took 4th in her age category. Edward Nishimura did not compete in the Rhythm "Championships," at least not this year, but garnered 1st and 2nd places in all his American single dances (NONE of his heats were uncontested, he had competition even as a New comer!). We were very grateful considering we danced our hearts out! We danced until nearly 1am this morning and started again the 2nd day of our dance marathon... Ran into many nice dance afficionados we met over the last few years like seasoned competitors and Dance Patrons Josie Lee, Judy Sargent, Deborah Berinovsky, professionalForest Vance, Judges Peter Eggleton, Marianne Nicole, Dennis Rogers, Sam Soldano, Colin & Joyce Hillary, and many more...and some who just come up to us and say they remember us!!!!:) now that is heart-warming! Aloha, Marie, Still Standing or should I say "dancing" from the Millennium.

Dance Las Vegas 2012

Aloha Dancers! Lynn Nakamura, President of Dance Magic 808, has got a good handle on the Dance Las Vegas event. So please read and enjoy her wonderful write-up that follows. I'll just add the photos........

Hi Everyone, We had such a great time at the International Ballroom Dance, Inc.'s (IBDI) and Dance Magic 808's 1st Las Vegas Dance Event on Sat., May 19, 2012 in Las Vegas. Everyone who attended had so much fun socializing, eating (delicious buffet), watching the performers, participating and dancing. General dancing started at 6pm and continued throughout the evening before dinner, during dinner, and after the exhibitions.

The dance was held at Sam's Town Hotel & Casino in the Red Rock Room and our Master of Ceremonies was the President of IBDI, Chris Jay, who did a very good job as our MC.

Welcome address was made by Chris Jay and yours truly. I was kind of nervous because it's not my thing to be up there giving a speech. I'm usually the one behind the scenes making sure everything is running smoothly. I get nervous just dancing in front of people (it doesn't look like it but I do) so to speak in front of everyone, makes me even more nervous since I don't feel confident speaking in front of a crowd. I had my notes so this is how it went: Chris Jay made his welcome address and called me up to the podium to do my welcome speech. I welcomed everyone to IBDI's & Dance Magic 808's 1st Las Vegas Dance Event and thanked everyone for coming and said," we know that you'll all have a great time eating, dancing and socializing". I also mentioned that I wanted to take this opportunity to thank a few people in advance and to make two announcements. I thanked Dance Magic 808 members, Sandy Hamasaki, who helped with the dinner ticket sales and also thanked her husband, Roy Hamasaki, who helped us with arranging the Vacations Hawaii package for most of the attendees and for providing transportation to/from the hotel to the dance function by driving his van back and forth. He made sure that everyone had transportation to/from the dance function.

A big "Mahalo" was given to UNLV Dance Coach, Gail Michael-Parsons, who provided most of the dance music for the evening. Our music man's flight was delayed so he could not be there from the start when the doors opened but was there just before the performances started around 8:30 pm. My 1st announcement was to remind everyone about Dance Magic 808's 1st Anniversary Ball on Friday, July 6, 2012 and that we hoped that all of them could attend and advised them that the deadline for ticket sales is June 1st.

The 2nd announcement was that we wanted to "Congratulate Bob & Elsie (McGrew) Oyama" who just got married on May 18, 2012 in Las Vegas, a day before our Las Vegas Dance Event. Their wedding ceremony at the Chapel of Flowers was beautiful with a few close friends and relatives. Since they did not have an opportunity to have their first wedding dance, we asked them to come up and dance their wedding waltz. They did an American Waltz to Edel Weiss. It was such so nice to see two people in love dance for us. Some of you may know Elsie because she's Dance Magic 808's volunteer line dance instructor. She and Bob were just dance partners but now they are lifelong partners. Congratulations again to Bob & Elsie!!! Next, Marsha Ninomiya, 1st Vice President of IBDI, came up to the podium and gave a beautiful invocation that it brought tears to my eyes, because I felt so much love and support for us and for everyone. Everyone enjoyed the delicious buffet and just enjoyed socializing.

Next, our MC, Chris Jay, started the program around 8:30 pm. He introduced Andy & Monica Pascuas, Dance Magic 808's Volunteer Instructors who teach the American Style of dancing and also teach the Filipino Tango. They are long time dancers and instructors and are currently choreographing a group mambo routine for Dance Magice 808's 1st Anniversary Ball. Andy & Monica did a lively American Cha Cha with lots of spins. Everyone enjoyed their dancing. Thank you Andy & Monica!!!

Next, we had an impromptu dance by Robert & Vanelle Hirayasu, another volunteer instructor from Dance Magic 808. They did a very romantic Argentine Tango. Thank you Robert & Vanelle!!!

