Team Hawai'i for the USADance National Championships

Hawaii Couple who have qualified for USADance Nationals with MC's Geoffrey Fells and Paul Laderta

TEAM HAWAI‘I – Results from the USADance Nationals held in Los Angeles CA

April 5 – 7 2013.

Michael and Lorrie Chun qualified for the Nationals and this was their very first competitive event.

Senior II (45+ years) Bronze Syllabus Ballroom

13 couples competed in Waltz and Quickstep and Michael and Lorrie placed 12^th

Senior III (55+ years) Bronze Syllabus Ballroom

9 couples competed in Waltz and Quickstep and Michael and Lorrie tied for 8^th place

Senior II (45+ years) Bronze Syllabus Latin

4 couples competed in Cha Cha and Rumba and Michael and Lorrie placed 3^rd with one judge giving them a 2^nd in Cha Cha.

Senior III (55+ years) Bronze Syllabus Latin

5 couples competed in Cha Cha and Rumba and Michael and Lorrie placed 5^th.

Jackson Cho and June Choong qualified for the Nationals and they have competed several times before.

Adult (16+ years) Silver Syllabus Ballroom (no costumes allowed in this division) dancing Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep. Jackson and June placed 9^th out of 22 couples their best-marked dances were Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep.

Adult (16+ years) Silver Syllabus Latin (no costumes allowed in this division) dancing Samba, Cha Cha and Rumba. Jackson and June place 10^th out of 12 couples. Their best-marked dance was Rumba.

Adult (16+ years) Gold Syllabus Latin (no costumes allowed in this division) dancing Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba and Jive. Jackson and June place 8^th out of 8 couples. Jackson and June and another couple from Arizona (who finally finished in 4th position) were disqualified in the Jive for dancing non-syllabus material and were both marked 9^th in that dance!

(Note: Couples who are dancing syllabus material should double check with their teacher/coach before competing to make sure that they are dancing acceptable material)

Ivan John and Nancy Luckie they have competed before this was their first USADance National event.

Senior I (35+ years) Novice Ballroom

3 couples competed and Ivan and Nancy finished in 2^nd place by placing 2^nd in Waltz, 3^rd in Slow Foxtrot and 2^nd in Quickstep. However one judge did give them a 1^st place in Slow Foxtrot.

Senior II (45+ years) Novice Ballroom

5 couples competed in Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep and Ivan and Nancy placed 1^st in all three dances. Congratulations to you both.

Senior I (35+ years) Pre Championship Ballroom

7 couples competed and Ivan and Nancy placed 5^th in Waltz, Tango and Quickstep, and 7^th in Slow Foxtrot which gave them an overall 5^th place.

Senior II (45+ years) Pre Championship Ballroom

12 couples competed in a Semi Final and Ivan and Nancy missed making the final 6 couples by 1 point! They eventually finished up 7^th.

Calvin and Debra Ota are experienced competitors having competed at Hawai‘i Star Ball, USADance Regionals and Nationals as well as Blackpool.

Senior II (45+ years) Pre Championship Ballroom

12 couples competed and Calvin and Debra finished in 9^th position in Waltz, Tango, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep.

Senior III (55+ years) Pre Championship Ballroom

9 couples competed in Waltz, Tango, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep and Calvin and Debra placed 2^nd in all four dances giving them a 2nd place overall. Congratulations to you both.

Senior II (45+ years) Pre Championship Latin

4 couples competed in this 4-dance event and Calvin and Debra placed 1^st in Samba, 1^st in Cha Cha, 3^rd in Rumba, and 2^nd in Jive. A couple from Arizona placed 3rd, 2^nd, 1^st, and 1^st in the same dances that resulted in a tie for First Place. Scrutineer Rule 11 broke the tie in favor of Calvin and Debra. 1^St Place Congratulations.

Senior III (55+ years) Pre Championship Latin

2 couples competed against each other in Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, and Jive and Calvin and Debra took 1^st in all four dances. 1^st Place. Congratulations

Senior II (45+ years) Championship Latin

14 couples competed in Samba, Cha Cha, Paso Doble, Rumba, and Jive. Calvin and Debra did not make the final 6 and they finished in 9^th place. Their best-marked dance was Rumba receiving 5 recalls from 11 judges.

Senior III (55+ years) Championship Ballroom

18 couples danced Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep and Calvin and Debra did not make the Semi Final but their best-marked dance was Viennese Waltz, which was marked by 6 judges out of the 11 judges. Their final placement was 15^th.

Senior III (55+ years) Championship Latin

9 couples danced Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive and Calvin andDebra placed 6^th in all dances, which gave them a 6th, place position. Noted that in the Paso Doble Judge Rita Gekman gave them a 1^st place and in the Jive Judge Irina Suvorov gave them a 1^st place.

Senior III (55+ years) 10-Dance Championship

Couples who danced in both the Senior III Championship Ballroom and Latin were eligible for the 10-Dance Championship title. 7 Couples qualified for this title and Calvin and Debra placed 5^th in this event. Congratulation to Hawai‘i’s 10-Dance Couple!

Edwin and Charlotte Bugarin have competed before but this was their first USADance National Championship Event.

They are considered as Hawai‘i’s #1 Amateur Latin Couple.

Senior I (35+ y ears) Championship Latin

9 couples competed in the Semi Final in Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive and Edwin and Charlotte made the final 6 couples and finished 5^th in all dances. It is noted that in the Cha Cha Judge Eugene Katsevman gave them a 1^st place.

Senior II (45+ years) Championship Latin

14 couples competed in the Semi Final in Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive and Edwin and Charlotte made the Final of 6 couples and placed 3^rd in Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, and Paso Doble and 2^nd in Jive giving them an overall placement of 3^rd. Congratulations – I am sure Carlos Chang will be proud of you. It is noted that 3of the of 11 judges were placing them 1^st.

Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho are very experienced competitors representing Hawai‘i at many events here in Hawai‘i and the Mainland as well a Blackpool and at Amateur World Championships in Spain. They both are considered Hawaii's #1 Amateur Ballroom Couple.

Senior I (35+ years) Championship Ballroom

23 couples qualified for this event in Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep. Glenn and Anne did not make the final 6 couples but finished in 10^th position.

(Yuko and Thomas Yu finished in 12^th position – Yuko is originally from Hawai‘i and was trained by Albert Franz))

Senior II (45+ years) Championship Ballroom

22 couples had qualified for this event and Glenn and Anne placed 2^nd in Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep and 3^rd in Slow Foxtrot giving them 2^nd Place overall. Congratulations

(Yuko and Thomas were 4^th)

Congratulations are in order for all of the six couples that represented Hawai‘i. By just attending and competing you are all winners. Keep up the good work and starting getting ready for the 2014 Nationals.

(Note: There was seven couple that qualified for the Nationals. However one couple could not make it for whatever reason. Hopefully Miguel Heraclio and Rieko Ota will be ready for next year)