Dance News of the Pacific

Anti Doping for Professional Competitors??

2012-02-10T20:59:00.002-10:00

I personally do not agree that Ballroom Dancing is a Sport. It is athletic and an art form as is Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Break Dancing, etc. It seems that there are still dancers who are trying unsuccessfully to get Ballroom Dancing into the Olympics. Olympic Committees of several countries have already accepted Ballroom Dancing as a sport but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not agreed to include Ballroom dancing in the Olympic Games and in my opinion its seems they never will. The following announcement about anti doping, for me, is shocking - how will the competitors be tested? a blood test, a urine test, a throat swab? Read on: -

National Dance Council of America Inc (NDCA)

NDCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE RELEASED THE FOLLOWING FROM THE WORLD DANCE COUNCIL:

Donnie Burns MBE – President of World Dance Council
Vice Presidents of World Dance Council: Morten Andresen - Fred Bijster - Nils-Hakan Carlzon - Brian McDonald (USA) - Isao Nakagawa - Stanislav Popov - Steve Powell - Jack Rothweiler (USA) - Svein Rotvold - Rudi Trautz

RUDI TRAUTZ – World Dance Council (WDC) and World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Commissioner.

Neusaess, 3rd February 2012

Dear Competitors,

The year 2012 will bring us a new era of competitive dancing for WDC Professionals. As you all know, the WDC has signed an agreement with WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) that all Competitors have to adhere to the rules of antidoping. The aim of the anti doping policy is-

First, that all competitors have an equal opportunity to compete against their fellow competitors not giving anybody a chance to have an advantage through doping and-

Second, and I feel this is more important, to protect the health of the competitors. Doping is dangerous for your health and can be deadly. Seemingly harmless or less dangerous drugs that help to lose weight are proven to be life shortening! When you are young and hungry for success this might not bother you too much. But when the time comes, you will think different. There is also a life after competing. Testing will start in the second half of the year 2012. The best way to prepare yourself for an eventual test is, to be careful which kind of medicine you take or is described to you by the doctor. Inform your doctor that you are under the WADA anti doping code.

Check the WDC website for the list of prohibited drugs. If you take food supplements, check first that they are clean. If in doubt, contact the company making the supplements to find out if you can take them.

Therapeutical Exemptions.
Sometimes it will be necessary for your doctor to prescribe not allowed medicines that you need to cure your illness. If possible, contact the Therapeutical Exemptions Commissions doctor: Dr. Andreas Schwab, Tel.0049 173 362 72 36, e-mail dr.andreasschwab@t-online.de, before you take the medicine to obtain an exemption.

If this is not possible because of urgency, the latest you have to inform Dr. Schwab or myself Rudi Trautz, tel 0049 151 291 353 16, e-mail r.trautz@gmx.de, directly after you have taken the prescribed medicine in order to get a permission.

Most countries have a NADA (National Anti Doping Agency). Whether your national NADA will be involved in testing is up to your WDC member (this would be the National Dance Council of America - NDCA). At the moment we deal only with WDC Championships.

Just remember, healthy food and extra exercise are much better for your fitness, health, looks and your results in competitions.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me any time (hopefully not between midnight and 8 in the morning). I will be happy to help you with any question or problem you have.

Happy New Year to you!!

Rudi Trautz

USADance Hustle Workshop II

2012-02-09T15:27:00.000-10:00

Brought Back by Popular Demand, USA Dance PRESENTS: "Hustle TOO!" by Lucas Jaime

By: Marie Laderta

Hawaii's own Hustle Pro, Lucas Jaime, will show you how to shake those booties in what USA Dance President Glenn Okazaki describes as "incredible moves" in Part II of USA Dance's Hustle Workshop.

You can look forward to a mini refresher and additional choreography to add to your dance repertoire. If you enjoyed Part I, come for more and get down those extra moves. If you haven't come before, come on February 18th - it's not too late to fall into pace with Lucas' easy teaching style.

Saturday, February 18th is the day!

At the Ala Wai Palladium

Registration Opens at 12:30p

Workshop 1:00-2:30pm

$10 for Members

$20 for Non-Members

DRAGON YEAR at the CUPOLA - Marie Laderta

2012-01-26T14:51:00.000-10:00

Feel the aura of the mighty Dragon at Divino Ritmo's social dance, next Tuesday, January 31st at the CUPOLA, from 7-10pm.

CUPOLA is on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center, corner of Piikoi & Kapiolani, 1250 Kapiolani Blvd.

Admission is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC!!! Food and Beverage are available for purchase. Happy hour pupus are $5 if you order before 7p.

Last Monday, January 23rd marked the Chinese or Lunar New Year! In many Asian countries and Chinatowns around the world, streets are alive with firecrackers and Dragon Dances to usher in the Year of the Dragon!

Lion or Dragon dances are performed at New Year typically to scare away evil spirits. During the dance, performers hold poles and raise and lower the Dragon or Lion head. Sometimes a single individual holds up a pole with a head of lettuce hanging from it, symbolizing a "Pearl of Wisdom" as he entices the Dragon to follow him to the beat of a drum, as if in search of wisdom and knowledge.

Combining martial arts and dance, the Dragon dancers move with fluidity and control. They convey the dragon's emotions through movement, but that's often not easy to do with an extra 15-20 pound "Dragon Head" on the lead dancer's shoulders. It is said to require great skill and artistry of movement as well as a team of agile and well-trained dancers.

According to the Chinese zodiac, the Dragon year is the mightiest and most favored of the 12 zodiac signs. The dragon is a symbol of power and strength, and those born under this sign are predicted to have lucky and abundant lives. Their characteristics are said to be strong, intelligent and self-assured.

Famous Dragon Year babies include Salvador Dali, Courtney Love, Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock. But of course, our very own Dragon Year baby is none other than....YES....you've guessed it... Divino Ritmo's mighty YANNA SAMKOVA!!!!

So come celebrate Yanna's year at the CUPOLA, come bask in the glory of the mighty Dragon, have some wine, have a dance, with DJ Lucas at the helm and Jesse Gonzales at the keyboard!

For more information, contact:
Lucas Jaime,
ph:(917)568-3173;
divinoritmo@aol.com

Yanna Samkova,
ph:(732)499-0407;
Yannajs@gmail.com

New - Dance Classes -updated information

2012-01-22T04:07:00.000-10:00

GEOFFREY FELLS, Highly Commended Fellow of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in Ballroom and Latin American Dancing, Master Scrutineer, World Championship Certified Adjudicator, Former Amateur Ballroom Champion, Competition Organizer,

Once again I will be teaching Ballroom and Latin Classes in the evening.
Starting Wednesday February 1st I will be teaching two 1-hour classes.
Starting at 6:30 p.m. - Basic Elements and Components in the Waltz.
At 7:30 p.m. - Basic Groups and Amalgamations in the Waltz.
These classes will run for 5 weeks at the Aloha Activity Center, 725 Kapiolani Blvd. (Parking is validated)
The cost will be $10 per person per 1-hour class or $18 per couple (leader & follower).
Both classes will be $15 per person or $25 per couple (leader & follower).
Printed notes will be provided.
For further information contact me, Geoffrey Fells, at 955-3134 or mobile 371-8042 (leave a message if necessary for a return call) or email gmfells@msn.com .

2012 United Kingdom Championships

2012-01-22T02:06:00.000-10:00

Three of the Major Ballroom and Latin Events in the World are held in England. They are the Blackpool Dance Festival held in Blackpool in May, the International Championships held in London in November, and the United Kingdom Championships held in Bournemouth and London in January. These three Championships are all part of the recent “Freedom to Dance” campaign and are “open” to all Professional and Amateur dancers regardless of their affliliations.

A couple taking part as a competitor in any of the above events would be banned from competing in any event recognized by the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) which was formerly known as the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) which was formerly known as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD). This organization is following the impossible dream of making Ballroom and Latin American dancing a sport to include it into the Olympic Games! Ballroom and Latin American Dancing is an athletic and physically demanding art form as is Ballet, Jazz, Break Dancing, Hip Hop, Zumba, Salsa, Argentine Tango, Clog Dancing, Tap Dancing, Scottish and Irish Dancing but it is NOT a sport.

This past week the UK Championships were a great success with many couples ignoring the threat of being banned by competing for these prestigious titles.

Of note to the Pacific Region are the following results: -

2012 UK Open Professional Ballroom Championship:
2012 UK Championship Winners Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova (New York, USA)
Third Place Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva (California, USA)
The second place couple from Italy was the former Champion Mirko Gozzoli dancing with Edita Daniute, who was the former Amateur partner of Arunas Bizokas.

Fourth place was Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio former Italian champions now dancing for England because of the banning by the WDSF!

2012 UK Open Professional Latin Championships:
From New York, USA Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko took Second Place

From England the 2012 UK Championship Winners were Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis who have always represented Poland but have now taken up residence in England because of the banning situation.

Canada took Fifth place Maurizio Vescovo & Andra Vaidilaite
Third and Sixth place were couples from Russia

Fourth place was from Slovenia.

2012 UK Professional Rising Star Ballroom Competition:
Taking First Place was Artem Plakhotnyi & Inna Berlizyeva from Arizona USA
Into Second and Fourth Place were two couples from China: -

2.) Sheng Chen & Li Wanlan

4.) Shui Qing & Ma Yanyan

Into Fifth and Sixth Place were two couples from Japan: -

5.) Takahiro Niikura & Yukiko Nakata

6.) Shintaro Asamura & Emi Toyama

Third place was from Germany

2012 UK Professional Rising Star Latin Competition:
Yegor Novikov & Yana Petkov from California, USA took first place

Third Place from Florida, USA, Ivan Mulyavka & Loreta Kriksciukaityte
Second Place was from Ukraine

Fourth and Fifth Places were from China: -

4.) Li Wen & Huang Huan
5.) Lei Shi & Bai Yu Zhang

Sixth Place was from England.

2012 UK Open Amateur Ballroom Championship:
Making history was First Place couple Chao Tang & Yi Ling Tan from China, the first Amateur Chinese couple to win a major Championship.
Third Place was also from China Chong He & Jing Shan

Second, Fourth and Sixth couples were from Poland

Fifth Place were from Ukraine

2012 UK Open Amateur Latin Championship:
First Place England
Second Place Russia
Third Place Denmark
Fourth and Fifth Places Italy
Sixth Place Russia
In 2011 Valentin Chmerkovskiy & Daria Chesnokova from New York, USA placed 3^rd in the UK Open Amateur Championships as well as 3^rd in Blackpool. Unfortunately, for the USA, they retired from competing because of the political banning by the WDSF and he wrote: -

“…..as a 24-year-old man I was told that I couldn’t compete against some of the best dancers in the world, because of reasons I had no power of influencing. The world I believed in, loved, and was willing to give up my last penny for was changing… and changing for the worse.
I was a 25-year-old man when I realized I was powerless. I held on to my love for dance to steer me through the lack of motivation, my disbelief in everything that was happening, and the sheer loneliness. I am so lucky that I got to witness the “Golden Years” of the 90s early 00’s, when dancers danced”

2004 World Latin Championships.

2012-01-13T23:06:00.001-10:00

Saturday January 14, 2012

PBS Hawai'i Channel 10 at 8:00pm (60 minutes)

World Latin Championship

Dancers vie for the World Latin Championship in a competition that includes the samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha, paso doble and jive. Taped in Germany in October 2004

"Becoming Ginger Roger" by Patrice Tanaka

2012-01-01T23:03:00.001-10:00

June Kadamoto, Patrice Tanaka's 4th grade teacher

Patrice Tanaka, Marie Laderta, Geoffrey Fells

Patrice Tanaka, from Kaneohe, Hawai‘i, who now resides inNew York, wrote a book about pursuing your joy titled “Becoming Ginger Rogers”.Marie Laderta and Becki Ward hosted a breakfast/book-signing event at ThePacific Club on December 28, 2011 with about 30 of us attending. Informationabout Patrice and her book can be found at http://becominggingerrogers.com

Book signing with Grace Nohara

Mary Beth Van Hoogstraten, Patrice Tanaka, Marie Latderta

DIVINO RITMO Rings in the New Year at the CUPOLA!

2011-12-25T21:37:00.001-10:00

By: Marie Laderta

Divino Ritmo's Social dance on Tuesday, Dec 27th at the Cupola will put you in the mood for the upcoming New Year's festivities!

Get ready for the party favors, shake your booties as you join Lucas & Yanna at their year-end social dance, closing out the year of the Rabbit with a bang and making way for the mighty Dragon to enter the lunar year!

Come dance to the live music of Jesse Gonzales and DJ Lucas Jaime! They play some mean tunes to set your dancing feet afire!

CUPOLA is where it's happening this Tuesday, Dec 27th, from 7-10pm!
Admission is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC!!!

Food and beverage are available for purchase.

Drop by for a dance or two, come lounge with us, have a few drinks, relax and be IN THE MOOD as we bid aloha to the Year 2011 and ramp up for 2012!

For more information, contact:
Lucas Jaime, ph: (917)568-3173; divinoritmo@aol.com
Yanna Samkova, ph: (732)499-0407; Yannajs@gmail.com

Sequins fly in Australia!

2011-12-11T17:10:00.001-10:00

(Note: The World Dancesport Federation or WDF mentioned in this article was formerly known as the International DanceSport Federation or IDSF and is the world governing council for Amateur dancers. The United States is represented on this Federation by USADance.)

TWO ballroom dancing champions were ejected from a national competition last night for wearing a yellow sash.
Matthew Rooke and Anna Longmore wore the sash in support of their peers during a victory dance at the Australian Dancesport Championships at Hisense Arena.
This year, the World Dancesport Federation suspended six couples, including several Australian champions, for dancing in competitions not registered with the WDF.
Some of those dancers were not allowed to compete or defend their titles in Melbourne last night. Mr Rooke and Ms Longmore wore the yellow sash in support of the suspended dancers.
The Victorian couple are ranked 12th in the world.
But in scenes straight out of Strictly Ballroom, incensed organisers ejected Mr Rooke and Ms Longmire for their stand.
Organisers could not be reached for comment last night.
A stunned Mr Rooke said: "This is my 20th year dancing in the Australian championships, I've just won my 11th title in a row and they throw me out of the building. It's a disgrace.
"I've given 20 years of my life to dancing. I decided to make a silent protest in support of my peers who weren't allowed to dance.
"There was no riot. We just wore a yellow sash."
But Mr Rooke claimed Australian Dancesport Championship organisers said they "were inciting trouble" by wearing the yellow sash.
"We won, we did our honour dance, then security told us we would be ejected from the building," Mr Rooke said.
"I can't believe it. It is upsetting. We made a silent protest in honour of our fellow dancers and we get ejected by security for it.
"We travel the world dancing and I've never seen anything like this."
The couple said tensions in the dance world had simmered for the past six months over the right to compete in events of the dancers' choice.
"We all want to see couples allowed to dance whenever and wherever they want," Ms Longmore said. Despite being ousted from the building, Mr Rooke and Ms Longmore retained their titles and prize money.
(From http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/)

New Friday Dance Parties - Christopher Bayot

2011-12-09T23:49:00.000-10:00

Keep On Dancing Studio
“ Happy New Year “
“ 2012 ”
Let’s have fun!
DANCE PARTY
Friday January 6, 2012
7-10PM

BALLROOM & LATIN
Refreshments
Welcome to the Public
Meet new friends, Lots of dancing
Hosted by : Christopher
Music by: Jesse Gonzales
$ 10.00

We will be doing this again every Friday after this event!

404 Ward Ave. # 202 Honolulu Hawaii
Tel. ( 808 ) 596-8860 or cel. ( 808 ) 387-6575

I lost my pants and I lost my whip! - David Easa

2011-12-05T18:28:00.001-10:00

Saturday December 3rd was the 3rd Annual Divino Ritmo Dance Showcase held at the Sheraton Waikiki. It was well attended with almost 400 guests, a delicious served dinner and some very interesting showcases on the theme of "Neon Lights, The Call of Broadway". Of course, not everything runs smoothly as you can see from this amusing article by Yanna's student David Easa. - Geoffrey

No, this is not fiction, and for those who know something about me, it’s not even all that bizarre. And actually, the story is much less interesting when told than the title would suggest…which conjures up some alternative S&M sexual encounter. And I won’t bother even trying to write a pretend scenario for it may uncover too many embarrassing and or latent fantasies ……hummmm. Ok, to the boring truth.

December 3^rd, 2011 was the day of the Divino Ritmo third annual Showcase which included a student dance performances as well as a professional show. I was first on the schedule to perform arguably my worst dance, the Viennese Waltz. My dance instructor, Yanna Samkova, selected the music. Oh What a Beautiful Morning…..theme of the musical Oklahoma, an upbeat song, which is totally out of character for me, grumpy as I am as a New Yorker, set in my ways, street smart, but clearly uncomfortable out of the city where the buffalo roam. Indeed, I am truly more at home in the decadence of the city, dirty as it may be, even with the risk of being robbed or mugged by another human, or being overwhelmed by the smog and traffic, or annoyed by the crowds and lines. My point is that it was a stretch to cast me for the part of a happy cowboy, dressed for the part and dancing my “suckiest” dance, the Viennese waltz.

To make the rest of this dreadful tale unfold, a whip was used as part of the dance routine…. I purchased this fake whip from a local costume shop, it was actually not a bad replica, but it was made of light rope that did not sting at it contacted human flesh at a reasonable velocity. Now I’m sure that anyone really interested in wanting to see this ghastly performance…actually I was pretty happy with myself; the mistakes were minor and it went reasonably well….can see it eventually since it was taped. Getting back; during the rehearsal in the afternoon of the Showcase, the lights were dimmed and the whip was tossed to the ground several times during the routine, making it easy to forget it after the practice. Relieved that I was now free to go home and rest, I forgot to collect it. It was only when I was on my way home that I realized that I had lost track of my whip…………which completes the explanation for the second half of the title above. Of course, my friend, Marie Laderta, came to my rescue and found the whip, protecting it for me until the evening performance.

The evening came and I left for the Showcase in my favorite black pin striped suit toting a bag ladies dream of several large bags filled to capacity with stuff; my cowboy outfit, my dance shoes and various other accoutrements. I wore one of my British ties and a white dance shirt…I was all spiffy but it was short-lived because as assigned as the first performance on the program, I needed to get ready immediately after dinner. After my performance and those of the other student’s and professional show and all, I decided to remain in my cowboy clothes, and not trouble myself by laboring back into my suit. The evening ended with me in my cowboy duds. It did not take too many glasses of wine to add to the fatigue, relief and decompression of the day, I left as early as humanly possible knowing I had to go home and close up my house and get ready for an early morning flight out of the country. Getting back to the car was a bit of a chore; the two bags were not my only challenge; I needed to lug my suit, shirt, tie and do so with respect to maintain the integrity of the suit. I got to my car and was relieved to still find it there….i parked across the crowded street in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping center because it was easier to get to navigate on a heavily congested Waikiki street. I unloaded the mess of bags and suit and when I arrived home, my suit jacket was here lonely on its hanger but somehow the suit trousers had ostensibly slipped off the smooth metal cross bridge of the hanger during my transit since it was nowhere to be found….oh, oh……. the pain of that discovery. It was already near midnight, going back to look for the trousers I felt was a lost cause, and so my only recourse was calling the hotel and the parking structure to admit that I had lost my pants and to ask them for help. And so finally, this is how I lost my pants on the day that I lost my whip.

But the story ends with a happy note. The security officer who fielded my call at the Sheraton was initially sympathetic but had nothing to report from the lost and found…he agreed to take my name and email address. Then, at 5:00AM, an email came from the same security guard, William Boyer, that while on patrol, he found my pants in the lobby near the outside valet stand. Wow, what luck! And guess whom I’m asking to help me as I write this tale 35,000 feet in the air on my way across the world. Yes, once again, Marie is being asked to help her friend. God only knows if she is now reconsidering her status as my friend with this latest example of human incompetence.

Postscript. A few snippets to chew on. The Showcase was outstanding, the performances were excellent and very entertaining, and most everyone I talked to was very happy with the result. I had fun myself at a table of friends and had some quality dances with my dance partners Emi (a memorable tango) and Sandy (a really moving quickstep), some of the ladies at the table and a small selection of other women who happened to catch my eye (with a notable salsa that was mixed with alcohol for good measure). That was great fun as was the evening’s festivities.

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball on Television

2011-11-30T14:58:00.000-10:00

On the Friday session of Hawai'i Star Ball September 30th 'Olelo, the local television station, taped the evening event. The television broadcast of the event will be shown on 'Olelo, Channel Oahu 52 on the following dates and times:

December 20 Tuesday at 8:00am

December 23 Friday at 7:00pm

December 27 Tuesday at 1:00pm

December 30 Friday at 8:00am

Dream to Dance Studio information

2011-11-30T13:16:00.002-10:00

I have received the following information regarding the Dream to Dance Studio (owned by professional Debby Borges Barboza) which is situated in the Kakaako area.

Dear Dancers and Instructors,

There has been a lot in the news about re-development of the Kakaako area including the Auahi Business Center where the dance studio in located. In case you have been wondering the fate of Dream To Dance, I thought this might help.

Renovations have been done to accommodate Sprint's move to a nearby building since their original four-story bldg. will be renovated for apartment lofts. This is facing Ala Moana Blvd., the other side of the block from Dream To Dance.

Two other buildings will come down but not where I am located because it will be renovated.

I will know more sometime in summer or fall 2012 about the renovation schedule at which time I may be temporarily relocated by Kamehameha Schools to a nearby location.

Kamehameha Schools master plan for the community has wanted to include the established businesses to serve the upcoming new apartment residential structures. In other words, they like your dancing! and want us to remain a part of the "new Kakaako".

I will keep you informed.

Enjoy the Holiday Season!!!

Debby Barboza

Dream To Dance

LAST CALL for Hawaii's own BROADWAY Production

2011-11-27T16:56:00.001-10:00

LAST CALL for Hawaii's own BROADWAY Production to Kick Off the Holiday Season!
By Marie Laderta

"THE CALL of BROADWAY," by Divino Ritmo

Folks, we are on our way to sweep you off your feet, we hope. At least that is our goal, to entertain you in the grand ol' Broadway style...
Presented by Lucas & Yanna of Divino Ritmo Dance,
"Neon Lights," THE CALL OF BROADWAY, in addition to being a chance to showcase the students, is also a dance production aimed at entertaining and razzle-dazzling you!
The best adrenaline to kick off your holiday season!
Come encourage our students, see the results of their hard work, come dance with us on our floor at the Sheraton Waikiki and let us take you away to 42nd Street!!

