IBDI Inaugural Ball

After purchasing tickets for the IBDI Inaugural Ball which was to be held at the Pacific Beach Hotel I found that I had already committed to a dinner engagement that I could not cancel. So I was unable to attend (I am sure much to the joy of some individuals!! ha ha). Today I received the following report from Dr. David Easa who is a student of Divino Ritmo Dance (Yanna Samkova & Lucas Jaime) and I found the content interesting and informative. So here it is: -

An Unusual Day in Paradise Capped by the IBDI Inaugural Ball – February 27, 2010.

Truly a memorable day, it started with masses of people converging on all available grocery stores and shopping centers like in the movie, “The Night of the Living Dead”…..buying food and water, water, water for the inevitable tsunami that we were promised resulting from the all too recent shower of massive earthquakes, this time in Chile. While this was truly a massive earthquake with millions of Chileans displaced from their homes and countless fatalities, the resultant tsunami promised to extend the devastation half way around the world, and Hawaii was one intended recipient. Everyone was glued to the TV screen waiting for the inevitable moment, local broadcasters searching for words to fill the time, pretending to say something intelligent while we waited patiently for nothing to happen. Comically, and exasperated for something to say, news staff focused on small exposures of the reef as the fizzled tsunami passed its way across Hawaii, albeit castrated and puttering on its last breath. The only good thing for me was a short snooze somewhere in the middle of this tedium.

And low and behold, the IBDI event was not canceled and the world would move on - quickly forgetting the imminent danger just hours before to settle into another dance ballroom event at the Pacific Beach Hotel; this time it was an inaugural ball for “installation” of new officers. Still the event turned out a bit anticlimactic for me, coloring the evening’s enjoyment by the lingering notion of the disaster that was just averted in our State.

It was nice to see a familiar face and good friend Kay Yahiku on the podium as the MC for the evening. Always gracious and articulate, the flow of the evening was propelled by her calm and reassuring voice, and organized transitions.

But the tone and formality of the installation was a little too serious for me; having the prosecuting attorney of the city and county of Honolulu – Peter Carlisle doing the honors gave me a somber feeling and transformed me momentarily from the ballroom to some official governmental ceremony.

Before I get into the exhibitions, I was happy as I imagine were the guests… with the general dancing which was plentiful and the music was decent and well balanced; the dance floor was filled with dancers of all types and levels. However, I admit that I had the hardest time navigating along the line of dance because of the crowds; I witnessed and took part in many inadvertent collisions. Emi, I apologize and take responsibility for several encounters that resulted in injury; I promise to do better in the future…that is if you’ll ever dance with me again!

The evening promised several dance exhibitions, but for several reasons, only three of the five planned actually took place. The first one was a Paso Doble by Calvin and Debra Ota. One has to congratulate the Ota’s for performing so many different dances and entertaining us with their recent performances.

The second one was a show dance by Sergio and Renna Villaneuva was fun to watch; both Sergio and Renna sparkled and smiled showing their confidence and showmanship.

The last performance was an international waltz by Tommy Nakamura and Stephanie Uechi. By far this dance was the most advanced; Stephanie beamed with beauty and a wonderful smile; the couple danced with large fluid steps using the entire dance floor, and with poses and more poses.

Well, with the completion of this third exhibition, I was still hungry for more. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until the next event that I plan on attending; See you all for the next evening of merriment and dance.

David Easa