Chris introduced our final solo couple, Joshua Manzano, Dance Magic 808's volunteer instructor who will be next year's Team Captain of the UNLV Rebel Dancesport, and Sonya Petkova. They both competed in 3 competitions this past semester at UCSD, UCR (winning numerous awards at Deser Callenge hosted by UNLV. They took 3rd place in Viennese Waltz, 2nd place in Foxtrot, Waltz, Cha Cha, Samba & Open Merengue, and 1st place in American Tango, American Bolero, Quickstep, Tango, Rumba, Paso Doble & Open Night Club 2-Step. Unfortunately, Sonya was in New York and was unable to perform with Joshua so Polina Petkova graciously agreed to perform with Joshua at the dance. Polina Petkova is the President of the Rebel Dancesport and she coordinates all the social dances and organizes their events. Joshua & Polina demonstrated the exciting and dramatic American Tango. The crowd was really impressed by these young performers. Thank you Joshua & Polina!!! The evening didn't end yet as we had one more entertainment and it required everyone's participation; it was called the Wild Wild West Mixer.

We called everyone to the dance floor and the only requirement was that they bring a partner. Richard Nakamura gave the instructions and we showed everyone what to do. We did the steps a few times before we actually put on the music. It was a lot of fun. We had 2 circles, men on the inside facing out and women on the outside facing a partner. We would run through the steps and at the end the steps we would end up with a new partner and continue dancing the steps again.

Everyone all moved to the right and ended up with a new partner after a set of steps were performed. The song was about 5 minutes long. At the end, everyone was laughing and saying how much fun it was. You had to be there to really enjoy all the fun that everyone had. The mixer ended the formal part of the program and Chris & I gave our thank you to everyone that helped to make this dance a very successful and enjoyable event. Here is a list of the people that were acknowledged:

DJ, Allen Amazaki and his wife, Chudy. She sang a song for us. Reception Desk ladies - Charlene Jay & Vanelle Hirayasu Marsha Ninomiya for the beautiful invocation UNLV Dance Coach - Gail Michael-Parsons for bringing some dance music Roy & Sandy Hamasaki - Vacations Hawaii Package, transportation, and ticket sales All the dancers that performed and we thanked everyone for coming. I did thank our Chris Jay for being our MC and for doing a great job. If we forgot to acknowledge someone, we apologized and said that we appreciated everyone's help. One person that was not mentioned at the dance was Nancy Shen, who we want to thank for getting the tickets printed and the programs printed on such short notice. She was just awesome and was able to get the programs to us in time. Thank you so much!!! As the evening came to a close there were so many people at the end of the dance. I guess everyone was having such a good time that they didn't want to leave. We all eventually left. Some of us changed our clothes and went straight to the slot machines. Some of us were lucky but most of us just enjoyed donating our funds to the casinos. All in all it was a very enjoyable dance event and the whole trip to Las Vegas was a lot of fun. There may be another Las Vegas trip being planned for the end of April 2013. More details will be announced later. For those of you who attended this year's dance event, thank you so much for coming and making it a successful event and we hope that you'll join us again next year for an even bigger and better dance event and trip. For those of you who were not able to make it this year, we hope that you'll be able to join us next year. Mahalo to all of you for all your support. Lynn A. Nakamura President, Dance Magic 808 www.dancemagic808.com cell 808-372-2256

Aiea Ballroom Dance Association 57th Anniversary Ball

WOW! 57 years and still counting and still going strong, too. I won't go into the history of the Aiea Ballroom Dance Association but I gotta mention that it is the oldest non-profit dance organization in all of Hawaii Nei. What a treat it was last Saturday for those attending the Anniversary Ball. And there were more than 400 dancers. (How you figgah that, Frank?) Well let's do the math. Rudy Luat the Prez of Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society (dis guy gets around helping other dance clubs besides his own) ordered 400 bentos and they were all gone by 6:30P and still more dancers were coming thru the ballroom door. There were no showcase of exhibition dancing on the program. Prez Deanie Bates said, "it's a night to have fun and celebrate the Anniversary with more time for dancing." I believe that the 400 plus dancers were in full agreement with the idea of more dancing time cuz they sure looked a happy bunch.

Climbing up the stairway, I was greeted by Herbert Omizo (here's another guy who really gives a hand in supporting the dancing community). He's made a lot of contributions for door prizes and this time it was a table full of potted gardenia plants.

My presale tickets were waiting for me at the Reception Table. Happy people wearing a smile were busily checking in the guests and handing out tickets for the door prizes.