Lucas & Yanna will top off the evening with their own professional show.

Lots of general dancing in between.

WHEN: Saturday, Dec 3rd

WHERE: the Sheraton Waikiki Ballrooms

TIME:
6pm doors open;
7pm sit down dinner;
8:00p Dance Show begins

Tickets: $95 front row/ $85 all other rows (limited tickets left)

For more info contact:
Lucas Jaime, (917)568-3173; divinoritmo@aol.com
Yanna Samkova, (732)499-0407;
Yannajs@gmail.com

Also as busy as they are preparing for the BIG BROADWAY show, LUCAS and YANNA will be having their last Tuesday of the Month Social Dance at the CUPOLA this Tuesday, November 29th at the Honolulu Design center, 2nd Floor. Admission is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC!
Come party with us 7-10p!

GET DOWN with Lucas Jaime at USA Dance's Hustle Workshop

2011-11-13T18:33:00.001-10:00

By: Marie Laderta

Glenn Okazaki hit the nail on the head when he described the hustle as "this ever popular retro-dance of the 70's". He sure is right about that!

Hustle's evolution is amazing when you consider that in such a short span of dance history, from the 70's to today, it has moved as a dance form from a disco/social in the 70's to being a part of the American rhythm style in many of today's ballroom competitions including the Hawaii Star Ball!

During its infancy in the 70's, even though the hustle was taught in many forms (4- count hustle, the old Latin Hustle or Rope Hustle), the most entertaining style was done by club dancers and competitors in New York who performed the 3-count hustle (& 1-2-3). Later, other dance styles such as American Smooth (traveling movements & pivots), and other Rhythm dances were incorporated.

In fact, whenever I have a chance, I always compete in ballroom hustle in both Pro-Am with Lucas and amateur couple with my husband Paul. It is a refreshing break for us in the competition because it allows for a bit more freedom of movement & variation than the more disciplined syllabus figures in Latin. Not to mention that I get to learn and dance the hustle with my teacher, a former Hustle Champion, who grew up with this genre of dancing in New York with the likes of "Hustle-great" Billy Fajardo.

So come on down to the Ala Wai Palladium on Saturday, November 19th and watch Lucas "get down" with the Hustle at the USA Dance workshop.

WHERE: The Ala Wai Golf Course Palladium

TIME: 12:30p Registration - 1:00p Workshop

COST: $10 for USA Dance Members - $20 for Non-members

For more information, call Glenn Okazaki at 428-1704

News Flash from Marie Laderta

2011-10-31T10:23:00.001-10:00

Find out about the moving journey of one woman after she lost her husband, the love of her life, during a time when faith in humanity and country were severely shaken by 9/11, when her career was at an all-time low, about how this ONE simple woman, someone I got to know and admire, my friend Patrice Tanaka, took the high road and rebuilt her faith and career through the throes of ballroom dancing.....

TUNE in TONIGHT (Oct 31) at 10:00pm on KITV to watch her exclusive interview.

Clips of her ballroom competition last month with professional Rhythm Champion Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine at the Hawaii Star Ball can be found on KITV's website. Check it out and don't forget to tune in tonight:

http://www.kitv.com/slideshow/news/29632659/detail.html

Note: - Patrice Tanaka's book "On Becoming Ginger Rogers" can be purchased at "Dancewear Hawaii" (Cammy Divers - Owner)
1513 Young Street #204, Honolulu, HI 96826. Tel (808) 943-2623

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball - Top Awards

2011-10-26T18:42:00.002-10:00

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball
Top International Latin Student
Allison Alan with teacher David Alvarez
from Santa Barbara Dance Studio
Santa Barbara, California

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top Solo Student

Cole Horibe with teacher Yanna Samkova

from Divino Ritmo Dance

Honolulu, Hawai'i

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top American Smooth Student

Bruce Jarosz with teacher Tammy DeThomas

from American Dance Exchange

Highland Heights, Ohio

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top American Rhythm Student

Marie Laderta with teacher Lucas Jaime

from Divino Ritmo Dance

Honolulu, Hawai'i

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top International Ballroom Student

Virginia Ransom with teacher Mick Milligan

from Scottsdale Dancesport

Scottsdale, Arizona

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top Student/Student Couple

Paul & Marie Laderta

with teachers Yanna Samkova & Lucas Jaime

from Divino Ritmo Dance

Honolulu, Hawai'i

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

Top Amateur Couple
Calvin & Debra Otafrom Albert Franz Dance Studio
Honolulu, Hawai'i

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball - Top Teachers

Lucas Jaime (Hawai'i) 1st

Antonio Nunex (Ohio) 2nd

Yanna Samkova (Hawai'i) 3rd

Brian Akioka (Florida) 4th

Mick Milligan (Arizona) 5th

Paul Botes (Minnesota) 6th

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball Stop Studios

2011-10-26T18:32:00.000-10:00

Top Studios for 2011

From left to right - Presenters Geoffrey Fells, Shari Berinobis, 1st place Divino Ritmo Dance, Yanna Samkova & Lucas Jaime, 2nd place American Dance Exchange, Antonio Nunez, Ohio. 3rd place Aki's Dance Studio, Bruce Akioka, Florida.

Hawai'i Star Ball Winnners

2011-10-26T16:58:00.001-10:00

Emmanuel Pierre-Annoine and Liana Churilova from New York NY who were the Open Professional winners at the 2010 Hawai'i Star Ball held at Hilton Hawaiian Village September 28th. These pictures were taken by an avid dancer Mr. Michael Choy at the Ala Moana Center Stage in a special presentation on Friday September 30th.

Trick or Treat at the CUPOLA

2011-10-22T12:43:00.000-10:00

Enjoy a ghoulishly good time at Divino Ritmo's Halloween Dance at the CUPOLA this Tuesday, October 25th, from 7-10pm.
CUPOLA is located on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center, corner of Kapiolani & Pensacola, at 1250 Kapiolani Blvd.
Dance the night away to live music by Jesse Gonzales & DJ Lucas Jaime!
Food and beverage are available for purchase.
Fab news, Tuesday wine special is back! 50% OFF ALL wine bottles are available for purchase.
ADMISSION is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC!
Costumes are encouraged but not required.
We dare you to dress like somebody you are not!!! Surprise us and enter our costume contest! We have cash prizes for best costumes -scariest, funniest and most original!! Free trick or treat bags for the first 30 people!
So get your dancing shoes and come on down to our Halloween Dance and see if you can spot Uncle Wes in his Zombie Zoot suit, or Lucas & Yanna among the ghouls and goblins......

For more information, contact:
Lucas Jaime,
(917) 568-3173
divinoritmo@aol.com
Yanna Samkova

(732) 499-0407

Yannajs@gmail.com

2011-10-10T15:15:00.002-10:00

Island Flavors and Special Features at HAWAI'I STAR BALL

2011-09-25T09:12:00.000-10:00

By: Marie Laderta

IN ADDITION to the usual parade of local talent, to celebrate its 20th
year, Geoffrey Fells spices it up with home-grown flavors!

Hawaii Star Ball this year features "local-girl-made-good" Patrice
Tanaka; the Gonzales Band; and local dance wear retailer Cammy Divers.

PATRICE TANAKA:
Ballroom dancer Patrice Tanaka, born and raised in our backyard, recently
featured in Midweek, tells her story in her new book, "Becoming Ginger
Rogers...How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner and
Smarter CEO."

Her book was recently published by BenBella books and is available now in
bookstores. It tells the tale of a Japanese-American born and raised in
Hawaii who fulfilled her dream of "making it" in the dog-eat-dog,"
"scratch-your-eyes-out" world of public relations in New York. Patrice's
book has been described as providing a "voyeuristic glimpse into the world
of competitive ballroom dancing," as well as a business book about lessons
learned from ballroom dancing that have made one woman a better CEO.

Patrice will be here in Honolulu this coming week, not only to promote her
new book, but to compete in the Hawaii Star Ball with her Professional
teacher & top-ranking American Rhythm dancer Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine.

I've recently read the book, which I found to be inspiring, touching and
definitely easy-reading. I've recommended it to many of my friends and book
afficionados in and out of the ballroom world, who agreed that Patrice's
story is uplifting.

Her book will be available for sale at the Hawaii Star Ball, and when she
is not dancing with Emmanuel, you may be able to catch her for an
autographed copy!

Patrice has lined up a number of promotional events for her book including
a book signing at Kahala's Barnes & Noble on Saturday, October 1, at 1pm.

For more information check out her website:
www.BecomingGingerRogers.com

GONZLES BAND:
Our local social dance band, an icon at the Hale Koa's Warrior Lounge for
many many years, makes its debut on the stage of the Hawaii Star Ball on
Friday evening, September 30th. Joining in the many festivities for the
Star Ball's final & glitziest evening, Jesse Gonzales, wife Buffy, son
Jesse Jr., accompanied by Bobby, will be playing their favorite tunes
during the general dancing segments of the evening.

CAMMY DIVERS of Dancewear Hawaii:
Shoes, shoes and more dance shoes for your picking will be featured on the
vending tables of Cammy Divers' Dancewear Hawaii.

Cammy Divers, a dancer herself, the mother of 3 little girls who dance
ballet and recently ballroom, is also an industrious entrepreneur who runs
and manages Dancewear Hawaii, a newly opened store located at 1513 Young
Street, Suite 204.

Also a first timer at the Hawaii Star Ball vending scene, Cammy has brought
in a good variety of dance shoes for men and women, for competitive and
social dancing. Some more familiar name brands include "RAY ROSE,"
"SUPADance," and "Very Fine dancesport shoes."

Come meet Cammy and check out her shoes! She will be at the Hawaii Star
Ball Tapa Tower for all 3 days of the event.

USADance Honolulu Workshops

2011-09-23T11:28:00.001-10:00

A SOLDIER COMES HOME.......

2011-09-05T15:22:00.002-10:00

A SOLDIER COMES HOME...to a flash mob waltz, danced to the tune of the Blue Danube played by a String Quartet

By: Marie Laderta

The Vision: Producers of Lifetime Television had a vision for a reality show. An unusual, even spectacular, but touching story of a husband's welcome for his wife, a soldier, a Major in the US military, coming home from her 2nd tour of Afghanistan.

The troops from Afghanistan will arrive at Honolulu airport on a military plane. Major Elizabeth Casely, after her more than 24 hour flight home, will step off the tarmac, escorted past the USO office, up the escalator and voila....into the arms of husband Chris Casely, fully clothed in his formal tail suit, pacing and anxiously awaiting the arrival of a wife he hadn't seen in months, a wife whose safety he had worried about, a wife he had longed and pined for, a wife whose duties to her country

commanded personal sacrifices of life and death, and separation from home.... There on the top of the escalator stood a jittery husband relieved that his wife is "coming home..."

There was the sweet reunion, the kissing, and the embracing, the sighs of relief and finally the husband says to his soldier wife, "May I have this dance?" This was our cue to begin dancing our waltz to the tune of the Blue Danube played by a string quartet. Husband whips wife into his arms, he in tails and she in army greens, and swept her into the world of a grand ballroom in Vienna, except this was the Honolulu airport! This was the flash mob waltz that we were a part of, a routine we had been taught and rehearsed just for this moment!! Finally it came and we were all exuberant in our dancing!!! It was like riding a merry-go-round and not wanting to get off the ride!

The show will be called "Coming Home," scheduled for airing in December 2011 by Lifetime television channel. Tune in!

The Preparation, Rehearsing and Filming of Coming Home:

Out of the clear blue, about 2 months ago, an email from a good friend, and a call from the soldier's husband, Chris Casley asking if Paul and I would be interested in being a part of
"Coming Home." Wow, I thought what a really cool thing! I don't know why but I suddenly had visions of being Marilyn Monroe, welcoming home our troops! A silly thought but I did have a wave of this vision...except I played Marilyn Monroe! Yes, what a fanciful thought! It tickled me thinking of it, and made me very excited about the whole thing. I thought what a life experience this would be, and how fun and how it would allow me to dance, dance and dance, something I totally LOVE to do! And what a privilege, to pay small homage to our soldiers who give their lives for us so that we can live so comfortably, so that we can dance.

I found out a little later that similar calls were made to our dance instructors Lucas Jaime & Yanna Samkova, to Geoffrey Fells, to some Arthur Murray folks, as well as others from HBDA and Honolulu's Salsa circuit. It was such a nice variety of dancers recruited from different "walks" of dance!
One thing though, we were all sworn to secrecy, not allowed to talk about it, didn't even know who all the other dancers were until the rehearsals began a few days before the flight arrived.

Without giving out the rest of the story and all the details which I will leave for you to tune into in December when the show airs, I would however like to share some photos taken by good friend and patron of Hawaii's dance community, Mary Beth Van Hoogstraten who played the part of a grandma traveler in her polka dot dress and laden with teddy bears.

The filming by Lifetime Television's crew flown in from L.A. was at Honolulu airport last Wednesday, on August 31st.

(Photos taken by Mary Beth Van Hoogstraten)

Valentin Chmerkovskiy

2011-08-23T10:21:00.001-10:00

The notice below is from Valentin Chmerkovskiy (younger brother of Maksim Chmerkovskiy of "Dancing With The Stars"). Valentin and his partner are the current US Amateur Latin Champions. He was also one of the first couples from the United States to win a Championship title at the famous British "Open to the World" Championships in Blackpool, UK.

To all I care about,
I’m writing this letter to let you know that I have decided to end my competitive dance career. It truly has been an amazing journey for me. I have been so very blessed with the incredible partners that I had the pleasure of growing and competing with. To them I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Endless gratitude to the coaches that have given me so much, I am forever in debt. The knowledge that was shared with me, throughout the years, is worth more than any trophy I have ever won. The experience I gained from the countless hours of practice and performances, the character I built from the disappointments and failure, alongside with the love I gained for movement, music, and self-expression is something that has shaped me into the man I am today.
I was a 7 year old child when I was dragged against my will into a world of high heels, tight pants, and shiny shirts. I was a 12 year old boy when I went to my first oversees competition (German Open), and was one of only 2 US couples there (my brother being the second). I was a 15 year old adolescent when I won my first IDSF World Championship, and became the first and last American to ever do it… I was a 19 year old “young man” when I had the privilege of lifting the Blackpool trophy, which was an honor I only dreamed about. But as a 23 year old man I was told I couldn’t compete at the Dutch Open. Then as a 24 year old man I was told that I couldn’t compete against some of the best dancers in the world, because of reasons I had no power of influencing. The world I believed in, loved, and was willing to give up my last penny for was changing… and changing for the worse.
I was a 25 year old man when I realized I was powerless. I held on to my love for dance to steer me through the lack of motivation, my disbelief in everything that was happening, and the sheer loneliness. I am so lucky that I got to witness the “Golden Years” of the 90s early 00’s, when dancers danced. When you had brilliant innovators performing for themselves, for the audience, and most importantly to influence and motivate the younger generation. The incentives were clear, and dancers gave up EVERYTHING to reach them. Well things aren’t so clear any more.
I don’t know everything, if anything at all. But what I do know is there are young dancers out there that are confused, betrayed, and ultimately discouraged by these changes. I hope that things will resolve themselves, but as of right now the changes have divided competitors, separated friends, alienated coaches, and sanctioned competitions. However the biggest casualty of it all is INSPIRATION. Inspiration comes from our surroundings. Every dancer in the world knows the huge challenges that come with pursuing the career of ballroom dancing. Why make it even more difficult? When we are surrounded by regulations that tell us what WE CANNOT DO instead of all the things WE CAN, that is when individuals lose inspiration. I unfortunately lost mine.
I am who I am because of dance, music, and self-expression. I will continue on my journey of self-enlightenment through dance, music and self-expression, but it will be through different avenues. I will forever champion the principles I acquired through the world of Ballroom Dancing. I will forever be grateful for the memories I was so fortunate to have. I walk away from competition a humbled man, a grateful man, but most importantly an inspired man. I am inspired to reach new heights and pinnacles in my future endeavors; however, I will never forget the world that raised me, and shaped me into the man I am today.
With the utmost sincerity, Valentin Chmerkovskiy

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball Sept 27 - 30

2011-08-12T19:18:00.002-10:00

In addition to the usual Pro/Am 5-dance Rhythm dances Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, and Mambo the Hawai'i Star Ball has including American Style Nightclub dances in the Pro/Am and Student/Student division at Newcomer through Advanced levels - Samba, Merengue, West Coast Swing, Hustle, Salsa, and Night Club 2-Step. (Please see below for information on a Night Club 2-Step workshop being presented by USADance, Honolulu Chapter at the Ala Wai Golf Course Clubhouse on Saturday August 20)
For more Hawai'i Star Ball information, prices, rules, entry forms, booking forms etc. please check our website www.hawaiistarball.com.
Local dancers and attendees should contact me directly for information Tel 955 3134, or email gmfells@msn.com
Mahalo
Geoffrey Fells.

"DANCING TO THE MUSIC" with LUCAS JAIME at USA Dance's Night Club 2 Step Workshop on August 20, 2011

2011-08-12T19:00:00.000-10:00

You'll be surprised how many places you can do this dance at. Night Club 2-Step or just Two-Step for short, is a beautiful partner dance that involves triple rhythms and is danced to the most emotionally inspiring slow songs making it the perfect dance for romance, weddings, and socials. Often thought of as a "simple" dance, it is more than that when danced at higher levels. It also provides a good foundation for technique for other dances, even faster songs when the technique is applied properly.

At the most basic level, the Night Club 2-Step is a quick to learn dance. "At the advanced level it is an incredibly stylistic and flowing dance that requires a much higher skill level and partnering connection. At the very top level, it can be an amazingly graceful and technically powerful dance that incorporates techniques from other dance forms such as Tango and other dances leading to presentation moves and syncopated rhythms." (Quoted from Bruce Gombrelli on Night Club 2-Step.)

To conduct this workshop, USA Dance features Divino Ritmo Dance's Lucas Jaime, professional dancer, instructor and choreographer, renowned for his rhythm and show dances, and former salsa/hustle champion. Originally from New York, Lucas has made his home in Hawaii teaching International and American style competitive and social dancing for the past 3 years.

Come join Lucas at USA Dance's workshop for 1 1/2 hours of fun, technique, styling and musicality:

Date: Saturday, August 20th, 2011
Place: The Ala Wai Golf Course Palladium
Time: 12:30p Registration
1:00p Workshop

Cost: $10 for USA Dance Members
$20 for Non-members

For more information, call Glenn Okazaki of USA Dance at: 428-1704

NDCA suspends USADance membership

2011-07-22T16:14:00.000-10:00

July 10, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The following statement has been released by the National Dance Council of America, Inc.
During a meeting of the full Board of Governors of the National Dance Council of America, Inc. (NDCA), the membership of USA Dance, the constitutionally ‘recognized amateur body’, was suspended. This action was taken after a unanimous ‘vote to suspend’ was given by the Member organizations. (USA Dance abstained in this vote; parliamentary procedure records abstentions as a no-vote thereby making the vote unanimous.)
Unfortunately the climate in the dance world is not now the same as it was 18 months ago based on requirements by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF), formerly International Dance Sport Federation (IDSF), requiring their affiliate national bodies to institute a full professional division. The status of USA Dance as a member of the NDCA has been called into question by their plans to hold a congress to certify professionals for WDSF.
Such action by one of its members is in direct conflict with the constitution of the NDCA, thereby leaving no recourse but to proceed in the direction taken by the Board of Governors.
NDCA is aware of the rhetoric and speculation being posted on multiple blogs and web sites, and has released this statement to provide an accurate account of the situation.

Dancing for Health & Wellness

2011-07-20T16:53:00.000-10:00

Dancing for Health & Wellness at Divino Ritmo's D-DAY at the CUPOLA!

Divino Ritmo jumps on this month's National Dance Day band wagon at its CUPOLA social dance next WEDNESDAY, July 27th, 7-10pm.

Cupola is on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center, corner of Piikoi & Kapiolani, at 1250 Kapiolani Blvd.

As always, admission is FREE with ono grinds and drink available for purchase throughout the evening!

"So You Think You Can Dance" Executive Producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe has declared July 31 to be National Dance Day.

The idea of National Dance Day is to bring about public awareness and attention to dancing as a medium to promote better health and wellness nationwide! The National Dance Day initiative focuses on encouraging the nation, young and old, individuals, families, organizations and communities to come together through the creative expression in dance and body movement!

But don't be confused. While the official day declared is July 31, Lucas & Yanna are celebrating National Dance Day on WEDNESDAY, July 27th, and NOT on their usual Tuesday. It will be back on Tuesdays again in August. Just for this month, their social dance will be on Wednesday.

Nigel Lythgoe has said that the goal is to "prove that the Power of Dance can MOVE an entire country!
So we urge you to get off your okoles and put on those dancing shoes and hele on down to the Cupola next Wednesday to shake them booties.....

WARNING:......this dance may be addictive and may contribute to a contagious Joy in your health and well-being!

So, are you inspired to dance for this day? It's hard to deny dancing is fun and one of the best forms of exercise! Come and be infected by the joy & wellness of dance at the Cupola next week and have a good work-out at the same time!

For more information, contact:
Lucas: divinoritmo@aol.com, ph: (917) 568-3173;
Yanna: Yannajs@gmail.com, ph: (732) 499-0407

BANTAY BATA's "Burn the Floor" at the Pacific Beach!

2011-07-14T19:11:00.000-10:00

On Friday, August 5th, 2011, the Gonzales Band known to us all as Jesse, Buffy & Jesse, Jr., together with their committee members, Eric Barsatan, Paz & Raffy, Dolores, with friends Paul & Marie Laderta, will be hosting this year's "Burn the Floor" to raise money for the children of the Philippines.

This year's Bantay Bata fundraiser will be held again at the Pacific Beach Hotel. Doors will open at 6:00pm. Tickets are $55 each including dinner and show, and can be purchased from the Gonzales at phone numbers: 926-4414 or 284-2395, or from Marie Laderta at: 222-3721.

Bantay Bata means "child watch" in the Filipino language, and this non-profit organization's international flagship program is dedicated to fundraising to benefit the children who suffer from malnutrition and child abuse. The Bantay Bata is largely a child abuse rescue operation that responds to an average of 15,300 calls for assistance per year. The program assists more than 21,000 children and families in relocation communities and feeds at least 4,400 severely malnourished children. Last year, thanks to many of your generous support, Bantay Bata Hawaii raised $5,000. Our goal this year is to exceed that.

When people like YOU in our dance community take what they love to do, ie. dancing, and choose to do it for a good cause, it makes the act of giving more meaningful. It is our hope that your participation and support of this fundraiser will bring more awareness to the plight of these needy children.

