Driving from Hawaii Kai to the Academy was smooth going but parking was at a premium along Beretania St. and along Victoria. Our best bet was to head for the parking lot on Kinau St. It was packed but fortunately my copilot Lani spotted an empty space. The walk wasn't too bad except for a lot of cars zooming by on busy Kinau and the gust of wind did kinda mess up Lani's hair a bit. Luckily, the wind blown hair style is in vogue.
The first friendly face we met as we entered the Academy's grounds was Security Officer Terry. He was beaming with a smile when Lani approached him. He looked a little serious when he saw me and I was thinking he might be asking if I was an undocumented immigrant...after all tonight was La Plaza de Toros...a Latin affair. And can a guy with a Spanish surname get pass the Immigration Law? Okay all kidding aside...Terry is a nice guy.
People were still coming in and the crowd was getting thicker by the minute. There were several BEER and WINE Bars situated at convenient locations throughout the Academy except in the galleries where no refreshments of any kind was allowed.
The DeeJay was spinning mostly Salsa music but no one dared to burn the dance floor yet. We were all waiting for the program with dance exhibitions to start. BTW, there were two areas with DeeJays spinning the crowd's preferred taste of music. Lani and I were in the front lawn like open air amphitheater where DeeJay Curtis "Slant" Hokama played all Latin music...Salsa, Cha Cha, Merengue, Samba, and Rumba. In the back of the Academy was for those who opt for Rocking "To The Rock" music.
The program got underway with a Flamenco dance exhibition, followed by a Bolero, a Paso Doble, and Salsa. There were other dances which were Latin but I couldn't put a finger on the names.
Greg The Salsaman was a standout with his beautiful partner scorching the dance floor with the Salsa (sorry I didn't get her name). Their showcase of Salsa dancing was hot, hot, hot!
The night was still young and Greg gathered a lot of young people on the dance floor to teach them the Merengue....a lot of nice and easy steps to dance. Then came the music and everyone was happily partner dancing the Merengue.
Greg had more mini-lessons in store and next came the "one-two-three-tap" which is the count of the new craze "The Bachata". The guyz and galz were loving it but it was time for me to join Lani and my godbrother Larry and his friend Leona.
The dance floor was about 10' by 10' and a bit crowded but Lani and I were able to squeeze in the Cha Cha and later the Merengue.
We got to meet several dancers we knew and several who said that they were our dance students at the CSAs from sometime back. It was just nice that they came up to us and greeted us.
The place was SRO and still rocking with Latin music in the front and hard rock in the back of the Academy when Lani and I decided to call it a good night and head for home. Our host Susan was very busy coordinating the program but Lani and I got to track her down and bid her adios and mucho gracias for the invite and for making La Plaza de Toros an exciting event for us and everyone who attended.
(Left click on photo to zoom in)