Lucky dancers who held presale tickets made a bee-line for the bento. It's no wonder cuz the onlicious bento was dished out by some happy people, too.

Prez Deanie Bates personally greeted everyone that came through the entrance of the ballroom with a hug and a few happy words.

I wasn't sure at first who the VIPs were that night but one thing is sure...if the VIP Table is manned by important people as John, Sue, and Harriet, the VIPs gotta be "persons of interest".

I'm glad DeeJay Bert Burgess dug deep into his awesome collection of good dance music and played them at the Anniversary Ball. The music was suited for everyone....both International style and American Rhythm. Dat's cool!

Dancers were just getting warmed-up as they trickled onto the dance floor. It didn't take long before the entire ballroom floor became filled with a sea of dancers.

EmCee for the evening event was the "small package" but dynamic Kay Yahiku. You know...da gal with the big voice and who can talk anyone into volunteering to start in the "Snowball" ice breaker dance. Dat's what she done to me and I was glad to oblige...and so did over a dozen couples gladly. With a short introduction of some important people, the calling of lucky ticket numbers for the door prizes followed.

Prez Deanie Bates gave the Welcome Message and introduced the Presidents, Representatives of the various dance clubs, and owners of professional dance studios who were present. Now they gotta be the VIPs.

Another bunch of VIPs were introduced. But this time they are the staff of dance instructors for the Aiea Ballroom Dance Association with Dance Director and DeeJay Bert Burgess. Then it was time to stretch the legs and get the seat-warmers and everyone else onto the dance floor. You know...the "Snowball" dance is getting to be much more fun now that the good ole Waltz is put on the back burner for a while and replaced with the good fun and energetic Cha Cha. It turned out to be a classic evening of fun dancing for everyone. (Left click on photo to zoom in)

Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society 37th Anniversary Ball

Sorry for the delay in getting the Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society 37th Anniversary Ball blog on the "hotwire" sooner. There was a death in my family which required my full attention. But now that all is taken care of, I hope my noggin can capture what went on during that event some weeks ago. So here goes the best of my recollection........ Lani and I got to the Palladium in plenty of time for the bento. Yeah! we got the presale kine tickets from Matilda and Ed Felix.Dancing in the ballroom was in full swing but first it was better to grind with some of our friends from Dance Magic 808. There were other friends, members from various dance clubs there to support Pan Pacific, too.

An old acquaint-ance from my IBDC days, Marie Perreira, was dishing out the bento dinner...always with a friendly smile and how are you?

Pan Pacific pulled all the stops by staffing the Reception Table with two lovelies.

The Information Table was a good idea and was fully manned by two guys and a gal.

DeeJay for the evening was George Suetsugu whose gratifying music enticed a whole lot of dancers to the dance floor.

General dancing continued till about 7:30 when EmCee John Wong took to the mike and gave the Greetings and Acknowledgement.

Prez Rudy Luat soon followed with the President's Anniversary Message. He also introduced the Presidents, Owners, and Representatives of the various professional and non-profit dance organizations on Oahu who were in attendance.

A Special Present-ation by Board of Directors member Marie Perreira to honor Herbert Omizo for his continue-d support in the dancing community and for most tickets sold.

The Dance Exhibition part of the program started with the International Waltz performed by Ed and Matilda Felix. The dance was smooth and flowing and this couple never fails to bring audience satisfaction to their exquisite performances.

Ed and Remy Brion came on hot and strong with the Swing ala American style. It had some fancy moves and you gotta appreciate these two senior teenagers who can romp the dance floor to entertain.

The International Tango as performed by Jun Lim and Gayle Kawahakui was an excellent display in the exactness of the dance with superb control and strength.

It's never a dull moment when Brian and Ashley perform in the International Latin style. These two young new comers have thrilled audience with their lively and dynamic performances and their International Cha Cha was filled with excitement and explosives moves.

It was good to see Ravi and Synthia move up the ladder into exhibition dancing. I thought they did very well in their performance of the International Foxtrot with plausible technique and floorcraft.

The Pan Pacific Formation Team concluded the showcase of exhibition dancing with the International Tango. It was beautifully choreographed and danced with vigor and precision.

I couldn't resist cornering Prez Rudy Luat to pose with the Anniversary Cake. He and his faithful assistants sure put on a colorful and good show for the 37th Anniversary.

After the Showcase, there was a "Snowball" icebreaker dance which was started by the Performers in the Showcase and the Pan Pacific Board Members. Then it was time for a break for Snack and Refreshments on the lanai while general dancing continued on in the ballroom. Prez Rudy pitched in to serving the snacks with Loise Fujiyama the most reliable and hard working member of this dance organization.