Please join us on August 5th for Bantay Bata's "Burn the Floor!"

"DanceSport" in the Olympics??

2011-07-07T21:04:00.000-10:00

1:19am Jul 7

This is just something that was posted by Graham Oswick:-

Dancesport was not included on the shortlist for the 2020 Olympic games:
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made an official announcement of the eight sports shortlisted for a possible inclusion into the Olympic sports programme for the Games in 2020.
At its meeting ahead of the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, RSA, the board followed the suggestions of the Programme Commission and shortlisted again the five sports - baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, squash - that were considered already in the review of the programme for the Games in 2016. Golf and rugby events succeeded with their campaign then. Sport climbing, wakeboard and wushu are the newcomers on the list.
As the programme will be limited to a maximum of 28 sports in 2020, and as golf and rugby are slated for their second appearance after 2016, only one of the eight shortlisted sports can actually be added to the Games. Which one it will be is voted on by the 125th IOC Session in 2013.

Divino Ritmo Celebrates SUMMER IN PARADISE!

2011-06-24T21:35:00.000-10:00

We BLINKED, and suddenly it's summer - from Memorial Day celebration to summer fun at the Cupola!

Coming up next Tuesday, June 28th, 7-10pm is once again Divino Ritmo's social dance, AND celebration of SUMMER IN PARADISE at the Cupola! Cupola is on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center, corner of Piikoi & Kapiolani, at 1250 Kapiolani Blvd.

Admission is FREE and it's open to the public, with pupus and drinks available for purchase all evening!

Where did the time go? It seems like just last week we were packing up our Spring and Mardi Gras decorations. Now suddenly it's Summer in Paradise! Ah summer, what does summer in Hawaii hold for us? We cannot believe how fast this year went by. It was so much fun dancing, learning new steps, meeting new friends, attending showcases, & for some, competing and strutting their stuff, whatever it was, we had a blast every single day.

Lucas once said, his vision is to have lights strung across the beach, with people in their sundresses and dancing barefoot. He wanted a place where he & Yanna, his students, & the whole community could come out and dance under the stars. Thus began the tradition of last Tuesday dancing at the Cupola!

All we want to do is invite our students & friends to dance with us. "We want our social dance to be a place people like coming to, and we love them, and we try to provide music people would continuously dance to, from the first song to the last, and where we have the hardest time getting them to leave..." - this is Lucas' & Yanna's "summer dream," and they invite you to come and make their dream come true at Cupola's Summer dance next Tuesday!

For more information, contact:

Lucas: divinoritmo@aol.com, ph: (917) 568-3173;

Yanna: Yannajs@gmail.com, ph: (732) 499-0407

Divino Ritmo Dance Showcase on Olelo TV

2011-06-22T23:58:00.001-10:00

Recently the Divino Ritmo Dance Studio ran a Showcase and Dinner/Dance at the Sheraton Waikiki. This event was taped by local TV Station O'lelo on Channels 52 and 49.
Here are the showing dates:

June 23 Thursday 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm on Focus Channel 49
June 24 Friday 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm on Oahu Channel 52
June 25 Saturday 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm on Oahu Channel 52

2011 Blackpool Dance Festival as seen by a first time attendee!

2011-06-21T17:05:00.000-10:00

Blackpool Dance Festival 2011

David Easa

The greatest and most famous ballroom dance competition in the world is held yearly in an unlikely town called Blackpool, England at the end of May to early June. That’s where the best of the best on earth come to compete in order fulfill their dreams to become living legends the instant they are branded a Blackpool champion. They can wear this designation on their shoulders for life and gain the respect of the masses of dancers and non dancers alike. As important, it becomes a marketing tool that opens a flood of opportunities that continue to pour in throughout life.

Having been to a number of national and international competitions, I can say emphatically that this is truly the best quality dancing I have ever seen in my life. Day after day……the week long Blackpool Dance Festival had the most splendid display of International Standard and Latin dancing. From young to not so old (senior’s are considered over 35!!!), the level of dancing was spectacular!

And a trove of elegant and beautiful dancers; men and women who look so perfect and prepared (even the men wore makeup) begs the question of how - when as many as 12 or more couples hit the dance floor to compete in any one heat - that they can be judged fairly over the minute and a half period of observation when each judge has to score every competitor. Even if I had the skills to judge, my eyes would fall victim to severe exhaustion by the nystagmoid movements of my eyes bouncing back and forth across the competition floor trying to attempt to do so.

The Venue: We are told that Blackpool is a seaside resort of historical significance to England, although it is hard to believe this by being here. A rich history including a role in the aerospace industry (in the 40’s), but mostly as a destination that the Brits seek for relaxation and to enjoy the seaside beaches and amusement parks. There are lots of shops selling nothing worth buying but amusing to spend time widow shopping in, small restaurants kind to the American digestive tract except perhaps for the fish and chips, and loads of bars and entertainment centers. Signs are displayed all over the streets selling fish & chips and a pint….of course its understood that a pint is a pint of beer just as its understood a quid is a British pound……no not squid, quid.

Not to burden you too much with boring history, I’ll just mention three places of interest. First the dance festival is held in a well maintained building complex (unique considering how poorly Blackpool is maintained in general) called the Winter Gardens, which houses a ballroom, enough room for the international amalgamation of vendors selling every conceivable ballroom dance item to both amateurs and professionals alike, and shops and restaurants well suited for the event. The ballroom is beautiful and old and colorful, ornate but not gaudy, rising three levels into the sky for spectators to enjoy albeit lacking any capacity to control the ambient temperature (yes, it got uncomfortably hot especially when the ballroom was filled to capacity).

We stayed at The Imperial Hotel which had it origins in a syndicate, the Blackpool Land & Building Company formed in 1863 which would make this hotel just under 150 years young. Called the jewel in the crown of Blackpool hotels, it sits overlooking the seashore only 10 minutes away from the down town area. Pictures do not tell the full story of this hotel which has been frequented by most of the British royalty and even Charles Dickens. Included in the list of VIP’s must also include our Divino Ritmo dance group from the US….ha ha…. Well, the Imperial Hotel has continued to ride the tide of a reputation long gone as it has not kept up with it moral obligation to maintain such an elegant historical structure. Service is poor, the phones don’t work, and if they did, no one answers when you try to call the front desk, the rooms are small and musty and dark, the bed is too hard or too soft, and the toilets are disabled. That doesn’t mean that the toilets are modified for disabled guests; it means that they don’t work without some patience, repeated intense flushing motions and a bit of freaky luck. Oh well, at least it was quiet other than the daily fire drills. Fortunately, no one in Blackpool likes to work too early or too hard; the hotel housecleaners didn’t come by until midmorning to pretend to “clean the room”. They did however, by occasion come by to leave some fresh towels, but there was always something missing from their efforts; soap, clean coffee mugs, clearing the trash…..Indeed, it was one game I played every day trying to discover the surprise missing item of the day.

To be fair, the common elements of the hotel were reasonably well maintained; and they lit up even more with the grandeur of the past during the evening receptions and the inevitable aura created by the mingling lobby buzz of an assortment of international guests hovering within its wings; especially after consuming a few drinks. The ballroom was decent, and it was there we enjoyed an evening celebration dinner and reception for the Americans which was in-part sponsored by Divino Ritmo, and where Yanna introduced me to Victor Fung. The bar was warm and inviting like the English beer which was unfortunately kept at the same temperature. Also, I enjoyed the work out area and had a swim every day during my stay…..that was really a treat. Indeed, my favorite place was the gym and pool; both obviously modern additions to provide an alternate venue for guests who choose not to linger around the lobby and enjoy their morning and afternoon tea or find themselves outside gasping wildly for another puff of cigarette smut to impale into their lungs. A lot more smoking goes on here than I’m used to. The hotel is non smoking but that didn’t stop the guests from cheating, and there were regular fire alarms with a particularly noxious screeching siren that went off at the hotel to punish the non-smoking guests. At first, I thought this was a communal morning wake up call since they seemed to occur regularly - early in the day but it turns out smokers like to pollute our environment and their bodies at all times of the day. One alarm called for the fire department to respond and for the guests to vacate the hotel; this was indeed an amusing event which befuddled the hotel staff while mildly irritating the guests within reason.

The last building of note was the Blackpool Tower. This is a 518 foot tower built on a grand scale and open in 1894, inspired in its creation by the Eiffel Tower. This was considered a tremendous accomplishment considering the time it was built and the vastness of the challenge. On the second floor a magnificent ballroom is found which is now used for afternoon ballroom tea dances, which is frequented by locals and visitors alike. In fact, this ballroom had been used in the past as the venue for the Dance Festival until it was outgrown.

While the present Winter Gardens venue is elegant and colorful, the ballroom at the tower is truly magnificent, ornate, filled with colorful murals and a great place for social dancing. “In the 50’s, Freddie Platt and the Tower Band wooed appreciative audiences but in 1956, a fire gutted most of the ballroom. The renovation was costly and included 2000 square feet of hand painted murals across its 120 ft length. Later, the ballroom was more famous for Reginald Dixon’s organ music than anything else.”

We went to the Tower ballroom to dance and found that the present Wurlitzer organ player was playing at one level on stage a variety of Latin and Ballroom music. The surprise came when we expected the organ player to take his mandatory break which would result in a temporary cessation in music - which did not happen. Indeed, there was a continuous and uninterrupted flow of music made possible through the emergence of a second organ and organ player rising like a submarine from under another section of the stage floor - with both organs playing simultaneously for at least as long as it took the original organ to submerge and disappear from sight …..Wow, everyone on stage was playing their organs….! But I’m not sure that the organ player continued playing when he was no longer in sight. In fact, I assumed this maneuver allowed for a transparent rotation of organ players and some respite for the weary organ player previously performing on stage.

Back to the competition: This was indeed a large competition although smaller than the most years because of internal and external political infighting. Accordingly, other competitions were scheduled simultaneously in Russia and Italy and the resultant attendance at the Blackpool festival was down, noted by those attending and mourned by the amazing number and assortment of vendors who paid vast sums of money for the privilege of displaying their expensive clothes anticipating quick sales and huge profits which did not materialize. Rentals costing 100,000 pounds were not uncommon, but vendors reluctantly resorted to discounting their fashion products by 20-50% rather than to lug them back home hundreds to thousands of miles away. I benefited from this discounting on the last day with 20% off all items that I purchased. Others did not hold back their purchases; I know one eager dancer who purchased 15 pairs of shoes (that she admitted to)!

On the competition dance floor, the Latin costumes were amazing: every animal in the world that is known and unknown was on display. Below is what came to mind (our collective minds) when glancing at some of the costumes; I have chosen to omit any offensive references out of deference to those dancers who did not intend to prompt such vulgar visual interpretations.

Skunk

Christmas tree

Mardi Gras

Chiquita banana

Cucaracha girl

Kimono

Alien

Canary

Dust mop

After dinner mint

Queen Nefertiti

Indian Princes

Gypsy

Bumble Bee

Recession look (only enough material to cover half the body)

Assaulted look (bra and panties held together with a few rags and tatters of dangling fabric)

The individual competitions were large including more than 300 hundred for the professional Latin and more than 250 for the professional Ballroom. It wasn’t unusual to have heats numbering in the teens to cut through the dense forest of entries and to filter out those there to attain bragging rights for their participation in the Blackpool Festival competition from those who were serious contenders.

In the end, there were few surprises in the professional dancing results for both Latin and Ballroom. Perhaps a little more drama surfaced in the Latin competition where the world championship couple was fighting for bragging rights against the reigning Blackpool champion couple. While the Americans did not like the result, I felt that 1^st place went to the right couple – who were representing Poland. The differences between the performances were so small; both were magical to watch and I’m glad I wasn’t the one who had to decide on the final scoring.

The Ballroom competition results preserved the number 1-3 positions in the world in the same order as they started; American couples kept their 1^st and 3^rd place while the Italian couple stood their ground for 2^nd. Denoting the designation of American, of course is joke; the couples representing America are mostly from Eastern Europe who have relocated to the United States in the hopes of opportunity and prosperity. Few true Americans are competitive at this level. One exception is Victor Fung, who is an Asian American who is currently the 3^rd best dancer in the world. He is also an intelligent, friendly, and articulate young man.

There were surprises in the amateur Latin, at least for me, as my favorite couple who I adopted as a spectator came in first to my delight. The male member was very good and convincing; the female partner was excellent. Crisp movements, confident, balanced and musical, she would turn on her charm and that beautiful smile, enough to melt the heart of every male and some of the females in the audience, particularly yours truly. It didn’t hurt that she was blond and beautiful and tall and had a captivating smile that still mesmerizes me more than two weeks after seeing her perform in Blackpool. Coming back down to earth, I have to admit that when this same couple competed the next day in the professional competition, you could see the differences in the quality from the amateur to the professional competitors. Still they did very well reaching the semi final heats in 3 of the 5 dances! I’m sure they went home very happy.

In the end, there was a lot of mingling going on at the Festival and even I enjoyed talking to new and old friends. Yanna and Lucas caught up with old friends and dance competitors of the past and we blended in to the scenery without much fanfare except that our photographic talents did not go unnoticed.

In addition to the Divino Ritmo Dance studio representation, there were others attending from Hawaii; respecting their privacy, their names will go unmentioned. All except for Geoffrey Fells who was there for the umpteenth time (the first time corresponding to when I was 3 years old!) and enjoying every moment. A continuous flow of participants lined up to pay him homage as one of the dedicated senior ballroom dance scholars of our time (Geoffrey – did you like this?). Thank you Geoffrey for providing me with the insight and history of the competition, and thank you for feeding us the fish, chips and mushy peas that coated my stomach and protected it from the lard laden fish that I can still taste two weeks after the meal. Geoffrey also corrected my use of the term Standard – referring to International Ballroom….which does not exist in Europe. There is only Ballroom and Latin in Europe. Smooth and Rhythm are American concoctions, and so be it.

2011-05-18T20:58:00.001-10:00

This is a picture of the American representatives at the IDSF event held in Mallorca, Spain sent to me by Anne Ho.

From left to right:

Irina & Vince Feingold from NY, Glenn Okazaki & Anne Ho from HI, Ans & Hans Stork from SF, our friends that traveled with us from LA, Annie Chan & Takeshi Kawaratani.

Los Angeles and Spain

2011-05-13T14:32:00.000-10:00

Recently some of our local dancers took part in competitions in California and Spain. Both of these events are VERY different! Mr. David Easa kindly sent me his report on the Emerald Ball which he competed in with Yanna Samkova (also attending was Maria Handl with Lucas Jaime. Then Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho traveled to Mallorca, Spain to compete in an IDSF Championship event. Ms. Ho sent me her report on this event. I am sure you will find the differences very interesting when you read the two articles.
Geoffrey M. Fells

IDSF World Senior II Standard Champioships - Mallorca, Spain

2011-05-13T14:22:00.002-10:00

Aloha, Geoffrey,

Here is my report to share with everyone, our wonderful experience at the World Senior II Standard Championship on the island of Mallorca in Spain. Traveling with us from Honolulu was Tracy Okazaki and Neal Okamoto.

The competition was a 3 days event which included the IDSF Senior III Standard (77 couples) on Friday, the Senior II World Standard Championship (222 couples) which we danced on Saturday, regular IDSF Senior II Standard (129 couples), IDSF Senior I Standard (25 couples) on Sunday, plus the IDSF Senior I & Senior II Latin & Rising Star Latin and a little bit of the junior event. Because of the long travel time to get there, we arranged a stop over in LA for a couple of days for coaching, before continuing on our long journey. Finally after 24 hours of traveling from LA, we arrived in our hotel in Mallorca on Thursday afternoon, where many of the competitors also stayed. We were able to venture out to check out our surroundings and had an early dinner at the hotel before passing out early that night. After breakfast on Friday morning, we went to the competition venue for a short practice. The event is held in a sports arena that is about a 30 minute walk from our hotel. The dance floor used is also a basketball court. There are 5 changing rooms with 2 of them reserved for judges. On the day of the competition there were couples everywhere in the arena, reserving a territory for their changing and resting spot. The Europeans were not shy about it, often times down to their bvd's and panties while changing. The Americans were more modest while changing.

Due to the time difference, we all woke up around 2 am the morning of the competition. I started my hair and make-up at about 4am. We all had a quick breakfast around 6:30am, and off we were to the competition. We arrived at the venue by 8 am, and already there were people everywhere. The first round of competition started at 9 am with17 heats (222 couples) to start off the competition. After our first round, we had to wait till the last heat was completed before the list for the next round was posted. It took quite a while for the 17 heats to complete, and we soon found out we had made it to the next round, which started around 11am. 69 couples were eliminated from the first round. The second round had 12 heats (153 couples).

After the second round was completed in the afternoon, came the parade of flags of each country represented. All couples (dancesport athletes) marched behind their country’s flag and parade around the arena. We were really amazed that there were over 80 German couples and many, many Italians in the competition.There were only 4 couples from the USA including ourselves.

We again made it through the elimination to dance the third round which started at 4:30 in the afternoon. (55 couples were eliminated from the 2nd round). By the end of our third round, we were sweaty, sticky and hungry. We were happy to find out that we had made it to the 4th round which starts at 7:10pm (another 48 couples were eliminated from the 3rd round). While waiting for the start of the fourth round, everyone who is still in the competition were eating, resting and stretching. It was about 8:30pm when we finished dancing the 4th round. We did not make it to the fifth round (quarter finals). The competition was getting more intense by the rounds. There were 26 couples that danced the quarter final round, 13 couples made it to the semi-final, and a six couple final that ended around midnight.

This is a very high standard competition which is even more competitive than the one we participated in 2007 in Belgium. We can definitely see the difference in the quality of dancing between the two. Although we have finished in the quarter final at the 17th position the last time in 2007, we felt this competition was more challenging and the standard of dancing was truly impressive. We ended up placing 47th out of 222 couples in this competition, and we are very proud of ourselves for what we have accomplished.

A few thoughts I also want to share with everyone is that even though we have done many competitions, and the majority of them were in the US. We are so spoiled as competitors in the US, where almost all competitions are held in a beautiful hotel ballroom. Competitors can just stay in the hotel and go down to the ballroom to compete. We do not have that luxury when competing outside of the US. The main focus is on the dancing, the competitors take this very seriously. The European couples who came to this competition all have a little booklet (record of competing/qualifying) with their qualifying credentials. The organizer will not accept entries if they are not qualified to dance in this competition. Therefore, the standard of the competition is much higher, because the non-qualifiers are weeded out. It is a little different from Blackpool where the best and the worst can enter to dance at the same time. Going to competitions like this is a great learning experience for any serious competitor. We have learned and benefited from this wonderful experience. There is no doubt, we are looking forward to doing more IDSF comps in the future.

We came home on Sunday night after two weeks on the road. Of course other than the competition, we did a week of holoholo in Spain, with lots of good food and wine in our tummy, it is definitely time for us to go back to serious practice again to get rid of the excess weight that we have put on!!

Anne Ho

EMERALD BALL 2011

2011-05-13T14:08:00.000-10:00

By: David Easa, M.D.

The Emerald Ball was not what I expected. Thinking this was just another competition that I would gain experience from, I didn’t exert any extra concern until I looked up my heat schedule. Wow, there were tons of entrants; much more than I had experienced in my other comps. In fact, thankfully, as I later realized much later that this comp was one of the 3 largest comps of the year, and serious minded competitors participate in this on their way to the national championship in Orlando, Florida. Thankfully - because I would have felt even more pressure and stress knowing how big and important the Emerald Ball is. Indeed, I was competing against many of the best competitors in my age group, but I didn’t realize this until it was almost over!

The venue was the LA Airport Hilton, not a bad hotel, located on an uninspired avenue on hotel row just a stone’s through from the airport. That's OK because folks come to compete, not to vacation or sightsee. The lobby was clean, modern, but cold, a few places to sit making you feel like you are in a fishbowl, and the choppy footprint suggesting that it was modified a number of times without much planning or thought. Now, dance comps are expensive enough; it was really irritating that small bottles of water were being sold for $6 at the hotel sundry shop– reminding me of the coke I bought a few years ago in Copenhagen for the same amount – our poor dollar is quickly losing value and respect! The bottle water cost pissed me off enough to send me walking three long blocks from the hotel to a gas station with a kiosk that had bottled water on sale…2 liters/ $2.50 - it was my best find of the week in California.

We arrived on Wednesday. Thursday was Latin, Friday Standard, Saturday Rhythm, and Sunday Smooth. I danced the last 3 days of the competition since I do not dance international style Latin…something I hope to add to my repertoire some day. So Thursday was a relax day preparing me for what was to come….58 separate events....spanning each day culminating on Sunday where I was to dance from 7:20AM to about 6PM! It was hard keeping up ones focus with such a schedule, but other competitors did it without much thought and so I had to suck it up. Nevertheless, the schedule was difficult enough to make me miss a good part of the night time competition - wanting to collect some sleep in order to prepare for the mental and physical challenge, but I managed to hang in there to near midnight on Saturday night as well as the full evening’s events on Sunday night.

The professional competition was amazing and I had a chance to witness the amazing skills of Victor Fung who, with his beautiful dance partner, dazzled the spectators with amazing skills far beyond other mortals giving the impression that the other competitors on the dance floor were planted there for show, just to highlight the extent of their superior skills.

The professional dancers were perfect physical specimens. The men were beyond fit, wearing makeup and with hair perfectly cropped and groomed (lucky them); the women were so beautiful and plentiful that I am beyond feeling amazed. Blond beyond blond, exquisite brunettes and other beauties with pitch black hair, perfect unblemished features, smiles and white teeth, perfect long frames, legs so powerful and perfectly shaped, etc…. But not all of them were conventional looking. One professional dancer stood out; I had encountered her before in several other comps. She was striking! Tall and thin, eastern European but tanned 4 shades too dark, her eyes were black from a generous application of shadow and her thick plastic lashes reached far from her face. She was beautiful in her own right, and a fabulous dancer but I suppose she wanted to stand out for the judges to take notice. I believe she succeeded in this goal.

Our group from Honolulu included me and another student, Maria H. Maria danced with Lucas, and I with Yanna. Now, I need to again emphasize the serious context of this competition. With between 11-12 thousand entries, and with the entrants coming from the top contender group, you were competing with the best in your age group and division. This was not just a local competition where amateurs were filling the slots to try their luck and test their dance skills and maybe even have some fun without having to travel across the planet to get there. This was the real thing.

Maria did fabulously, particularly in Latin and Rhythm and came in 3rd and 2nd in the senior multi-dance championships. She had a full schedule with day and night events and tolerated the grueling schedule extremely well. Maria deserved her success as she continues to improve over time! As for me, I was surprised by my level of success as well as my 58 dance events. I was particularly happy about my success in American and International waltz, and tango.

My dance instructor Yanna tells me a lot of things to help my dancing, very few get immediately assimilated. This is not for lack of trying, but I do not really GET it without some defining moment. She has recently been teaching me to be in the moment and not look in the distance as if I was contemplating the meaning of the universe or looking for some cosmic message. I did indeed experienced moments when I felt "in the moment" when dancing American style waltz and foxtrot and it felt wonderful and natural and my body was able to respond more fluidly and naturally. Fortunately the judges rewarded such expression but unfortunately, I was unable to extend these fleeting moments into a more consistent display. Still, it’s a start.

The other aspect I have to work on is how to react when colliding or near colliding with other competitors during the dance heat. When I first started competing, I was petrified of navigating the dance floor and the possibility of colliding with other couples and my dancing reflected my fear. Now, I am in total denial…I do not see anyone else on the dance floor but myself until I crash into someone in midstream. Unfortunately I have not learned the skill of maintaining my composure in these situations. I tend to lose my frame, forget my steps, look frightened and lose my concentration….this is horrible! Sometimes I can recover but often I transform instantly from an increasingly confident contender to a deflated blank shell. It is as if someone instantly drained all of the blood from my body and I no longer existed. More challenges ahead for this want-to-be dancer……! Hopefully, I can conquer this demon.

Finally, stay tuned for comments from my upcoming trip to Blackpool, Prague, and New York. Yes, I will be going to the World Championship Ballroom comp this year in England.....of course, just as a spectator......

2011 Hawai'i Star Ball

2011-04-24T20:19:00.000-10:00

Aloha
Arrangements for the 20th Anniversary of the Hawai'i Star Ball are well underway. Check out our website at www.hawaiistarball.com
At the 1st Hawai'i Star Ball, which was held at the original Hawaiian Regent Hotel, we had the Canadian Professional Champions Pierre Allaire and Mireille Veilleux do the Show for us. This year they will be judging and the current Canadian Champions Andre and Natalie Paramonov will be doing their Latin and Showdance Routines. We are also going to feature Victor Fung and Anastasia Muravyeva from the USA who are the #3 couple in the world doing their Ballroom and Showdance routines. Local Hawaiian residents need to contact us directly for special local studio prices. Please email - gmfells@msn.com, or fax (808) 942-3852, or mobile phone (808) 371-8042.
Mahalo
Geoffrey Fells
Organizer

It is Cupola Time Again

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-10:00

SPRING FLING at the CUPOLA!

DIVINO RITMO welcomes Spring with its social dance at the CUPOLA, on Tuesday, April 26th, 7-10pm, on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center. (1250 Kapiolani Blvd, corner of Piikoi & Kapiolani.)

Admission is FREE and it's open to the public, with pupus and drinks available for purchase!

"I have a yearning for beauty, a yearning for Spring, and finally it's arrived. Sunshine, birdsong, cherry blossom in the park - it's beautiful and I want to soak it up! And I want to MOVE, DANCE somewhere beautiful ...." A dance prayer.

Spring is a time for celebration and many see it as a time of growth, of renewal, and of new life being born. It is a common metaphor for the start of better times and new beginnings.

In line with the meaning and spirit of Springtime, Lucas & Yanna invite you to join them in welcoming Spring in the Divino Ritmo style of aloha and hospitality...

Come dance or lounge to the notes of music floating through the Cupola, amidst butterflies, dragon flies, and exotic blooms strewn across the room...dance the night away, close your eyes and imagine all the possibilities....

For more info:
Lucas: divinoritmo@aol.com, ph: (917) 568-3173
Yanna: Yannajs@gmail.com, ph: (732) 499-0407

Mardi Gras at the CUPOLA

2011-03-26T15:48:00.000-10:00

Hey hey, Tuesday, March 29th, 7-10pm is Divino Ritmos's social dance and
celebration of Mardi Gras at the Cupola! Cupola is on the 2nd floor of the
Honolulu Design Center, corner of Piikoi & Kapiolani, at 1250 Kapiolani
Blvd.

Admission is FREE and it's open to the public, with pupus and drinks
available for purchase all evening!

The Mardi Gras has its origin from the French Catholic who celebrated with
great fanfare prior to the fasting season, typically with dancing, singing,
parades, costumes, and opulent masks. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat
Tuesday" referring to the practice of eating foods rich in fat in
prepartion for the religious obligation of fasting during Lent. It is
basically the "FEAST before the FAST."

So, come feast with Lucas & Yanna at the Cupola in true Divino Ritmo
style...

"Down at the Cupola
Where the blues will flow
It takes a cool cat
Like Lucas to show
How a mean mambo will go
Yanna's there with the mambo beat

The Mardi Gras, mambo, mambo, mambo
Party Gras, pambo, mambo, mambo
Mardi Gras, mambo-ooh
Down at Cupola

Cupola
Where the dancers all meet
There's a Mardi Gras mambo
With a beat
Join Divino Ritmo's gang
And truck on down Where the mambo's swing..."

(Sung to the tune of the "Mardi Gras Mambo," by the Hawketts,
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1fBDVNn1pU)

For more info, contact:
Lucas: divinoritmo@aol.com, ph: (917) 568-3173;
Yanna: Yannajs@gmail.com, ph: (732) 499-0407.

City Lights Dance Ball Competition - January 29-30, 2011

2011-02-07T12:26:00.000-10:00

Report by David Easa

I was not intending to write about this quickie dance competition held in San Jose, California at the Doubletree Hotel……..a water gun spray distance from the airport in the middle of a concrete jungle of nondescript office buildings and busy streets with fast moving cars shooting through intersections at breakneck speeds.

So much was packed into this two-day event that was aggravated by an unexpected but welcomed more than a 50% increase in entries that required me, in both days of the competition, to dance from morning into the night with no time to rest, no time to collect, and no time to release myself from the anxiety of preparation needed before the next act on stage of the competition floor. This was no burden to my dance teacher and pro-am dance partner, Yanna Samkova, but proved a difficult task for this senior citizen want-to-be ballroom dancer.   To make matters even more difficult, very little was provided in extras to soften the burden of the weekend competition but in the end, it was an enjoyable and productive time for me, and an experience well worth attending. Of note, the professional show was an amazing display of dance perfection featuring the number 1, 2 and 3 dance couples in the world. Such a exhibition of perfection and fluidity and musicality and elegance was not entirely lost to the exhausted eyes of yours truly, but I admit that my lids were so heavy with fatigue that even the best dancers in the world would have trouble keeping them from collapsing.

What I really want to focus on is the judging.   Let me give some background for those lacking knowledge of the process.   These competitions fall under the rules and regulations of the National Dance Council of America (NDCA) and is World Dancesport Series approved. Categories not only are divided into age groups but also in categories of the specific dance steps that are chosen.   It is not necessarily true but generally speaking, dance skills increase in competitions from bronze to silver to gold. Age categories span at least 10 years……in that regard, I fall into the B2 category which includes the ages from 61-70. In addition, most large competitions judge several categories of dance couples as separate events……male students with female dance instructors, female students with male instructors, and a spattering of amateur couples. This clearly makes sense; otherwise you would be comparing apples to oranges (as said eloquently by Geoffrey Fells). Overall it is harder for a male student leading a female instructor to compete against a male instructor leading a female student; when you do so successfully, you can feel proud!

The city lights competition was small enough that the organizer lumped the male and female students into the same competition heats….this was the first time for me as a competitor that I faced such a high level of competition. This I believe was done to avoid small and uncontested heats typical of a smallish competition, and to consolidate the number of heats and simplify the results and analysis.   I had an opportunity for the first time to compete against as many as 7 other couples, many of whom were female students dancing with male instructors. While I had no real expectation about how I would fare other than badly, I was overall happy with my results. But the main point of this conversation is not about me, but rather about some observations that I made, which may enlighten the readers to some level of heightened understanding of the process of ballroom competition judging.

What we do know for a fact is that each of the judges chosen for these events represents a nationally and or internationally recognized and accomplished dancer who has ended their competitive ballroom dancing career and has transitioned into a new world of teaching, coaching, and dance competition judging.   There are NO amateur judges; these folks are heavy weights and generally have had decades of professional ballroom dance experience under their belts to call upon.   In reviewing the results of my heat scores, I was struck by how much variation exists in scoring by each judge in any single heat – ranging from no variation to significant variation. In more than a few heats, I received a ranking score of 1 or 2 as well as 7 or 8, but in other heats the scores were very close and consistent.   This is an intriguing aspect of the competition and one that conjures many potential explanations. Indeed, in a field of 8 or more pro-am couples, judges have to make snap judgments armed with only a few seconds to score any couple before shifting their gaze on the next one. Each judges obviously sees you at a different moment in time and scores you accordingly.

There are many other potential explanations that undoubtedly play a role in judge’s scoring variation, but I fear that I will unwittingly lose your attention if this blog were to deteriorate to a verbose and detailed diatribe.   Suffice it to say, as with learning ballroom dance technique, learning about the culture of ballroom competition events is a very interesting pastime, sufficiently complex, and filled with drama of its own. It is an evolving culture, which includes professional dancers from around the globe, politicians and VIP benefactors, and an assortment of sprouting vendors sporting beautiful, but expensive dancewear, and jewelry. And then there are the students, an interesting and diverse group of people spanning the ages from around the country who hop from one competition to the next, motivated by individual goals and aspirations. Indeed, the students spend their time and money in an entirely enjoyable avocation attempting to improve their dance skills, and to bring value and happiness to their present lives…….. Certainly, these competitions will provide more food for thought, more reasons to blog and hopefully a few readers interested in reading my testimonies.

CUPOLA Time Again

2011-01-21T16:43:00.000-10:00

YEAR of the RABBIT at the CUPOLA!

So, "What's Up Doc?" It's CUPOLA time again!

Come do the "Bunny Hop," the "Roger Rabbit," the "Rabbit Dance," come shake your booties at the CUPOLA this coming Tuesday, January 25, 2011, from 7-10pm on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center at 1250 Kapiolani Blvd (corner of Kapiolani & Piikoi).

Come help Lucas and Yanna kick-off the "Year of the Rabbit" at the CUPOLA with their Divino Ritmo ohana and other dance friends! There will be lots of boogying to the special hand-picked ballroom and "harey" tunes by Maestro Lucas Jaime and DJ Jesse Gonzales. Ono pupus and wine are available for purchase all evening. Carrot sticks will be complimentary!
As usual, admission is FREE and Divino Ritmo's monthly social dance party is open to the public!
You never know, you may even get to meet Mr. Roger Rabbit or Bugs Bunny in the flesh...how can you beat a night of fun and dance with your friends!!!!

Hop, hop, hop.... to the CUPOLA this Tuesday!!!!!! See ya!

For more info, contact:
Lucas at:
divinoritmo@aol.com ph:(917) 568-3173
Yanna at:
Yannajs@gmail.com ph: (732) 499-0407

DIVINO RITMO 2nd Annual Grand Ball and Showcase

2010-12-13T16:26:00.000-10:00

By: David Easa

The Divino Ritmo 2^nd Annual Grand Ball and Showcase held on Friday, December 10^th, 2010, was more like a Broadway musical than a typical Showcase. It was so filled and so complete and so complex that it bewildered the imagination how much time and effort went into the formulation of such a perfectly timed and coordinated spectacle. The event was held at the Sheraton Waikiki Hawaii Ballroom where the long rear side of the ballroom was dressed with a West Side Story backdrop of the New York skyline, the "brainchild" of Paul Laderta who designed the set, painstakingly built 80% of it by hand, and designed & commissioned the rest for production. Part of the skyIine was filled with modern looking apartment and commercial buildings and other parts looked older and worn just like in the big apple. I particularly liked the large cardboard model of the New York cabby with a hula girl statue adorning the dashboard. The model of the cab was large enough and tempting enough to cut a hole through the back window, stick your head through from the other side and take a bunch of pictures just like you would in Las Vegas. This urge came almost naturally and became increasingly tempting especially after I filled my own tank with fuel after my dance contribution to the evening’s event. Thankfully I resisted the temptation.

There was abundant social dancing that filled the early part of the evening as well as to fill in between the two showcase student dance sessions and the professional show. The dance floor was large enough to swallow the dancers without choking; as a result, I had little difficulty navigating while dancing along the line of dance and did not worry for a moment about colliding with others.

Dinner was a lovely three course meal that was excellent in quality, interrupted by a tasteful but not too lengthy slide show highlighting the history of the Divino Ritmo dance studio since coming to Hawaii. This was followed by the evening’s entertainment highlighting two sections of student dancing, mostly as pro am events, but also some amateur couples and a few dance formations, as well as one guest dance formation from the Pan Pacific Formation Team.

The MC was a gifted orator, Paul Jack, flown in from Arizona to offer his contribution, and the West Side story narration was performed by Bailey who is young starting actor – acting the part of a janitor providing the background comments that introduced all of the dance performances that followed. I must admit that the narration presentation was a little understated and not theatrical enough, detracting slightly from the excitement of the evening as well as the creative commentary that was creatively written by Lucas expressly for this event. Lights dimmed while dancers took to the floor, followed by spotlights beaming magically on the dancers, slides shown in the background, and the emergence of the music and dance. This was a carefully constructed evening with every ballroom dance represented from international and American foxtrot to bolero, salsa, cha cha, rumba, slow and Viennese waltz, tango, Paso Doble, etc,..

Without attempting to critique each of the dance performances, a few points are worth mentioning. I must qualify these as my biased observations; realizing that others attending may have different views. In any event, knowing most of the students and having seen them perform in the past, they were all prepared and performed to their ability – and did so without any major mistakes. We are not all equal as dancers, but it was clear that everyone had practiced and came ready to perform. One has to congratulate both Lucas and Yanna for the astonishing assortment of choreography that was displayed; I am continually in awe of the talent that it takes in this creative venture to capture the essence of the music with well chosen dance routines that are fitted to the level and personal attributes of the student dancers! Finally, if I have to choose one dance routine to highlight it would be Cole Horibe dancing with Yanna in the Paso Doble. But it was an evening of more than just Cole, and all of us worked very hard to show off our dance skills and contribute to the evening’s splendor. And finally, it is important to admit that it was entertaining and just plain fun to watch the assortment of student dancers perform, and they all seemed to share in the excitement and pleasure.

As if this wasn’t enough, the evening was punctuated by a spectacular professional show that was performed by visiting professional world champions Billy Fajardo and Katie Marlow who flew in from Florida for this event……..and some of their dances were accompanied by our own Yanna and Lucas. A flow of youth (the DRD Junior Ensemble) dancing a mixture of dances filled in moments between the professional show dancing; the youth executed their routine with flare and precision and served as more than a believable cement between professional dances, but rather to embellish and enhance the professional show. As usual I was mesmerized when Yanna and Lucas took to the dance floor, a feeling that has not attenuated over time and after many opportunities to witness Yanna’s dance poise and perfection.

I am now recovering from such an amazing evening. However, in retrospect, I must admit that I was not all that convinced that the evening would materialize as it did. We had our final rehearsal only a few hours before Showtime; at that time, everything seemed to be going in the wrong direction. We were not even allowed into the ballroom on time, and the Sheraton staff seem unprepared for all that was needed to do. They were scurrying around trying their best but their actions looked more comical than efficient or knowledgeable. I left the afternoon weary with the fear of the evening to come.

When I returned back to the Sheraton, everything seemed to come together magically as if Yanna and Lucas had willed it to be so! All of my fears were dissolved as I focused on having to perform my dance routines and attending to my guests. If there were any problems with the coordination of the evening, I could not detect any…the evening seemed to flow naturally and without notice. Reflecting on this now, a few days later, I am proud on being a part of this event, and amazed at the complexity and number of moving parts in its production. I don’t think anyone was not involved would understand the extent of the work involved, the skills that it takes to make it happen, how difficult it is particularly to accomplish in Hawaii where every item is charged ala carte, and how risky it is for a fledgling dance studio to commit to such as extraordinary undertaking.

That being said, I feel that those who did not attend this years’s Divino Ritmo Grand Ball & Showcase have missed a wonderful event. They will have to wait until December 3, 2011 for the next opportunity to attend. Maybe this commentary will help inspire such attendance.

Finally, I want to wish all who read this commentary a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday, and look forward to continue to writing my next commentary sometime early next year…..

David Easa

Divino Ritmo Showcase December 10 2010

2010-10-23T18:46:00.000-10:00

Spooking at the Cupola

2010-10-21T20:57:00.001-10:00

Divino Ritmo's Halloween Spooktacular at the Cupola - Tues, Oct 26

From: Lucas & Yanna

The werewolves will howl, the vampires will bite...the witches will brew on Halloween night.

JOIN us & our Divino Ritmo students for our Halloween Spooktacular on TUESDAY, October 26th, from 7-10pm at the Cupola on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design center (1250 Kapiolani Blvd, corner of Kapiolani & Piikoi).

As always, admission is FREE and our social dance party is open to the public!
We will have live music by Jessie Gonzales to the special tunes hand-picked by none other than yours truly, "Head Spook," Lucas Jaime!

Vampires, witches, ghouls and more...
Bring your friends, your fellow dancers, bring the whole family, the whole clan...for tonight we celebrate the Boogeyman...with a Cha cha here, a rumba there, here a Waltz, there a Swing, may be a Foxtrot or a hustle...snakes, bats and witches galore...let's see what this Divino Ritmo Halloween celebration has in store!

Costumes are strongly encouraged. We will have a costume contest with prizes awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! In addition to a monetary award for 1st place, gift baskets for 2nd and 3rd places, other prizes will include: FUN, LAUGHTER, CAMARADERIE, and most importantly BRAGGING Rights!:)

Now, how can you miss such a Spooktacular night!!!??? Come on down...we dare you....

From your "Head Spooks,"
Lucas & Yanna

2010 HAWAI'I STAR BALL

2010-10-08T20:08:00.003-10:00

Aloha

The Hawai'i Star Ball is now over and we are already preparing for the 20th Anniversary in 2011! It is hard to believe that this event has been running this long. Its success has been because of local dancers and professionals. Mahalo to all of you for your continued support - it is truly appreciated.

My good friends Keith Todd and Didio Barrera who are the editors of "Dance Beat" and also DJ's at the Hawai'i Star Ball have put together .a promotional video of this year's event. Check it out on "You Tube":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq2l1tXs7iw
or go to www.DanceBeat.com

The following is a report of this year's event by students David Easa and Marie Laderta

Hawaii Star Ball – 2010

By: David Easa & Marie Laderta

Geoffrey Fells IS the Hawaii Star Ball and this last week, the 19th consecutive yearly ballroom competition premier event was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It seems that Geoffrey has perfected this event. Indeed, this year’s event was clearly modeled after last year’s event, which was modeled after the year before and so on and so forth. In addition to the competition and the wonderful professional dance show, this included a little Chinese – Lion dance, a little Japanese – Taiko Drums, a little Hawaiian – hula, local entertainers and singers, and much more.

The Venue: While the Hilton Hawaiian Village remains a very splendid venue for the event, it had its pluses and minuses. Certainly a pristine setting, the sleeping rooms were large and comfortable, but we detected a certain degree of aging of the campus, defects in the rooms, and facilities that went uncorrected perhaps due to the poor economy and the tendency to put off these kinds of repairs until absolutely necessary.

The Ballroom: was roomy and adequate, the dance floor in its uncut version was of decent quality although there was some rough edges inevitably present in dance floors made up of squares pieced together resulting in slightly uneven seams. It was certainly an advantage to have the entire dance floor to use for all heats rather than the increasingly common practice of cutting the dance floor into an A and B selections to allow for more simultaneous running of heats.

The Competition: From the weight of the competition schedule booklet, it appeared that the competition was slightly smaller than last year; We will not rehash the possible reasons for this, but would rather conclude the obvious….the national economy is still unhealthy and Hawaii is a far and expensive destination for those interested in competing from the mainland who have so many choices to consider almost on a weekly basis. Still it was disappointing not have all of our professional dance instructors in Hawaii really involved in supporting this event, which would partially compensate for the seeming reduction in mainland participation. However, the Hawaii Star Ball is one venue that has a loyal and predictable following from Japan, giving it the unique quality and flavor of an East meets West event held on American soil. There were also entries from the Philippines, China, and Canada.

Highlights: This is not intended to be a comprehensive report. Below are snippets in an abbreviated form, observed as newsworthy over the three days of competition:

- Youth/preteen competitors..............include 10 year olds Ikaika Villanueva & Keilani Kese. Ikaika is the grandson of local instructors Renna & Sergio Villanueva.

- The Top solo was won by Cole Horibe who danced a silver Paso Doble with his Professional Instructor, Yanna Samkova. In addition to Cole's, five other finalist solos were called back for a performance in the evening, which included a "Little Red Riding Hood" fox trot by Ivan John & Nancy Luckie. A notable call-back was Sensei Shinobu Matsuura & Kumiko Ogino's Theater Arts rendition of the "Mask of Zorro."

- The second evening of the competition featured formation performances by 2 local studios: the first was an International Waltz by the Pan Pacific Formation team, coached by Ed Felix. The second was Divino Ritmo Dance's rendition of a medley of Paso Doble, Cha Cha, Salsa, Samba & Viennese Waltz, to the Broadway tune of "Nine," choreographed & coached by Yanna Samkova.

- While mainland participation was visibly lower this year, Professional Dave Watson did bring half a dozen ladies to support this event.

- In addition to their usual bevy of competitors, Divino Ritmo introduced 8 new competitors of diverse ages. Divino Ritmo students all held their own and did their studio proud across the board, not only in the solo category, but in scholarships, and other categories winning 3 overall top student awards. Through students' and teachers' collective effort, Lucas Jaime & Yanna Samkova won Top Teachers as well as Top Studio.

- Kudos also to other local studios such as Dance Appeal & Al Franz who gave their support to Hawaii's only NDCA sanctioned dance competition.

- Frequent competitors & USA Dance Honolulu Chapter's own Anne Ho & Glenn Okazaki took 1st in the Open Amateur International Ballroom category.

- Professional showcases by world 10-Dance Champions Gherman Mustuc & Iveta Lukosiute wowed the audience every night, prompting comments from those attending who wanted more professional show and less social dancing. On the last evening, Gherman and Iveta performed a surprise Rumba in honor of Geoffrey to his favorite Hawaiian song, composer Kui Lee's "I Remember You" and sung by Hawaii’s own Melveen Leed. It was announced that the idea of the surprise dance came from Marianne Nicole and Mistress of Ceremonies, Shari Berinobis assisted with the hula choreography.

- Local singers were also featured as part of the evening performances and included Melveen Leed, Rodney Cazimero & Tito Berinobis.

- On a sad note, the Legendary Mrs. Torii from Japan did NOT attend this year and an announcement was made on the second day of the event that she had passed away in Japan (a Centenarian). Geoffrey paid tribute to this hallmark of Hawaii Star Ball with an announcement of her passing and a social tango in her honor.

Final Note: On a final note, next year is the 20th anniversary of the Hawaii Star Ball, and Geoffrey mentioned that he had something special that he was already planning to celebrate this momentous occasion. You will all need to make it a point to attend, because if you don’t, you will have to resort to learning about it from another one of our blogs which threatens to be "longwinded and boring" at about this time next year ….Aloha…..and until next year.

Hawai'i Star Ball - update

2010-09-21T15:14:00.000-10:00

Final arrangements for the 19^th Annual Hawai‘i Star Ball are progressing nicely. I am at the moment working on the final Program, which will be going to print tomorrow (Wednesday).

Dance competition entries are still being accepted providing they do not change the pre-set timetable. Of course late entries will have to pay a “late fee” as the deadline for entries was September 11^th.

This year there are couples competing from China, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Philippines, as well as couples from the Mainland and of course our local Hawai'i couples. Competitors can find their Heat Sheets, which includes the Sessions that they are dancing, the Heat Numbers and the approximate time of competing. To do this go to the website: - www.hawaiistarball.com and click on “Entry Forms”.

At the request of many local dancers I have re-arranged some of the events to allow time for more General Dancing during each of the evening sessions.

I am happy to present to the dancers of Hawai‘i the World 10-Dance Champions Gherman Mustuc and Iveta Lukosiute who will be presenting a different show each evening. The timetable and schedule of events can also be found on our website.

Tickets for all the events can be purchased at the door except Banquet reservation, which must be reserved at least the day before. Local dancers and attendees can still purchase Admission Tickets and/or Packages at the Kama’aina Rates that are good up to September 25^th.You need to call me 955-3134 or 371-8042 for these details.

Also Kama’aina Room Rates are still available for the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The cost per room per night is $170 including the 13.96% taxes and can only be booked through me. The Hotel at check-in will require proof of Hawai’i residency.

So join us at the Ball and experience good dancing, good music, good food and lots of good fun.

See you at the Ball!

Geoffrey Fells

Organizer.

Capital Dancesport Championship 2010 – Aug 26-28, Washington DC By David Easa

2010-08-30T22:28:00.000-10:00

My third competition of the year was one that I had attended last year and enjoyed very much which spurred me to make a last minute decision to attend. Held in a lesser known Hilton in Virginia – medium in price, and medium in comfort, the hotel rolled out the red carpet and made it easy for the competitors and dance organizers to stay content. For example, the casual breakfast restaurant opened at 6AM, early enough to serve the needs of the morning’s 7:30AM competitors, and with breakfast buffet vouchers provided as part of the full package of competition, seemed to start the day by providing enough nourishment to sustain the day’s activities. The staff was friendly and courteous and provided boxes without question to take what you wished from the buffet, realizing that the competitors would not fill their tummy’s to the fullest level, but rather would want to prime to pump and then have more food to feed on to sustain a reasonably stable glucose level throughout the morning and early afternoon. I always judge a breakfast buffet by the quality of its fruit which in this case was excellent, although the scrambled eggs were quite good as well and didn’t resemble the plastic look and feel of eggs sitting lifeless, dried and crusted by intense warming lights from other hotel buffets that I have sampled from in the past.

The hotel lobby was decent, the restaurant clean and inviting, the ballroom on the lower level provided privacy from the general public, ample space for vendors, places to chat, and a large ballroom with a very high quality dance floor to serve the needs of the competition and evening show. Everything was decent, vendors were plentiful and the organizer provided very reasonably priced accoutrements such as garment bags ($10) for those of us who stuffed our clothes into one bag but found we couldn’t fit it all back with the added goodies accumulated during the competition. One of the items was a beautiful dance robe provided by the event organizer John DePalma which he included to all entrants who paid for the full package. Last year we received lightweight jackets adorned by his Capital Dancesport logo which to this day I find the most useful cover for the occasional cool days and nights in Honolulu or when I vegetate in the neighborhood movie theatre.

Divino Ritmo Dance Studio had a small group of students attend this event. In addition to me, Maria Handl danced pro-am with Lucas Jaime, and of course I danced my pro-am heats with Yanna Samkova. Nevertheless, we left the competition happy and with distinction. With this years entrants exceeding 6,500 heats (second hand information), both of the Divino Ritmo students received the distinction of being included in the top best 20 student category, and also won best male and female bronze student awards! I was a little tipsy at the time of the awards, so a day later, I’m just beginning to feel the pride of accomplishment. Clearly this unexpected achievement was not sought but was appreciated, sending a clear message that at the very least, I belonged and was not there as an embarrassment either to myself or to my teacher. While I am reluctant to divulge this kind of “bragging” in my blogs, I cannot help myself in this instance and promise to avoid any further self praise so often present in personal testimonies like these. Still it is quite amazing that with the many dance studios and students represented from around the country, that Divino Ritmo produced such a measure of success with just two.

A few observations and concluding remarks are in order. It was quite evident that Rhythm and Smooth which each occupied the better part of a day in the competition was more heavily contested than Standard and International Latin which were stuffed into half days time periods and seemed over in a flash. Indeed, it seems that American dance styles are taking high priority in events like these and the level of skill that is shown and the variety and creativity that is expressed is making them more and more popular. It was really hard to see a difference in level of effort and skill between American and International. Moreover, I believe that American style dancing inspires a degree of creativity not allowed by the more traditional European variety. I must say that ever since I have been attending these mainland competitions, I have developed an increasingly healthy respect and interest in American style ballroom. Moreover, some American dances like Viennese Waltz are much more fun than International.

Another observation was the large number of professional competitors that were present at the event resulting in the need for quarter final heats to get through all of them and whittle them down in number to the final contenders. The skill level was simply wonderful to witness – in all categories…Smooth, Rhythm, Latin and Standard. A tribute to Michael Jackson ended the event…which was extremely entertaining. Many of the professionals contributed to this tribute which included a rendition of the video “thriller” with man eating zombies ….male dancers dressed in shaggy torn shirts and faked blood on their bodies…..and the ladies also had torn clothes and some were dancing barefoot…it was really fun to watch and very well done.

Finally, we even had a little time to venture from the hotel after the competition was over….we went to Mt Vernon, to learn something about George Washington, what he did, where he lived, his wife of 40 plus years, the bed he died in, and the remarkable courage of conviction in his actions. He was arguably one of the few men in the history of civilization not carried away by power and authority, and put his country’s interest above all else, including any personal agenda.

In summary, the Capital Dancesport Championship is really a decent competition, organized by very popular and gracious hosts…John DePalma and his wife Marianne Nicole, and supported by the best of the best. Already thinking about returning next year for more fun and good competition. You might want to join me……

You are Invited to Dance Beneath the Cupola

2010-08-24T21:14:00.000-10:00

Lucas and Yanna of Divino Ritmo invite YOU to dance beneath the Cupola, NEXT Tuesday, August 31st, from 7-10pm!
Yes, it's that time of the month again, the last Tuesday, time to shake loose, boogey your heart out, chat with other dancers or just have a glass of wine and some pupu....whatever your reason for coming.....please come again to the Cupola on the 2nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center at 1250 Kapiolani Blvd (corner of Kapiolani and Piikoi).

Or if you've never come, please do, give it a try; you will be pleasantly surprised by the friendly, carefree, and social atmosphere. You will experience our mini dance lesson and 3 hours of social dancing to a wonderful selection of dance music, all Lucas' special picks...

Admission is FREE and our dance party is open to the public. On Tuesday nights, bottles of wine are half price and military discounts are available for food and beverage!

So GANG, let's wrap up the month with a BANG!...... dancing beneath the Cupola! See ya!

For more information, contact:
Lucas at: divinoritmo@aol.com
Yanna at: yannajs@gmail.com

Hawai'i Dancers on Mainland

2010-08-24T20:57:00.000-10:00

This past weekend the Nevada Star Ball was held at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada organized by Brian and Susan Puttock and Hilda Lanza. Now in its 24th year of running this event has become one of the major events on the competition circuit. Hawai'i's only representatives were our Amateur Champions Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho.
Even though there were only two couple competing in the Masters Over 50 International Standard 4-dance Championship Glenn and Anne took 1st place. In the Senior over 35 International Standard 4-dance Championship there was more competition for them. They made the final and finished in 5th place out of eight couples. Congratulations to Glenn and Anne the Mahalo for keeping Hawai'i on the competition map. On an interesting note Ikaika Dowsett, formerly from Hawai'i danced with his current Professional partner Olga Zhuk in the Open Professional Standard Championship and finish 7th in a seven couple final out of 14 couples.
Coming up this weekend is the Capital Dancesport Championships organized by John and Marianne DePalma at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, Virginia. Representing Hawai'i will be Professional Lucas Jaime with Student Maria Handl who will be competing in 110 single dance events and 6 multi-dance events. Also Professional Yanna Samkova will be competing with Student David Easa in 44 single dance events and 4 multi-dance events. Good Luck to Maria and David - do Hawai'i proud and bring home those awards!

SHOWTIME 2010

2010-08-24T19:53:00.000-10:00

After six weeks of recovering from knee surgery I was finally able to get out and about and attend the 2010 SHOWTIME presented by "Keep On Dancing" at the Pacific Beach Hotel on Friday August 20th. Helping me get there with my walker was Co-MC of the Hawai'i Star Ball Shari Berinobis who kindly took time out from her busy schedule. She is a City Council candidate for District 4 and has the honor of being the Oahu Princess Pa'u Rider in the Aloha Week Parade (because I am not allowed to ride I will be there following the horses!!).
The evening turned out to be a delightful event. The usual buffet food was served and many of us complimented the fact that it was one of the best. Host and Hostess Christopher and Miru Bayot were very attentive to their guests. There were fourteen exhibitions danced in two sets and there was a lot of general dancing which is always welcomed by our local dancers.
I was especially pleased to see that there were several local professionals supporting Christopher and Miru - yours truly, Doug Kesler, Lucas and Yanna Samkova, Akiyoshi Sugino, Reggie Gascon, Gayle Kawahakui, Carmelo Baysa and Debbie Borges who did a delightful American Waltz exhibition with promising student Reuben Lee. In addition to Christopher dancing with his students he did two exhibitions with his lovely wife Miru. Guest dancers Calvin and Debra Ota, representing the Al Franz Dance Studio performed their Paso Doble and Tango and Richard and Lynn Nakamura performed a Foxtrot and Tango Medley.
I am sure that Christopher is very proud of his students for their support and help that they give him especially Kasuma Cooray and Reiko Otake.
Until next year "KEEP ON DANCING"

AMERICAN STYLE QUICKSTEP?

2010-08-19T23:20:00.000-10:00

Just recently several competition organizers have introduced into their program a Professional American Quickstep.
As you know the Quickstep is an International Style dance and is always the fourth or fifth dance in all International Style Ballroom Championships.
In the American Style the closest dance to the Quickstep would be the Peabody which is truly an all American dance. Several years ago Mr. Edward Simon and his partner Ms Michelle Officer (who were then the reigning US Smooth Champions) tried to introduce the Peabody as the fifth dance in all American Smooth Championships. This would have kept it in line with the American Rhythm as well as the International Ballroom (Standard) and Latin - all of which have 5 dances. For whatever reason the Peabody was not accepted leaving the American Smooth today at four dances - Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz.
Who knows, maybe the American Quickstep will become part of the American Smooth Championships. In my opinion this would be a shame as the Peabody, being a true American dance would be more interesting.
However, I did find the American interpretation of the English Quickstep very clever with the choreography in keeping with that dance.
If you would like to see what it is you can find it on the web site of last weeks Colorado Star Ball Championships. To do this go to www.coloradostarball.com and on the Home Page scroll down till you find "Pro Amer Quickstep Step" and click on the link below.

MAHALO NUI LOA

2010-08-14T22:17:00.001-10:00

I would like to thank so many people who helped make my knee surgery (second one!) a little less uncomfortable and bearable. I received many personal visits, "get well" cards, telephone calls, beautiful floral arrangements, food, baskets of goodies, even a small bottle of "something" to kill the pain unfortunately I had to give this away!

I also want to thank the Odo's and the Labowski's for continuing to transport me to and from my therapy appointments. All of your help is truly appreciated.

The surgery went well, as did the first knee surgery. However I picked up an infection in the surgical wound and had to be hospitalized for four days to administer an anti biotic. Now I am home and taking an oral anti biotic which cost $2300 for 28 tablets!! Thank goodness for Medicaid.

So, the set back has delayed my plan to get back to teaching. I am hoping that therapy will allow me to use a cane and allow me to drive within the next week so I can try to start teaching the week beginning Monday August 23rd. I will be calling my students to confirm so wait for my call.

Keep On Dancing Showcase is next Friday evening August 20 at the Pacific Beach Hotel. I am hoping to be there so I will see those of you who are also going.

Save The Date

2010-08-14T21:02:00.004-10:00

DIVINO RITMO DANCE

2nd Annual Grand Ball & Showcase

Do not miss the BIG event of the year!

Friday December 10th 2010

Hotel Sheraton Waikiki

6 pm - 11:30 pm

Presented by Lucas Jaime and Yanna Samkova

Divino Ritmo Dance


2009 Hawai'i Star Ball - Top Studio

(917) 568-3173 or (732) 499-0407

Fax (808) 888-5131

email: divinoritmo@aol.com

P.O. Box 2283, Honolulu, HI 96823

$10,000 Top Teacher Award.

2010-08-08T21:22:00.001-10:00

Throughout the dance community on the Mainland the $10,000 Top Teacher Award at the International Grand Ball has become quiet a draw for Pro/Am teachers and their students.
In 2009 this prize was won by Mr. Forrest Vance from Arizona.
I checked with the IGB organizers, Stephan and Denise Krauel and found that in order to qualify for this award the teacher must produce a minimum of 350 entries that have been submitted on time.
In 2010 Mr. Lucas Jaime and his student Ms. Maria Handl competed in 97 entries. Therefore Lucas did not qualify for the $10,000 prize as reported in an earlier blog. I do apologize to Lucas Jaime for this misinformation. He was however the Top Teacher at this event and did win a cash prize.
Ms. Maria Handl did win Top Student Award and Divino Ritmo Dance Studio did win the Top Studio Award.
I was amused by the fact that many people thought me serious when I suggested that Lucas would be celebrating his big win at La Mer. Obviously my North of England sense of humor is not fully understood in Hawai’i!
I do promise to try and check facts more thoroughly before reporting in the future.
Mahalo.

$10,000 Top Teacher Award

2010-08-04T21:52:00.000-10:00

The 2010 International Grand Ball Championships offered a $10,000 Top Teacher Award which makes it the largest Top Teacher prize in the United States.

And the winner was – LUCAS JAIME of Honolulu. I also understand that Divino Ritmo Dance (teachers Lukas Jaime and Yanna Samkova) won the Top Studio Award.

I have heard it rumored (and I am not one to listen to rumors!) that Lucas will be celebrating by taking all of his students for dinner at the La Mer Restaurant at the Halekulani Hotel! How thoughtful of you Lucas!

Doug Kesler's Showcase

2010-08-03T23:19:00.000-10:00

"The Greatest Showcase On Earth"

Kesler & Co. announces their annual showcase with
Dinner, Exhibition Dancing, Open Dancing, Door Prizes together with lots of fun and surprises.

PACIFIC BEACH HOTEL BALLROOM

October 22nd 2010 6:00 pm - 11:30 pm

$65 per person

For Reservations/Tickets call: (808) 551-3033

INTERNATIONAL GRAND BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

2010-08-03T19:59:00.001-10:00

The 42nd International Grand Ball Championships were held this past weekend, July 29 – 31, at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel, San Francisco.
This event was originally run by Rhona Pick and Roy Hinton in 1968. Several years ago the event was taken over by Stephan Krauel and Denise Jourdaine. It is now one of the premier events on the West Coast.
Attending and competing from Hawai’i were Glenn Okazaki and Ann Ho. In the Amateur Senior I Standard 5-dance Championship 8 couples competed in the Semi Final. Glenn and Anne made the Final and finished in 4th place. Although they received a mixture of 3rd, 4th and 5th place marks from the panel of 9 judges their Coach Ms. Heather Smith managed to find two 1st places and three 2nd places for them. In the Amateur Senior II Standard 5-dance Championship 3 couples competed and Anne and Glenn finished in 1st Place! There were a possible 45 1st place marks in this event (5 dances X 9 judges) and Anne and Glenn received a total of 42 1st places making them a sure winner. Congratulations to Anne and Glenn who are truly representing Hawai’i in grand style.
In the Pro/Am division Maria Handl once again traveled to the Mainland this time with her Hawai’i teacher Lucas Jaime. She danced in 97 different events in the American Smooth and Rhythm and International Standard and Latin. Maria eventually brought home the International Grand Ball Top Student Award. Congratulations to Maria and her teacher Lucas Jaime.
This event boasts the largest Top Teacher Award in the USA. 1st place Top Teacher received a prize of $10,000.00. I wonder who won that. I will keep you posted!

DANCE FOR THE CHILDREN

2010-07-29T16:43:00.001-10:00

Bantay Bata Dinner Dance & Fundraiser (Friday, August 6th)
Mark your calendars everyone and get your tickets if you haven't already gotten them!
It's that time of the year again when Jesse and Buffy Gonzales, the family band who plays at the Hale Koa, hosts the Bantay Bata dinner dance fundraiser at the Pacific Beach Hotel Grand Ballroom, on Friday, August 6th! Tickets are $55 each.
The Bantay Bata Hawaii Chapter is comprised of Jesse and Buffy Gonzales, Paz and Raffy Ignacio, and Nita Rozmeski. Although Paul (Bunny) & I are not members, for the past 4 years, because of its worthy cause, we have volunteered to help our friends Buffy and Jesse with this fundraiser.
Once again, as in the past, the August 6th dinner dance at Pacific Beach promises to be an evening of fellowship and dancing, an opportunity to contribute to the protection and welfare of those children in the Philippines who need help the most!
There will be dance exhibitions, general dancing and dinner. Doors will open at 6pm, with the dinner and program to begin at 7pm. Tickets may be purchased from any of the following people:
Buffy Gonzales: 284-2395
Paz Ignacio: 428-3308
Marie Laderta: 222-3721
And now a little history of "Bantay Bata" in case you're wondering what the heck it means. I am told by my most reliable experts in the Filipino language that the words "Bantay Bata" literally means "Child Watch" or the guarding or watching over of children. These words cover it all!
Bantay Bata is one of the most recognized child protection and welfare organization that provides comprehensive and integrated programs for the benefit of the needy children in the Philippines. Its mission is to "create and provide a safe, nurturing and loving environment where children can develop and realize their full potential." (Quoting from their website). The Bantay Bata program began in 1997 on Valentine's Day as a "gift of love" to the Filipino children. What originally began as a hotline and rescue operation has over the years evolved into a holistic system of therapy, care and preventive programs. The programs give emphasis to such family services as training and advocacy against child abuse, rehabilitation of families in crisis, and includes educational scholarships, community outreach, medical & dental missions.
So come join us on August 6th as we Dance for the love of the Children!
Aloha,
Marie & Paul Laderta

"From the Cupola of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, to the Cupola at the Honolulu Design Center!"

2010-07-24T19:12:00.000-10:00

A Message from: Lucas Jaime & Yanna Samkova of Divino Ritmo Dance

We just returned from the Cupola of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. We sure had our work-out climbing the 140 meters to the top (the Cupola). The panoramic view of Rome was breath-taking and well worth it, even though Lucas was at first reluctant to exert the energy that he normally saves for dancing!

Well, we are glad to be back after a nice restful vacation and ready to get back into the "swing" of things here at our very own "Cupola," located at the Honolulu Design Center, 1250 Kapiolani Blvd.

Join us this Tuesday, July 27th, from 7-10pm for our Divino Ritmo monthly gathering and dance party!
Our party is open to the public! The more the merrier!

There's dancing to a live DJ, a mini dance lesson, student demonstrations, AND you can go for broke purchasing ono pupus and a wide variety of drinks at the wine bar! Not to mention, bottles of wine are half price on Tuesday nights!

Hope to see you all there!

Aloha,
Lucas & Yanna

For more information contact:
LUCAS: Phone: 1-917-568-3173 - Email: divinoritmo@aol.com
or
YANNA: Phone: 1-732-499-0407 - Email: Yannajs@gmail.com)

Blog Updates

2010-07-17T22:22:00.000-10:00

I received the following email message from Michaela Puno who is the Organizer for the Philippine Star Ball: -

“I received a text saying that there are rumors that there would be NO Philippine Star Ball.
Not true!!
The 4th Philippine Star Ball is scheduled for February 12, 2011! It will still be at the 5- star prestigious Makati Shangri-la Hotel.
Please include us in your calendar. It promises to remain a memorable event for competitors, adjudicators, and spectators.
Warm regards,
Michaela Puno
Organizer
The Philippine Star Ball”

Following The Millennium Dance Sport Championships (see David Easa’s excellent article prior to this blog) Lucas Jaime and Yanna Samkova flew to Prague to visit with Yana’s family. They should be back in Honolulu sometime next week.

On Monday July 12 I had my Right Knee Total Replacement Surgery at Kaiser Permanente Hospital. I was discharged on Friday July 16. So now on to 5 – 6 weeks of therapy, pain killers, learning how to walk again! I just hope that it will be as successful as the Left Knee Surgery which was done last December. Mahalo to all of my students and friends, who visited, sent flowers, food and Good Wishes. If anyone needs to call me please use my mobile number (808) 371-8042 (at this time it is difficult for me to struggle over to the house phone).

This past weekend was the popular Desert Classic Dance Sport Championship organized by Igor and Irina Suvorov at the Desert Springs Marriott Resort and Spa, Desert Springs, CA July 7 – 10.

Competing were Anne Ho and Glenn Okazaki in the Masters Amateur International Standard (Over-50) Championship. Out of the 15 couples entered they finished in 2nd place. Interesting to note that there were a total of 36 First Places (9 Judges x 4 dances) and Ann and Glenn took 9 of these First Places.
Maria Handl also competed.
With Lucas Jaime being in Prague two teachers were arranged to dance with Maria. This was apparently arranged by Ms Yolanda Varga who is a prominent On-Deck Captain at many major events on the Mainland. Maria flew to the Mainland a couple of days before the event to practice 46 Standard and Smooth dances with Professional John Selby. She also danced a total of 43 Rhythm and Latin dances with Professional Tyler-Ryan Allen.
Maria is becoming quite a Pro/Am traveling competitor. Well done Maria.

Advance notice of Christopher Bayot’s Showtime 2010. This event will be held at the Pacific Beach Hotel – Grand Ballroom on Friday August 20th at 6 pm. For Dinner, Dancing, and Show tickets ($65) call Christopher at Keep On Dancing (808) 596-8860.

Millennium Dance Sport Championship

2010-07-09T19:12:00.000-10:00

June 22-27, St Petersburg, Florida By David Easa
My portable computer’s hard disk crashed just as I completed a blog about our week’s experience at the Millennium Dancesport Championship in St Petersburg, Florida. The moment of the computer crash was abrupt and unexpected; it instantly obliterated a few hours of fond memories and crafted sentences reminding me that life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, but mostly to not depend upon the reliability of modern day technology. Since I was not to return back home for several more days, my fingers were itching and twitching for the moment I could satisfy this interrupted and unfulfilled craving.
St. Petersburg, Florida The venue was St. Petersburg, Florida. Typically muggy by the end of June, humidity and temperature combined to make it miserable for normal humans to navigate outdoors. Everything moved listlessly and in slow motion, the heat from the sun imposed its overwhelming authority, penetrating deep into skin and into human organs, and coupled with the humidity, drenching our bodies with sweat with near paralyzing results. In 2007, St “Pete” had a population of about 250,000 people making it the fourth largest city in Florida. Actually, we were pleasantly surprised to see this quaint looking city with water front restaurants and parks, wide safe streets not filled to the brim with trucks and other vehicles (making it very easy to jay walk), a variety of pleasant architecture and low rise office buildings, and the low-keyed appearance of a village rather than a city. There were young people, there were the homeless, and there were few senior citizens on the street (most were probably safe under their air conditioned roofs). The Millennium Dancesport Championship
Hotel: The hotel itself is a refurbished historical landmark, a bit "old," and each room was individually sized. The hotel was charming and warm but a little worn (the elevators worked about 50% of the time!). Ballroom: The dance competition was held in a separate building that required that one walk outside in the boiling heat and laser like sun for enough time to feel hot; it took a few minutes to cool back down after entering the building structure which enclosed the very beautiful and elegant ballroom, one that was almost intimidating in its grandeur. It was flanked with an anteroom area filled with vendors selling expensive dresses, shoes, jewelry and even some shirts and jackets and ties for men. Inside the magnificent ballroom, it was dressed formally and filled celestially with the theme of colorful butterflies flowing from all corners of massive enclosure creating an atmosphere that was creatively elegant and unique, warm, and engaging.
Millennium Dancesport Championships: For those of you who don’t know, there is at least one major dance competition somewhere in our country every few weeks. It turns out that this one is ONE of the largest (second or third) and one of the finest. Serious dancers flocked here in numbers, including those young and old, and just about anyone who was serious about winning some recognition for their dancing. Indeed, there was serious competition in all age groups with few uncontested heats. From my past experience in these events, I recognized many fellow dancers, including the beautiful young rising stars as well as the professionals. Of note, the competitors included dance students who were preteen or in their early teens. One couple stood out - they were probably about 10 or 11 years old, the girl was dressed in an elegant gown, the boy in formal tails befitting the most experienced standard dancer. Their frames, movement and fluidity, confidence, facial expressions and choreography were nothing but amazingly mature. They were simply lovely to watch, clearly champions even now at this early age, with the absolute promise of becoming even greater national and international champions in the future. One of the elements that we appreciate as student of Yanna Samkova and Lucas Jaime is that we can expect that all of the arrangements that are made to coordinate the hotel, transportation, dance entries, etc, etc, are done with predictable accuracy and consistency. We have experienced this enough to know that this is not by chance but due to compulsive attention to detail as well as the collegial respect that Yanna and Lucas hold in the national ballroom dance community. Indeed, by the time we decided to enter into this competition, we were told that there were no rooms available and that we would need to be housed in a nearby hotel (what misery that would have been!!). In the end, somehow Yanna and Lucas magically secured for each of us a room in the Renaissance Vinoy, and our assigned table for the competition was directly adjacent to the dance floor readily accessible for the competition as well as providing all of us a first tier unobstructed view of the evening professional show. Thank you Yanna and Lucas!
Professional Show: On both Friday and Saturday evening, there was a truly amazing professional show called the Mary Gill Show of Shows (a generous benefactor of this yearly event - a very nice older lady). The performers included Thomas Mielnicki & JT Thomas (who was beautiful as well as beautifully pregnant), Jose DeCamps & Joanna Zacharewicz, Eugene Katsevman & Maria Manusova, Slavik Kryklyvvy & Anna Melnikova, all champions in American Smooth, Rhythm, and Latin respectively. (Ed Note: Tomas Mielnicki & JT Thomas, Eugene Katsevman & Maria Manusova, and Slavik Kryklyvvy have all demonstrated at the Hawai'i Star Ball) If you’re like me, these are not household names. But to those in the know, they are truly spectacular performers and entertainers and the crowd enjoyed their performances to the max.
Our Results: Considering the level of competition as a group, we did exceedingly well. I think that each of the Divino Ritmo students did as well or exceeded the performance of the previous competition in New Orleans. In addition to individual student awards, we were recognized for two best solo awards (in a field of about 90 (this is my best guess), and a 3rd place best teacher award. In his quiet understated way, fellow student Paul Laderta, dancing with teacher Yanna Samkova, out did himself by taking 1st place in the C-Division closed bronze Latin Scholarship. Paul beat 15 women amateurs in this Pro-am scholarship event! Clearly, we all left with a sense of accomplishment that we not only survived, but understood that with proper training from our teachers and diligent practice, we can be competitive in a highly contested national venue such as this. Of course, our results are posted on the website for anyone to see and to give more detail. But I’m certain not even our closest relatives would be interested in this level of detail.
Final Comments: Any professional dance competition is an intense experience demanding one's full time and full concentration. This one was no exception….heats starting from 7:30 in the morning with events spanning the day to past midnight with professional shows and rising star competitions. At first, this experience seems overwhelming if not exhausting but with time, you get used to the harrowing pace, and the procession of dancers funneling orderly onto the dance floor every 1 ½ minutes is a metaphor for the competition itself - filled with perfectly dressed and attentive dancers ready to display their talents to the other attendants and to be judged. With time, this intimidating experience is actually fun, and one that inspires a craving for more. And that of course will inspire - you guessed it - another blog! The End.

The Matsuri Goodwill Dance

2010-06-23T23:14:00.002-10:00

Congratulations to Grace Nohara for organizing this wonderful event at the Pacific Beach Hotel last Friday evening June 19th. The buffet food was delicious (I think the Pacific Beach must be improving their menus). The ambiance was friendly and the general dancing was fun. Much of the dance music was by a visiting Japanese singer and professional dancer, which provided a very different atmosphere, and I think it was appreciated by many of our local dancers.

So, let us get to the evening entertainment and exhibitions. A local dancer who was sitting at my table saw me jotting down some notes on the exhibitions and exclaimed, “please be nice”! So, I will do my best and try to “be nice”. Please understand that my comments are my own personal views of the dancers – you can agree or disagree with them as you choose.

The first item on the program was a special presentation exhibition by the Japanese visitor, singer, and professional Kenichi Okada. He demonstrated an International Rumba and Cha Cha Cha with our local amateur lady Charlotte Bugarin. Both of them had had very little time to practice together and I thought it very brave of Charlotte to agree to dance the two numbers. The Rumba was OK but the Cha Cha Cha was not good. Mr. Okada seemed intent on proving what a good dancer he ‘wasn’t’. I don’t think Charlotte was expecting the advanced and inappropriate choreography he produced – the routine ended unexpectedly soon! Charlotte is an excellent dancer and I congratulate her on “hanging in there”. I am sure she will think twice before doing that again!

The first exhibition was that of Cole Horibe dancing a Paso Doble with Professional Yanna Samkova. This was an excellent presentation by both dancers. Cole was very masculine and dominant and Yanna very Spanish and the choreography appropriate and phrased with the music. In my opinion this exhibition should have closed the evening performances. Well-done Cole. The only comment that I have is that while I found your ponytail to be appropriate, I could not understand the many hair clips?

Next, an International Waltz demonstrated by Ed and Matilda Felix. Their choice of music and choreography was very good. They move well together but I would like to see more use of the feet and ankles to create more Rise and Fall. The characteristic of the Waltz is a pendulum action with a Rise and Fall. Matilda must also watch her footwork.

Sergio and Renna Villanuevo presented their students in a ‘formation’ routine that I found very busy and a little clumsy. I usually enjoy their special interesting presentations, but for me this one was not one of their best. Maybe they are getting to be a little too creative. However I think the audience enjoyed it and it was a welcome break from the Ballroom and Latin exhibitions.

Then we had a Professional Slow Foxtrot performance by Thomas Nakamura and Stephanie Uechi. Having just returned from the Blackpool Dance Festival I think my standards are much higher than normal. As a couple their quality of movement, technique, and footwork is very good. But they are an enigma to me. Both of them are good dancers. But not together! Stephanie is a beautiful dancer very powerful, she moves well with sound technique. Tommy is also an excellent dancer with good movement and timing. It seems at times that Stephanie is overpowering Tommy and Tommy seems to be straining to keep up with her. If he would only relax and take charge I think there would be a vast improvement. The West Coast Swing entry was very good, cute, and interesting but Tommy needs to look up to his audience and show off a little more!

Lucas Jaime has a young new lady student from Hilo (Big Island) and she really has a great deal of potential. Kristin Kunzer danced a Theatrical Latin number that was interesting and appropriate for her. Watch for more work from this young lady of dance.

Last on were Carlos Chang and Yulia Sharipova dancing a Samba. Carlos was wearing “Yulia Zagoruychenko fringe pants” which I did not think complimented his already great movement.. They made him look a little overweight! Miss Sharipova’s dancing is specious, she is a trained dancer and looks great when making lines, her ballet training gives her good discipline and technique but in my opinion, at this time, she is not a good Latin American dancer. She needs to develop a stronger foot, leg, and body action, she needs to connect more with her partner and show more personality and connection and feeling for the various rhythms of Latin dancing. She is young and I think she could. accomplish great heights by studying the basic action of each of the Latin American dances. She does have so much potential. I would like her to find an Amateur partner to progress further.

In all, a wonderful evening of good food, camaraderie, music and dancing. Mahalo to Grace Nohara.

BRITISH PROFESSIONAL BALLROOM CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-04T15:22:00.000-10:00

JUST IN - STOP PRESS!!

For the first time the USA wins the British Championship! Arunas and Katusha placed 1st in all four dances this evening (Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Tango and Quickstep) 2nd were Mirko and Edita (Italy) placing 2nd in all four dances. 3rd were Victor and Anastasia (USA) 3rd in Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Tango and 4th in Quickstep. Into 4th place were Domenico Soale and Gioia Cerasoli (Italy)who were 4th in three dances and 3rd in Quickstep. Also for the first time there were three couples from the USA in the final - Giampiero Giannico and Anna Mikhed (USA) were 5th placing 5th in Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and Tango but did not make the final in the Quickstep. Into 6th place Domen Krapez and Monica Nigro (Slovania). 7th place Sascha and Natascha Karabey (Germany) and 8th place Warren and Kristi Boyce (England)

BRITISH AMATEUR LATIN CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-04T02:01:00.001-10:00

This event for many was the highlight of the week. With so many great couples dancing I know the Judges must have been concerned about dropping so many potential finalists!
The first British Latin Championship was held in 1964 and was won by Mr. R Taylor and Miss A Gent from Sheffield. After 1964 there have been so many famous dance personalities.
1972/73 Alan and Hazel Fletcher, 1974 Peter Maxwell and Lyn Harman, 1976 Mr. & Mrs. Espen Salberg, 1978/79 David Sycamore and Denise Weavers, 1980/81 Donnie Burns and Gaynor Fairweather, 1982/83 Marcus Hilton and Karen Johnstone (Hilton), 1987 Martin Lamb and Alison Bray, 1992/91 Brian Watson and C Leoni, 1993 Paul Killick and Inga Haas, 1995 Louis Van Amstel (Dancing with the Stars) and Julie Fryer, 2000 Slavik Kryklyvyy and Joanna Leunis, 2005 Ricardo Cocchi and Joanne Wilkinson
This year there were 310 couples listed with 21 from the USA. Making it through to the Quarter Finals were Ruslan Aydaev and Valeriya Kazharinova and Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Daria Chesnokova. Only Valentin and Daria went on to the Semi Final and the Final.
Winners were from Croatia Zoran Plohl and Tatsiana Lahvinovich, 2nd from Slovenia Jurij Batagelj andJagoda Strukelj, 3rd from England Neil Jones and Ekaterina Sokolova, 4th from Denmark Martino Zanibellato and Michelle Abildtrup, 5th from USA Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Daria Chesnokova, 6th from Moldova Dorin Frecautanu and Roselina Doneva.

BRITISH UNDER 21 YEARS BALLROOM CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-03T14:27:00.001-10:00

This event was also started in 1989 and was first won by Mr. Timothy Howson and Miss Amanda Owen (Dokman). In 1991 Joanne Bolton won this Championship dancing with Mr. M Reilly. Then Timothy dancing with Joanne were major finalists and British Champions in 2005. Mr. Christopher Hawkins and Miss Hazel Newberry placed first in 1992. Mr. William Pino and Miss Alessia Bucciarelli won this event in 1993. Mr. Jonathan Crossley with a Miss M DeBarra won in 1994. In 1996 Mr. Roberto Villa dancing with a Miss M Cerea won. Mr. Domenico Soale and Miss Gioia Cerasoli won in 1997. Mr Linas Korieva was a winner in 1998 with a Miss A Bubnelyte.
This year there were 140 couples listed. There were 4 couples from the USA and none of them made the quarter final (top 24). In the Semi Final (top 12) there were 4 couples from Poland, 2 couples from Russia, 2 couples from England, and 1 couple from Estonia, Ireland, Denmark, and China.
Winning the Championship were Chong He and Jing Shan from China winning all four dances, 2nd place from Russia Vladimir Rudko and Maria Ivanova, 3rd place from England Kyle Taylor and Liis End, 4th place from Russia Vasily Kirin and Ekaterina Prozorova, 5th place from Poland Mateusz Papuzynski and Katarzyna Czyzyk, 6th place from Estonia Szymon Kulis and Margarita Zuonova.

BRITISH SENIOR LATIN CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-03T13:41:00.000-10:00

This event was first run in 1967 and from 1967 to 1985 it was won by an English couple. In 1986 and 1987 a Dr. & Mrs. G. Abraham from the USA were the first foreign couple to take the title away from the English. England took back the title in 1996 and in 2000. Couples from the following countries held the title up to last year: Belgium, Germany (two times), Japan, Czech Republic (three times), Spain (two times), Philippines, Finland, and France.
This year there were 85 couples listed to dance including 3 couples from the USA. The dances were Cha Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive was introduced into the Semi-Final and Final. Couples competing were from England (17), Germany (10), Japan (8), Finland (7), France (6), Canada (4), Hong Kong (4), Austria (3), Spain (3), USA (3), Australia (2), Portugal (2), Italy (2), Russia (2), China (2), The Netherlands (2), Singapore (2), and 1 couple from South Africa, Malta, Wales, Scotland, Croatia, and Belgium.
Hawaii was represented by Calvin and Debra Ota and although they did not make the first cut they showed more confidence than they did when they danced the Senior Ballroom. They got themselves into a little trouble in the Paso Doble. Apparently it had not been explained to them that Spanish Gypsy Dance is not used all the time at the British Championships. If we all had to listen to that piece of music, which would be played 200+ times during the week, we would go crazy. Most dancers adapt their choreography to the unusual count of Spanish Gypsy Dance but for competitive work it is better to work in counts of 8. Unfortunately Calvin and Debra had not understood this. Anyway they certainly did not disgrace themselves and I am sure it was a great learning experience for them.
Into 1st place from Finland Petri and Ulla Jarvinen, 2nd place from Germany Andreas Hoffmann and Isabel Krueger, 3rd place from Spain Roberto Hernandez and Beatriz Perez, 4th place from Russia Vadim Kardash and Elena Skvortsova, 5th place from Finland Jouko Karppinen and Helena Merta, 6th place from Belgium Slawek Lukawczyk and Edna Klein.

BRITISH PROFESSIONAL "RISING STARS" BALLROOM COMPETITION

2010-06-02T15:39:00.000-10:00

There were 234 Professional couples listed to dance in this event. 21 couples were from the USA. No couples from Hawai'i except for Ikaika Dowsett with partner Olya Zhuk and I am not sure if they danced. If they did then they did not make the quarter final (top 24 couples). In the quarter final there were four couples and going into the semi final there were two couples - Andrea Faraci with Iveta Pauryte and Anton Koukareko with Alena Feaktsistava. The final result was 1st Valerio Colantoni and Yulia Spesivtseva from Russia. 2nd from Poland, 3rd from Azerbaijan, 4th from Russia, 5th Anton Lebedev and Anna Borshch from Canada, 6th from Russia.

BRITISH UNDER 21 YEARS LATIN CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-01T15:06:00.000-10:00

This Championship which was first run in 1989 it has become a very important event – a stepping stone for young dancers many of whom go on to win major events. For instance in 1995 Miss Kimberly Mitchell who eventually danced professional Latin with Mr. Bill Sparks and became USA Latin Champion won this event dancing with Mr. Scott Montague. And in 1998 Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova took this championship and only this week they retired from a very successful Amateur and Professional career. In 1999 the current World, British, UK, International Latin Champion Michael Malitowski won dancing with a Miss J. Golczak. In 2003 Derek Hough (Dancing With The Stars) dancing with a Miss A Piowtrowska and representing Poland took first place. 2004 Mark Ballas (also Dancing With The Stars and son of Corky and Shirley Ballas) was dancing with a Miss D Zviagina for England took home the trophy. 2005 the current USA Amateur Latin Champion Valentin Chmerkovskiy dancing at that time with a Miss V Kozharinova placed first.
This year the Championship commenced with 237 couples listed to compete and 10 of these couples were representing the USA. Only one USA couple made it to the Semi Final (top 12) – Kyrylo Dovgalin and Anastasiia Danilova. The Championship was won this year by Vjaceslavs Visnakovs and Teresa Kizlo from Latvia. 2nd place fromUkraine. 3rd place from Germany. 4th place from Russia. 5th place from Ukraine. 6th place from Denmark.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Results

2010-06-01T14:08:00.000-10:00

This past weekend Carlos Chang attended People’s Choice Dancesport Competition in Scottsdale AZ with some of his students. I am sure that Carlos is very proud of their accomplishments as follows:
Ria Baldevia took 1st place in her Solo routine with 95 points. She picked up eight 1st places and four 2nd places and also won the Closed Bronze and Silver Latin Scholarship in the Ladies “A” division.
Charlotte Bugarin took two 1st places and two 2nd places as well as 1st place in the Ladies “B” division of the Closed Bronze and Silver Latin Scholarship.
Theresa Nakayama came home with nine 1st places, three 2nd places, and two 3rd places.
Janet Liu placed 1st in the Ladies “S” Closed Bronze and Silver Latin Scholarship. In the Freestyle she took one 1st place, four 2nd places, eight 3rd places, and three 4th places.
Yulia Sharipova dancing the Junior Gold Latin division took five 1st places and she also won the Ladies “A” 5-dance Latin competition.

BLACKPOOL

2010-06-01T00:47:00.001-10:00

A little more information from last Friday evening. In the Senior (Over 35’s) Ballroom Championship there were 168 couples with 11 couples from USA. Two USA couples made it to the semi final (top 12) – David and Liva Wright (MA) and Xingmin and Katerina Lu (CA). This was truly an international event as you will see from the results: A couple from BELGIUM took 1st place. 2nd GERMANY, 3rd RUSSIA, 4th THE NETHERLANDS, 5th FRANCE and 6th USA Xingmin and Katerina Lu.

In the British Professional “Rising Stars” Latin Competition there were 259 couples. 25 couples from USA were entered and 6 of them made the Quarter Final (top 24). The Results were: 1st Russia, 2nd Italy, 3rd USA – Denis Podolskiy and Yuliya Kushnirenko (CA), 4th Russia, 5th Russia and 6th USA Yegor Novikov and Ekaterina Zakharoff (WA).

As reported earlier the USA won, for the third time, the International Invitation Professional Team Match.
This was an interesting and exciting event. Many great couples and champions performed putting on what has been described as the best Team Match yet. The Team USA Bizokas/Demidova, Fung/Muravyeva, Cocchi/Zagoruychenko, Katsevman/Manusova won all of the five Ballroom dances and were second in four of the Latin dances and tied with Team Europe in the Jive they received a total of 298.3 points. Team Europe: Gozzoli/Daniute (Italy), Krapez/Nigro (Slovenia), Formica/Lebedew (Germany), Malitowski/Leunis (Poland) were a very close second with 297.8 points. Team Great Britain: (who held the title for 30+ years) Boyce/Boyce, Short/Channa, Ivanets/Bellinger-Ivenets, Rebula/Heron finished 3rd with 290.8 points. Team Asia: Shoji/Shoji (Japan), Zhiratkov/Novozhilova-Popovic (Hong Kong), Park/Maidiuk (Korea), Ning/Ding Fang (China) were 4th with 289.8 points – only 1 point behind Great Britain.
Following the Team Match it was announced the Eugene Katsevaman and Maria Manusova were retiring as Professional Competitors. An emotional retirement letter from Eugene and Maria was read by Chairman Marcus Hilton. Eugene and Maria won the British Youth Latin Championship in 1998. Then as Amateurs they placed in many Championship finals. They were USA Amateur Latin Champions for many years. Turning Professional they placed in many finals. In 2009 they performed their spectacular show at the Hawai’i Star Ball.
They will continue their career teaching, judging and performing.

Blackpool 2010

2010-05-29T16:01:00.001-10:00

Aloha from Blackpool! Where the weather has suddenly turned cold.
But before I get to blog the Blackpool information congratulations to Maria Handl and Lucas Jaime on their success at the Crown Jewel of Dancesport in Miami Beach, Florida – Maria took 1st place in all of her 90+ entries! Although several of her entries, but not all, where uncontested this was a great achievement for Maria and Lucas – Congratulations.
Let’s hope that Carlos Chang has similar successes with his students this weekend at the People’s Choice Dancesport Competition. Competing in Bronze, Silver and Gold Latin events as well as scholarships are: Janet Liu, Charlotte Bugarin, Ria Baldevia, Theresa Nakayama and Yulia Sharipova.
So onto Blackpool. Left home on Tuesday evening with Roger Izumigawa kindly taking me to the airport for the 4.5 hour flight to San Francisco. Then a 9 hour layover in San Francisco then an 11 hour flight to London Heathrow then a 5 hour car ride to Blackpool. In all a 34 hour journey!
Arrived into Blackpool and the weather was warm. Staying at the Empress Holiday Flats in North Blackpool which is a 10 minute cab ride to the Winter Gardens. This is new accommodation for us (Sister Pam with husband Peter Eggleton and I) and it is great. The Flats are large, well appointed with full kitchen and bathroom with a shower. The cost is around $35 per day and we go grocery shopping to prepare our own meals or we eat out in local restaurants.
When we arrived we picked up our tickets and Programs then prepared to settle in.
I had heard that there was to be a boycott by the IDSF affiliates of Italian and Russian couples this year. I compared the number of entries to last year and it appears that there is an 11% decrease in couples. Yes, a number of Italians and Russians are boycotting but there are many more Chinese couples competing!
The night before (Thursday) there was a charity show featuring world class dancers in the World Competitors Dancesport Corporation Cabaret Showdance. The big story of the night, apart from the great dancing was a walk out by several of the WDC officials on a break before Mirko Gozzoli & Edita Danuite took the floor. Apparently Mirko wrote a letter in support of the Italian IDSF affiliate’s boycott of the Blackpool Festival. Mirko & Edita competed in the professional Team Match (tonight) and are entered in the Professional Standard (Friday) and we shall see if they dance. Their lecture at the BDF Congress was also canceled.
Early Friday morning I went to the Winter Gardens to support local couple Calvin and Debra Ota competing against 160+ couples in the Senior (over 35’s) Ballroom Championship - Blackpool still refers to the Standard division as “Ballroom” – the dances are Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango and Quickstep. In that order! Calvin and Debra did their best at coping with 20 couples on the floor at one time and dancing for almost 2 minutes per dance. Although they did not make it past the first round they certainly did not disgrace themselves. Once they understand the basic foundation of the dances, and gain more experience dancing in larger competitions, and receive guidance and training they could become consummate competitors and not local show dancers. I am sure that they will realize that after seeing competitive dancing at Blackpool. They are also entered to compete in the Senior Latin on Monday. They will be dancing in the evening which means they will get to compete with the Empress Ballroom Dance Orchestra! I will be there to support their efforts. I believe they are blogging their experience on another blogspot. Go check it out.
It is now almost 3 am and I will continue reporting the Blackpool news tomorrow.
In the meantime note that the USA Team held their title for 2010. The European Team was a very, very close second, the British was third and the Asian Team was fourth.

Tuesday Ladies Class

2010-05-21T00:08:00.000-10:00

The final Ladies Class on the International Waltz was held this past Tuesday May 18th.
In this 15-week session we covered only the Bronze Syllabus.

Bronze figures and groups studied were:
Basic Amalgamation, Whisk and Chasse from PP (along side of room and at a corner), Natural Spin Turn, Natural Spin Turn under turned, Hesitation Change, Reverse Corté into Back Whisk, Outside Change, Double Reverse Spin, Basic Weave, Progressive Chasse to Right, Forward Lock Step, and Closed Impetus. Several methods of dancing around a corner were taught using only the Bronze Syllabus.

The next session will start after my return from the Blackpool Dancing Festival, Tuesday June 15 at 10 am at the Aloha Activity Center, 722 Kapiolani Blvd. The dance will be TANGO! For further information before I return call Lucy Matsunaga 342-9741

Boogie at the Honolulu Design Center!

2010-05-20T23:08:00.001-10:00

Come Boogie at the Honolulu Design Center, Tuesday, May 25th!

It's that time of the month again when Lucas Jaime & Yanna Samkova will host a dance social "beneath the Cupola" at the Honolulu Design Center on Kapiolani from 7-10pm.

Lucas himself will be DJ-ing at this dance social which is open not only to Divino Ritmo students, but to the public and all dance aficionados! Be sure to stop by, those who are looking to breaking the week's monotony with some carefree boogie-ing to some outstanding dance music courtesy of Lucas' collection of Ballroom's finest!

Besides making sure you have a good time, Lucas and Yanna will also be treating us with a mini dance lesson!!! All this for FREE guys! You gotta come and check it out!!

For those of you who haven't been there, the "Cupola" is a designated "special events" room, more like a loft, spacious and with high ceiling, perfect space for Tuesday evening boogie-ing! The atmosphere is eclectic, modern and very friendly!

Join them on Tuesday, May 25th! They promise you a good time will be had by all! Don't be shy, give it a try! Check out the Divino Ritmo Ohana beneath the Cupola!

For more info, email Yanna at:
Yannajs@gmail.com or Lucas at divinoritmo@aol.com.

Hawai‘i Dancers traveling!

2010-05-20T21:51:00.004-10:00

“The Crown Jewel of Dancesport” is currently being held at the Eden Roc Renaissance Resort and Spa in Miami Beach, Florida (http://www.crownjewelofdancesport.com/) Attending, from Hawai‘i is Maria Handl with Professional Lucas Jaime of Divino Ritmo Dance. Miss Handl is becoming Hawaii’s most traveled dancer. She will be competing in over 90 events in American Smooth and Rhythm as well as International Latin. Results will be given later.

On May 25 I will be leaving for my annual trip to the Blackpool Dance Festival in the UK. I have been attending this event since 1950! I will return to Honolulu on June 9. Any interesting news or results from each day will be blogged.

On Memorial Day Weekend, May 27 through 30, the People's Choice Dancesport Competition is being held at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. I understand that student Janet Liu will be competing with Professional Carlos Chang. I believe some of Carlos's other students will also be competing. http://www.peopleschoicedancesport.com/

Students from Divino Ritmo Dance (Professionals Yanna Samkova and Lucas Jaime) will be attending the Millennium Dancesport Championships (http://www.m2dance.com/) This event is being held June 22 through 27at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships

2010-05-04T16:39:00.000-10:00

In the Amateur Senior over 35 International Standard Championships (W/T/F/Q) held on Sunday night there were 15 couples competing. Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho danced through into the 7 couple final. They eventually finished in 7th place. However I noted that 3 of the 9 officiating judges gave Glenn and Anne 2nd and/or 3rd place in all four dances. As reported earlier they are now the 2010 Amateur Masters over 50 International Standard Champions. Congratulations to Glenn and Anne.

Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships

2010-05-02T00:48:00.002-10:00

It is said that The Emerald Ball Championships is one of the oldest ballroom competitions in U.S. history, originating in San Francisco. Ken and Sheila Sloan first organized it in 1963. Ken was originally from Ireland - hence the name "Emerald Ball".
In 1989 Ken and Sheila sold the event to Wayne and Donna Eng. Wayne and Donna then approached Terry Leone to become a partner.
Terry Loene, who had worked directly under Mr. Arthur Murray, was the owner of the Arthur Murray Studio in Beverly Hills and was featured in the Merv Griffin Show many times to promote the Arthur Murray Studios. He was co-host with Juliette Prowse for the PBS popular show Championship Ballroom Dancing produced by Aida Moreno and taped at the famous Ohio Star Ball. Sadly Terry Leone passed away in 1994.
In 1994, Wayne and Donna Eng became the sole organizers and owners of the Emerald Ball and have made this Championship one of America's premier events. I was Chairman of Judges at the "Emerald" for 12 years.
This year, as in previous years, the event was held April 28 through May 2 at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton.
Only one couple from Hawai'i competed this year. Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho and I am happy to report that this past Friday evening they took First Place out of 18 couples in the Amateur Masters (over 50) International Standard 4-Dance Championship (W/T/F/Q).
They are also competing in the Amateur Senior (over 35) International Standard 4-Dance Championship (W/T/F/Q) against 14 other couples. This event is being held on Sunday evening May 2.
I will report that result as soon as it is known.

From Divino Ritmo Studio

2010-04-24T14:27:00.000-10:00

Dear Students, Dancers and Friends,
There will not be "Dancing beneath the Cupola" this month {unfortunately, by mistake, the place was rented out} but we will return on the last Tuesday of May - May 25th at regular time 7-10pm sponsored by Divino Ritmo Dance at Honolulu Design Center. Lucas and I will be present and have prepared for you a fun, free social event where you can participate in a mini complimentary lesson and enjoy dance demonstrations by some of our student amateur dancers.

So come and have some fun and stimulate your passion for the rhythm of life...Let's dance.
Yanna Samkova & Lucas Jaime
More info or requests at yannajs@msn.com

Palladium closing?

2010-04-20T16:49:00.000-10:00

Today I received the following email notice from Susan Reaver of the Hawai'i Swing Dance Club - read on: -

Here is something very important if you want to keep dancing at the Palladium.
Tomorrow at Honolulu Hale in the City Council Chambers, a bill is trying to be passed that will close Park Community Centers including the Ala Wai Golf Course Club House!
There are several bills on the table but I am told that hopefully the Parks one will be looked at later in the afternoon or evening. (No guarantee).
If you are able to come down wear GREEN to show your support.
I received this information from Tara at Parks and Recreation so it is reliable.
We DON"T want to lose this facility! It would be awful. As it is we don't have nearly enough places to dance and if we have to have our dances in commercial places, the cost to the public would go up and ours would be substantially higher!
Please show your support by sitting with us and if you choose to say anything to the council you would have to be put on the agenda and send them a fax saying you wish to speak. (No longer than 3 min). Or you can send it to Parks and Recreation.
Thanks for your support.
Aloha
Susan Reaver
Hawai’i Swing Dance Club

USADance National Championships - Hawai'i Results

2010-04-12T16:58:00.000-10:00

Anne Ho and Glenn Okazaki placed 3rd out of 25 couples in the Senior II Standard Championship. They placed 3rd in all of the five dances –Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep.
Yuko Yamane, who lived in Hawai‘i for a number of years, also competed with her partner Thomas Yu from Baltimore, MD and they placed 5th. They were 5th in Waltz, Tango and Viennese Waltz, 6th in Slow Foxtrot and 7th in the Quickstep.
Both these couples also competed in the Senior I Standard Championship (21 couples) with Anne and Glenn finishing in 8th place in the Semi Final and Yuko and Thomas finishing 13th in the Quarter Final.
The Senior I division is for couples 35+ years; the Senior II is 45+ years.
Jackson Cho and Mei-June Choong competed in the Adult Bronze Standard (W/Q) with 12 couples and the Adult Silver Standard (W/F/Q) with 18 couples. They did not place in either event.
Calvin and Debra Ota danced in the Senior II Novice Standard (W/Q) and tied for 9th place out of 12 couples. In the Senior II Novice Latin (C/R) they placed 5th out of 5 couples.
Candido and Yvonne Jorge-Cuan entered 6 events!
In the Senior II level the danced Bronze Standard (W/Q) and placed 5th out of 11 couples. In the Senior II Silver Standard (W/F/Q) they placed 11th out of 13 couples. In Senior II Bronze Latin (C/R) they placed 4th out of 6 couples.
They then danced the Senior III levels. In the Bronze Standard (7 couples) they tied for 1st place by placing 2nd in the Waltz and 1st in Quickstep. The tie was broken using Rule 11 which put them into 2nd place. In Bronze Latin there were 5 couples and resulted in a three-way tie for first place. Rule 10 placed the 3rd couple and Rule 11 was applied once again to the remaining two couples resulting in a 2nd placement for Candido and Yvonne!
In the Silver Standard (W/F/Q) they came 3rd out of 6 couples. I am sure Candido and Yvonne must be more than pleased with their results.
Congratulation to all four couples – you all did Hawai‘i proud.

USADance National Championship - correction

2010-04-09T15:19:00.000-10:00

These National Championships are now underway as I write this blog.
"Oops" I have found that there are four couples and not three couples representing Hawai'i at this important Amateur Championship.
My apologies to Candido and Yvonne Jorge-Cuan who qualified for this event. They will be representing Hawai'i in the Senior II and III Bronze and Silver Standard events and the Senior II and III Bronze Latin events. Good Luck to them.

Southern States DanceSport Championships by David Easa.

2010-04-09T15:08:00.000-10:00

March 31st - April 4, 2010
By: David Easa

On my way back from the Southern States DanceSport Championship in New Orleans, Loosiana… (the way the locals pronounce it), where the Divino Ritmo Dance Studio was aptly represented. This was a really fun experience, held at the JW Marriott Hotel one block from famous Bourbon Street. The event was intimate, friendly, powerfully organized, with excellent judges, professional competition and exhibitions, a wonderful Masquerade Party, loads of social dancing, and the usual assortment of dance competition heats for the young and old, the beginner and the experienced dancer.

I won’t go into the boring details that readers care less about (…how many heats, whether we placed, showed or came in first, etc….), but overall the Divino Ritmo Dance Studio thrived and excelled in this mainland competition, thanks to the excellent instruction and mentoring of Yanna Samkova and Lucas Jaime. (Blogger note: anyone interested in the actual results can find them www.sostatesdance.com)

We even won the Masquerade Party costume contest, razzle-dazzling the crowd in flapper costumes and zoot suits, complete with feather boas for the ladies and Tommy guns for the guys! It was hilariously fun as we paraded ourselves and strutted before the judges!

More serious accolades came our way when we won both male and female best student awards, best solos, best medium size dance studio, and best teacher.

And for all of us, it was a good experience to compete in a mainland venue outside of Hawaii, to face the challenge of navigating a different dance floor (speaking from a dance leader's perspective), to practice new routines in a different dance environment, and to enjoy the evening’s offerings…dinners, professional competitions and exhibitions, as well as the bonding of our dance family, meeting new friends from other dance clubs, and venturing off to decadent Bourbon Street, where beer and the famous assortment of toxic mixed drinks in flashy plastic containers are legally displayed as part of the dress code for visitors, where music is so loud and glaring it is painful, and where a hodgepodge of scantily clad women were there to greet and lure their potential clientele into bars and strip clubs with body gyrations and explicit poses graphically displayed for all to see including children, families walking the street and vulnerable old men like myself (but I managed to resist temptation).
Everyone has their story to tell. I am beginning to feel more at home at these events, something that comes with time and experience. So the morning dread of the upcoming competition is tempered by the repetitive nature and predictability of the event. It is obviously not possible to dance well with confidence if you are fretting, nervous and look like you are walking barefoot on hot coals. I think this was also true for the rest of our dance family who have progressively gained confidence and skill from these mainland competitions.

Furthermore, the 3 solo presentations our students performed were really excellent - 2 out of the three tied for Top solo!

We also had our fill of decent food, lots of booze to calm the nerves after the day’s comp, and an assortment of social dancing. I even scored points with a few tall elegant blond amateurs from a Florida dance studio that was competing in the same event - who were happily sitting at the adjacent table.

The organizer and owners of the event, Larry and Dianne Dean, were gracious and friendly and always there to be found schmoozing with the participants and making sure everyone was content and issue free. It was comforting to have such attention to our needs which set the stage for the friendly and comfortable atmosphere.

Finally, the last two evenings' events were lovely sit down dinners (the rest were served buffet style). The last evening was kicked off by a young attractive couple singing opera while the female member was simultaneously tantalizing the crowd by meandering around the tables and flirting with the male participants. This set the stage for the final professional competition and a wonderful professional show by World-Cup Showdance & Latin Dance Champions "Delyan & Boriana".

Traveling Competitors from Hawai'i

2010-04-03T16:26:00.000-10:00

It appears to me that Hawai’i is finally producing Pro/Am and Amateur couples that are traveling to the Mainland to represent us in major recognized dance events. This I think is a very good sign.
For instance last weekend was the San Francisco DanceSport Championships and we had two Pro/Am couples from Hawai’i.
First student Maria Handl competed in over 100 dances in the “B” age level with Professional Lucas Jaime of Divino Ritmo. She received 60+ First Places, 17 Second Places, 11 Third Places, 3 Fourth Places and 2 Fifth Places! In the Bronze Rhythm "B" Scholarship (Cha Cha, Rumba, Swing) she placed 5th out of 12 couples. In the Bronze Latin "B" Scholarship (Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive) she placed 2nd out of 9 couples. In the Bronze Smooth "B" Scholarship there were 16 couples and Maria did not place, however I think her results show improvement and are encouraging.
Second student was Yulia Sharipova who competed in 6 events in the “A” age level with Professional Carlos Chang. Dancing in the Open Gold International Latin dances there were 3 couples. She placed 2nd in Cha Cha, Paso Doble, and Jive and 3rd in Samba and Rumba. In the Open “A” Latin Scholarship (Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive) there were 4 couples and Yulia and Carlos placed 2nd. Congratulations Yulia and Carlos, keep up the good work.
The above results can be found on www.O2CM.com

This weekend there is a group of dancers from Hawai’i at the Southern States Dancesport Championships in New Orleans. Professionals Lucas Jaime and Yanna Samkova of Divino Ritmo are competing with some of their students. I will have a report on their successes later.

Next weekend is the USADance National Championships in Los Angeles. Three local amateur couples have qualified to compete - Glenn Okazaki and Anne Ho, Calvin and Debra Ota, and Jackson Cho and Mei-June Choong. We wish them good luck.
Also attending this event will be Yuko Yamane. She lived in Hawai’i for many years and is now domiciled in Baltimore, MD dancing with Thomas Yu.

This year Hawai’i will have one couple competing at the British Open to the World, Blackpool Dance Festival at the end of May! Calvin and Debra Ota are attending this event for the first time and I am happy to say that they will be dancing in the Senior Latin Championship as well as the Senior Ballroom Championship. I am sure they will be in awe when they walk onto that famous dance floor at the Empress Ballroom in the Winter Gardens with other couples from all over the World. One should note that the Senior events are for couples age 35 and over!!

Dancing beneath the Cupola - the last Tuesday of every Month

2010-03-28T11:19:00.000-10:00

Are you tired of not having enough choices of places to go for social dancing? Are you tired of having only a couple of venues for ballroom, the rest focusing on Salsa and Merengue?
Then you will truly enjoy the new venue for ballroom dancing at the Honolulu Design Center, 1250 Kapiolani Blvd between Pensacola and Piikoi. Sponsored by Divino Ritmo Dance Studio (Lucas Jaime and Yanna Samkova), the next event will be held on Tuesday, March 30th from 7pm to 10pm in the Cupola.
The sound system is terrific and on March 30th, DJ Jessie will be there to provide you with a great selection of music representing the gamut of ballroom dances. Enjoy wonderful food and a great selection of wine from the Amuse Wine Bar or Stage Restaurant.
The dancing area is large, has high ceilings and a friendly open area making it ideal for all types of ballroom dancing.
There is NO cover charge, Open to the public and free parking! Enter parking from Piikoi St. Bring a friend and don't forget your dancing shoes!

Yanna,

EMOTIONS - The Power of Dance

2010-03-25T16:01:00.002-10:00

Professional Carlos Chang presented his second Showcase – “EMOTIONS – The Power of Dance” on Saturday March 20 at the Sheraton Waikiki, Hawaiian Ballroom.
I attended with Shari Berinobis, Hawai’i Star Ball’s Mistress of Ceremonies, who declared it to be the best Showcase she had ever seen in Hawaii – and I had to agree. I have spoken to several other attendees and they also agreed that this Showcase was one of the best that they had attended.
In my opinion the $85 admission was a very small price to pay for such an innovative event. I think that Carlos Chang has really lifted the bar as far as producing a Showcase with an excellent program.
Why? Well, first of all, for me, the event was held in the newly refurbished Hawaiian Ballroom at the Sheraton Waikiki which used to be the home of the Hawai’i Star Ball. The Ballroom, while it has lost its Hawaiian flavor was elegant. The Buffet was beautifully presented and was first-class. The service was excellent. There must have been around four hundred very friendly attendees with many new faces. The printed souvenir program for the event was around forty pages and each page was in full color and included a full page for each performer in the Showcase. The ballroom had a very simple stage with two podiums for the two MC’s separated by an arrangement of white orchids. In front of the two podiums was a low platform. At each end of the Ballroom was a large projection screen which showed the performances.
After the dinner we were treated to a performance by the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. They then performed for Carlos's brother Alfonso Chang and his father Carlos Chang Snr. who gave a traditional Chinese Lion Dance. Then they picked up a Samba beat to which Carlos and his Student Yulia Sharipova danced. Later in the evening Carlos’s friend John Pang took the low platform in front of the Podium and played a violin while Carlos and student Yulia danced.
John also played for Carlos and professional Debra Borges-Barboza who dance a delightful American Style Waltz. Adriana Chang, Carlos’s sister played her guitar while Cheri Nakamura sang and Carlos and professional Jessica Starr danced a Rumba. Another novel feature was when Carlos performed without his shirt! All of this was pure theatre and made for a very diverse and innovative evening.
The actual showcase was danced in three parts with twenty one performances with Carlos featured in fourteen of them. Everything was spot on and ran smoothly.
Nine year old Nikki McCormick danced a Cha Cha Cha that was well rehearsed and later on a Jive that was sassy – this young lady has lots of potential.
Janet Liu danced her first showcase with Carlos (Samba) and is looking forward to competing on the Mainland – she must understand that the accented beat in the Samba is on the 2nd beat.
Michiko O’Connell danced a Rumba and is looking forward to also dancing in Scholarship divisions on the Mainland – she must improve her balance and weight changes.
Cheri Nakamura danced a Jive with really good rhythm and lots of personality but must watch her Jive Chasse action.
Edwin and Charlotte Bugarin performed a Cha Cha Cha. One of our top amateur Latin couples. Their solo work was together but I would like Charlotte to project more to the audience and not keep looking down.
Friends of the Ala Wai performed an interesting formation of six couples with good changes of pattern. I hope they will perform for us at the 2010 Hawai’i Star Ball.
Jared Bugarin and Arielle Magpoc danced a Cha Cha routine incorporating traditional Cha Cha, Jazz, contemporary, Break, and Hip Hop. Excellent dancing with lots of potential.
Next a Cha Cha routine by Carlos and student Patty Haft. Patty gave a very professional and experienced performance which was well rehearsed but I felt her Cha Cha Latin action was not convincing, it seemed to me too manufactured.
Greg Henry performed an International Rumba with lots of confidence. (I was not impressed with his choice of clothing). Emi Matsuoka was a little nervous doing her first showcase but she looked beautiful and did well, but, heel leads in Rumba?
Ria Baldevia is turning out to be a real “diva”. Her Cha Cha was a real crowd pleaser – good work.
Ashton Blanton and Kate Tyumentseva then danced a Jive with good basic recognizable figures and a good basic action.
Keoki Galas and Kim Suenaga danced a Samba with lots of enthusiasm with Kim showing a good basic action. Keoki needs to understand that the 2nd beat of the Samba is the accented beat and he really must stop looking down.
Terie Nakayama danced a Cha Cha Cha with interesting choreography but heel leads are not acceptable!
The only Paso Doble of the evening was danced by Tsubaki Nakamura with Carlos. While I was impressed by syllabus figures of Twists, Spanish Lines, Fregolina, and Syncopated Separation I felt that Tsubaki needed to show a stronger body, foot and leg action for this dance.
Finally Yulia Sharipova who danced several numbers with Carlos. She is becoming a consummate performer. She is beginning to loose that balletic look and becoming more of a Latin dancer. However I would like to see a lot more emotion between them both. Isn’t that what this showcase was all about “Emotions – The Power of Dance”

Emotions - The Power Of Dance

2010-03-17T17:28:00.000-10:00

Don't forget that this weekend dancers in Hawai'i will be treated to an exceptional showcase of dance.
Carlos Chang is presenting his "EMOTIONS - The Power of Dance" at the Sheraton Waikiki, Hawai'i Ballroom.
Tickets, if they are still available, are $85 for the complete evening of Dinner and some spectacular dancing by Carlos Chang and his students. Starting at 6 pm until Midnight.
Call now for reservations 351- 7839.
See you all there!

Geoffrey's 77th Birthday Luncheon

2010-03-17T17:12:00.000-10:00

Once again Mrs. Dianne Ako organized a Birthday luncheon on behalf of the attendees of Geoffrey's Tuesday Ladies Class. (although it is supposed to be a "Ladies only" class we do have three Gentlemen who attended - see picture, back row and to the right). March 16th, following the one hour International Waltz Class we arrived at 11:30 am for a wonderful Buffet Luncheon at the Hawai'i Prince Hotel. With spouses and guests we had a total of thirty two people who enjoyed the sumptuous buffet that is the hallmark of this hotel. This has become an annual event together with the Christmas Luncheon which will be held prior to the Christmas Holidays.

A Point of View

2010-03-16T20:21:00.000-10:00

As a Professional it is always interesting and a learning experience to hear a student's point of view. I have said many times that my best teachers were my students! Here is an interesting article I received from student David Easa. Enjoy
Geoffrey Fells.

So the Question is: Insight? Dance?
By David Easa

Are people driven to gain insight into their lives or are they just happy with the status quo? The risk of course is obvious….no one wants to be wrong and in the final analysis, gaining insight into one’s dysfunctional and sometimes destructive behavior practices may expose one to painful self realization without a realistic resolution of the problem. Take smoking for example: we know it’s deadly, but many of us smoke. But the list of common everyday vices increases in size every day. As Americans, we eat too much, drink too much, lie to much, sit too much, watch to much (TV, computer screen), and live in an increasingly virtual world where the mind and body are separated…i.e. your consciousness is sent to far off places through your hand held device. How many people do you see in public, whether alone or in the company of others that are transfixed by the tiny screen held in one hand with the other hand dancing words on a tinier or even virtual keyboard…….with endless messages to someone or something who/that is not there - and may not be in the same city or state or country (takes one to know one!). Have I made my point?

And yet, for those of us who have sought and found dance in our lives, it seems that we haven fallen victim to the same shortfalls in behavior that we have found so irresistible in our general lives. How else can we explain this apparent paradox? In dance we have found an activity that brings joy, combines the beauty and expressions of music with movement in ways that are uniquely rewarding and pleasurable (does your body dance even when you are just sitting listening to music?), and through the joyful interaction with others and partnering in dance - all facilitated by the community of dance events offered for us to enjoy and participate in. Dancing requires a strong body and an able mind, musicality and a desire to gain skills and advance one’s dance level. It promotes physical and mental health, and the realistic promise to continue dancing at some meaningful level (to oneself) until one’s final days.

Our community of dance is small. Modest numbers congregate at the Palladium on weekends; outside of this venue, showcases are planned carefully and thoughtfully throughout the year providing a beautiful decorated ballroom, a decent selection of food (and many desserts), a place to dance and a showcase of local talents to enjoy or critique or envy. And of course, there is the Hawaii Star Ball. The venues of the Showcases are frequently held at the Pacific Beach Hotel perhaps out of habit, perhaps because of cost, and perhaps out of preference. Other venues cost more (circa ≥ $25), which stimulates controversy and complaints. Is the cost truly prohibitive or do people take this opportunity of the higher cost to complain? Indeed, these events cannot survive without your participation. It’s not like there are many choices out there; by not supporting as many events as possible, it limits our future offerings. This sentiment also applies to our only nationally recognized dance competition in the state, the Hawaii Star Ball. In this respect, we are truly responsible for our social dance heritage and destiny.

Competent dance instructors in Honolulu are NOT plentiful. You can either appreciate their capabilities through the hype of their words, or by the acquired skills of their students. This is visible for everyone to see! But our dance instructors cannot survive unless they are supported, and we need to increasingly appreciate them. We must support them by continuing to admit that we are all students forever and that we need to continue to improve our technique and increase our portfolio of dance skills and dances. We need them but they need us as well! They cannot survive without our support. Is it really too expensive to take a lesson…once a week, or even once every two weeks? Do you really believe that you are good enough of a dancer to not need lessons? Funny, even dance instructors take lessons when they can. In my view, dancing is like Medicine, you can never learn everything, and you will forever need to strive toward improvement. Indeed, this essence is what makes dancing so wonderful, that you can NEVER reach the end and say I know everything, I can’t learn anymore, I’m the best, I am the greatest (unless your last name is Ali)!!!

Then there are our dance friends. Do we really want them to excel or are we content to see them falter and provide more food for gossip? Or is it just plain fun to say demeaning things about our fellow dancers? Does this elevate one’s own self esteem by finding fault in others? I apologize if you don’t recognize this behavior in your daily dance lives. This is not a cryptic message to anyone but just a general statement recognizing both our imperfect human nature and all too frequent lack of humility and brazen arrogance. It applies to all or none; look yourself in the mirror and you will recognize whether anything said here applies to you (thankfully my mirrors are all cracked). That is if you are brave enough to do so, if you are strong enough to gain insight into your behavior with some meaningful purpose in mind for change and reconciliation.

I hope this writing will make you think and appreciate yourselves as fortunate humans, as gifted ballroom dancers, as I have enjoyed thinking and writing this blog. Leave the politics for the politicians; Hannemann, Aiona, and Obama. Preserve the community of dance by understanding its realities, its finances, the needs of our instructors and the ephemeral nature of our dance events. Appreciate your fellow dancers and support them. Enjoy every moment and experience every possible challenge. Find some unlucky non dancer and aspirate them into your world, inject them with a small dose at first, and over time, they will thank you for a new avocation that they will enjoy for decades. As a doctor, I can tell you that no one has two left feet! Everyone can dance! And fellow community dancers, if we all did this, our dance community would double, our venues for dancing would increase and we would all enjoy the results and benefits.

Hawai'i Gardenia Circle

2010-03-14T07:38:00.001-10:00

The Hawai'i Gardenia Circle with a new board of Directors ran an event at the “Palladium”, Ala Wai Golf Course Club House on Friday evening March 12.
The evening was a success with around 400 dancers attending. So congratulations are due to the new board. In addition to the general dancing (good music provided by Daniel Ng assisted by Warwick Sergeant) there were 3 solo exhibitions followed by a “Latin Festival” which was a mock Latin competition and was nicely organized by Gayle Kawahakui. MC duties for the evening was handled very nicely by David Mayman who looked and sounded very professional (of course – he is English!!).
The first solo exhibition was by Richard and Lynn Nakamura. I had asked prior to the event who would be doing the solos and when I was told that Richard and Lynn would be performing I immediately responded with one word – “quickstep!” I suppose one day we will see them do another dance. As far as their performance is concerned they use a lot of Promenade Runs, Scatter Chasses, Coupes, Pendulums which are great crowd pleasers but are not that difficult as long as the partnership dance them together which Richard and Lynn do - they are well rehearsed in these figures. I do wish Lynn would improve her top line to match that of Richards. Both of them need to keep more contact and watch their footwork on Progressive Chasses, Forward and Backward Lock Steps and Locking Actions such as Pepperpots. Their lowering action after 1-3 of Natural Turn needs a lot of work. Otherwise an entertaining show.
The next couple on gave a performance of Night Club Two Step. I am sorry that I did not get their names and there was no printed program for reference however their performance was musical, as this dance should be, and very interpretive with very nice work from the Lady (of course the Man was leading!).
A Foxtrot/Waltz medley was the final solo performed by Michael and Trudy Uechi. Trudy looking elegant in a beautiful ballgown, and Michael resplendent in tails! Their routine included some very nice variations and they danced well. This couple has developed a very good top line but I would like to see a softer arm and shoulder line from Michael. He appears to be a little “too set” and I think more CBM, especially on outside partner steps, would improve. There was loss of contact on some figures and I think Trudy needs to use more foot pressure. I would also have like to see more contrast in Rise and Fall between the Foxtrot and Waltz.
The “Latin Festival” mock competition followed. “Competing” were Amateur couples as well a Pro/Am. In the Cha Cha Cha we had 9 couples, Rumba 11 couples, Samba 8 couples, Paso Doble 4 couples, Jive 5 couples and a Mambo with 6 couples. Only 1 couple danced in all 6 dances so if it had been a real competition then they would have won and congratulations would have gone out to Calvin and Debra Ota!
It was nice to see Renna and Sergio Villanueva dancing with various students. These two professionals have come a long way in the past couple of years. Well done! Some of the couples really do need to work on their timing – especially in the Cha Cha Cha and Rumba. If you are out of time in a competition you really cannot be considered. One couple really went overboard on their choreography with gyrations and posturing and waving of arms that bore no relationship to the dance being danced – out first round! Overall I felt that the best couple (who did not dance all the dances) was Edwin and Charlotte (sorry I did not get your last names). They showed good technique, leg, foot and ankle action and choreography that was suitable to them. Well done!
Two last comments. Performers dancing at the Palladium need to be aware that the lighting is very bad especially with a dark section in the middle of the ballroom. Therefore costumes should be a light and/or bright color for both the Man and Lady. The Man wearing a black shirt, black pants with a Lady wearing a dark colored Latin costume will get lost in the middle of the Palladium! In an actual Latin Competition couples must remember to use turning actions in the Cha Cha Cha, Rumba and Jive. Remember that the Man is wearing a number on his back and the Judges usually stay put on the side of the floor. You want the judges to see your number so keep turning!

Hawaii Gardenia Circle's Latin Festival

2010-03-02T20:35:00.000-10:00

A Note From Marie Laderta:

Promising to be another fun-filled event on Friday, March 12th at the Palladium, the new leadership of Hawaii's Gardenia Circle has worked with new enthusiasm to provide us with a social dance which not only promises to entertain, but also provides a good opportunity for local dancers to practice their dancing in a simulated competition environment, all without the stress of a real competition! So, whether you end up participating in the mock competition or not, whether you just want to go there for some general dancing and fellowship, or just to support the mock competitors, it is expected that you should come away from it having some fun.

Join new Board members, President Ivan John, Vice President David Mayman, Secretary Don Smith, Treasurer Rose Louie, Directors Nancy Luckie, Gayle Kawahakui & Reggie Gascon for an energizing evening! As a prelude to the mock Latin competition, solo performances which include International Standard as well as American Smooth will also grace the floors of the majestic Palladium.

If you buy your ticket now it is only $8, or if you wait to get it at the door it is still a reasonable $10. (with bento!)
Save the date: Friday, March 12, 2010. For tickets, please call Gayle at 223-8052.

HAWAII GARDENIA CIRCLE LATIN FESTIVAL

Ala Wai Golf Course Facility (Palladium)
Friday, March 12, 2010 5:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.

MINI BENTO, EXHIBITIONS, & the LATIN FESTIVAL

$8.00 pre sale; $10.00 at the door

IBDI Inaugural Ball

2010-03-01T16:01:00.001-10:00

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

2010 Hawai'i Star Ball

2010-02-28T18:51:00.000-10:00

Complete information on the 2010 Hawai'i Star Ball at Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa, September 28th through October 1st (Tuesday through Friday) is now available on our website www.hawaiistarball.com.
Go to "tickets & Schedule" for Package and Individual Ticket Prices as well as the 2010 Tentative Schedule.
Go to "entry Forms" to download the necessary Entry Forms, Hotel Booking Form, as well as Rules & Regulations. These forms can be printed, completed and mailed or faxed to us.
Note: Residents in the State of Hawai'i (Kama'aina) need to contact us for pricing information - email gmfells@msn.com with mailing address information.

Dance Floor to Rice Terraces, Hanging Coffins and More - Ivan John and Nancy Luckie

2010-02-27T15:27:00.001-10:00

Well folks, we are on our flight back to Honolulu and finalizing our thoughts on our Philippine Extravaganza! Can’t believe the 10 days of fun went by so quickly.
This morning we slept in after dancing until midnight at Club Filipino, then closing down our Shangri-La Hotel night club. To our surprise the Club Filipino had a live band, a large dance floor, nine chandeliers, and lots of fun, friendly people. We learned some interesting dances from watching them; like the Paso Doble Line dance, Polka Philippine style and the Chicken dance, yes, the good old chicken dance with proper timing to the music (and we don"t mean "chicken adobo!!"). Also found Argentine Tango to be exceedingly popular in Manila (like every 3rd or 4th dance). We didn’t have a chance to try out the local DIs ( Dance Instructors ) as they were particularly busy that night. For those unaware of the local customs, the clubs employ, what they loosely call, “semi-professional” dancers to dance with the patrons. Nancy danced with one of the DIs who had competed at the Philippine Star Ball, at Maria Handl’s party which she threw at Byke's to celebrate Valentine's day, Chinese New Year, and Lucas’ birthday. The DIs are quite good and keep their un-partnered dancers busy and entertained on the floor.

Generally, the Filipino people are quite an enthusiastic lot. They love to dance and sing and are very happy-go-lucky despite many hardships. Most everyone we met had smiley faces. No wonder they are called “ the smiling faces of Asia”. We were most impressed with their easy demeanor and their humble and generous spirit.
Now let’s go back a few days, back track and describe what took place starting Tuesday February 16^th. After an early breakfast we were whisked away in a van containing all the jolly souls namely, Marie, Paul, Connie, uncle Wes, aunty Sandy and us. The van headed north to the Village of Banaue in the Province of Ifugao, about 217 miles, a nine hour trip on a two lane somewhat mountainous terrain. Having made a few pit-stops along the way, we saw many small towns populated with small mom and pop shops selling their goods. Even though the people in the rural areas seemed poor, but from looking into their eyes one could see their beauty, charm and zest for life. Even the animals seemed happy, as we heard the pigs, dogs, chicken and roosters, yup, beautiful roosters who communicated with one another. Of course, Ivan took the liberty to communicate with the roosters by letting them know who was the biggest rooster of them all! - Ivan did great rooster crows and those fighting cocks were ready to go!!!

As we approached Banaue, we were stopped by Philippine Military Police for a spot check. The police shouldered guns and randomly checked vehicles . But Marie didn’t seemed to be phased by their presence, in fact she asked them if we could take a group picture with them, to which they obliged with smiles on their faces.
We got to Banaue Hotel a bit past 7 PM. This hotel is perched on top of a row of mountains that overlooked expansive rice terraces and valleys - a postcard view. The Banaue Hotel has been operated by the Philippine Tourism Authority since the mid 70’s .
The reason for our trip up north was twofold, first to see the 8^th Wonder of the World, and secondly to view the legendary Hanging Coffins of Sakada, a town 3 hours from Banaue.
After checking into our hotel room, we immediately headed for the hotel restaurant for a buffet dinner since we were told that there was to be a performance by the indigenous people of Banaue. These descendants are of the people who first began cultivating rice on the side of the mountains. At about 9:45 PM, 3 older men dressed in their bright red with black and white striped g-string attire came out along with some ladies in their beautiful bright wraparounds, while one lady explained each dance that was to be performed. The dances depicted either a happy occasion like a marriage ceremony, or a victory over an enemy who might have caused them much harm , in which case they would bring the head of one of the enemies which would later be kept in the possession of the family towards whom the atrocity was committed. They also danced to pray for the health and welfare of a sick member of a family. The dances were performed clock-wise in a circle and then counter clock-wise. All done to the beat of tin pans and instruments we weren’t familiar with. The dances usually culminated in a sacrificial offering of some sort of animal(s). Later, they invited certain members of the audience to join in the dance. Of course they could not resist Nancy’s golden locks and quickly pulled her up to dance. those who know Nancy know she is like a sponge, and she was able to carbon copy their footwork and body gestures, like "arm-farting," yes, the good old arm-farting we used to do when we were kids. It was hilarious ! We then called it a night since most of us were tired after the 9 hour-long ride from Manila.

The next morning after breakfast, we were ushered into a Jeepney and sent on our merry way to Sagada, famous for their hanging coffin burials. In this mountainous terrain, the single lane road was treacherous and full of landslides and falling rock and the road was under constant repair and construction. We observed that construction is done in 12 feet portions and made of cement which is time consuming and tedious especially because of lack of modern equipment in the region.
After about 3 hours through a rough ride in the mountains, we finally reached Sagada. Sagada is located over a beehive of caves and tunnels. Each family have their own designated cave where they bury their dead in hanging coffins. The Igarot ritual is when the person dies, they sit the deceased on the chair in front of the door so that the dead person can see the people that come to pay their last respects. The family sacrifices 21 pigs to feed the visiting friends and relatives, as per our tour guide.
They carry the coffin down to the cave entrance in the morning. Later in the day after the visitation, the body is brought and placed in the coffin and a fetal position so that the dead goes out the same way they came into this world. The coffin must remain near the entrance of the cave so that light reaches the spirit of the deceased in order for it to be re-incarnated. This ritual is performed even today !
After the caves, we were ready for a snack. Our guide Luis Santiago took us to Sakada's only bakery, the Lemon Pie House, for some tasty lemon pie and lemon tea, a well deserved treat after a long hike to the caves and the ride through the winding and rough road in the mountains. It almost felt like we were at an English tea party!
Thursday was our last day in Banaue, and after breakfast, we were introduced to June, a local tour guide of Ifugaon descent. He led us to the back of the Banaue Hotel to a village named Totam-An. We walk down about 300 feet to the sound of roosters, pigs and goats. Yes, more roosters for Ivan to crow back at!! As we enter the village, we spotted a couple of dwarf goats resting on the stairs, and Nancy couldn't resist petting them while Connie squealed that she had these very same goats for pets when she was growing up! Marie took a detour around the farm animals, careful not to stampede them! Aunty Sandy was watching her step, careful not to fall while the leader-of-the pack, Uncle Wes blazed forward through the trail. We walked between a mother hen and her 2 day old chicks, and a few village people.
The guide explained that the huts in the village used to be built from local pinewood trees grown in the forest including the straw thatching the roofs. But since over time straw became a shortage, the roofs are now made of tin. The hut was made up of a main floor and an attic. There was a portable ladder to climb up into the hut, inside to the right was cooking area above which the rice was stored to dry with the heat generated from the cooking fire. There were huts where parents and young children slept, while separate huts housed the adolescent girls and boys. During the day, everyone gathered to work in the rice terraces or performed daily chores in the village. We observed that there were some unfriendly pets, particularly the dogs trained to keep guard. Nancy concluded that perhaps the pets sensed that some day they will be sacrificed as an offering to the gods so they were not too happy. Also, we speculate that probably people didn’t want to form strong bonds with animals they freely cooked up for the dinner table! Yipes!
We were invited into a hut where we gathered and June began describing the clothing worn by the Ifugaons. He said that the brighter the colors, red being prominent, the richer the family, the poor usually wore black. This was visible in the dance we saw at the Hotel a couple of days ago. June then asked a young lady of the house to bring out a bag of ancestral bones. She pulled out a bright colored bundle carefully unwrapping the g-string, then unfolding the bright red with black and white striped locally woven material to expose the bones, supposedly of her grandfather.
June explained that the Ifugaon's ritual is to bury the deceased and then dig them up after 3 years, wash and clean the remains and wrap them in blankets to keep them warm and tie them with G-string. After repeating this ritual 3 times, they are buried for good. Each viewing is accompanied by the sacrificing of chickens. If someone in the family falls ill, a shaman is called to diagnose the problem. He will ask to view the skeletal remains of the deceased if he senses the deceased relative is uncomfortable in some way . He will ensure the remains are aligned properly, making equally sure that there are no insects such as cockroaches infesting the remains. If the remains were not be properly aligned, (meaning the skull, shoulders, the vertebrae, ribs and hips bones should be in proper position), if anything is out of position or not cleaned properly, they predict that one of the living members will suffer some form of illness. We were then asked to present a monetary offering which would help the family buy chicken to sacrifice for the souls of the deceased.

Later that morning we went to see the Banaue Rice terraces, known to be the 8^th Wonder of the World. These breath-taking, expansive terraces are about 2000 years old. Apparently the terraces were cut out of the mountain ensuring a permanent water supply out of the mountain as well. The soil in Banaue is clayish, which holds the walls of the terraces, whereas the terraces of Sagada require stone walls to prevent erosion caused by giant earthworms. Rice is planted once a year and harvested and consumed by the owners. The terrace is then allowed to recover for 6 months. Seeing Banaue's terraces before our eyes was a flash-back for us in history. What a sight to behold as we gather for our 9 hour trip back to Manila.
The following day, our last day, was spent rallying with vendors for the best bargain - it was shop till you drop at Greenhills before we rounded up to return to our "Shangrila" in Manila. That evening we hit the dance floors of Club Filipino to the tunes of Manila's Big Band!!!!! Can you think of a better way to end our trip than dancing?
THE END !

Philippine Star Ball - Videos

2010-02-19T22:00:00.000-10:00

To see a video of the Philippine Star Ball go to www.youtube.com and search for Philippine Star Ball 2010.

Philippine Star Ball - Pictures

2010-02-19T14:12:00.001-10:00

Our Hawai'i group of Tigers and Tigresses dressed for the Philippine Star Ball February 13th 2010 (click on picture for a larger image)

Dr. Paul & Marie Laderta with Latin Champion s Yulia Zagoruychenko & Riccardo Cocchi

Philippine Star Ball - Manila. Results

2010-02-17T18:31:00.005-10:00

Mr. Keith Todd, Editor of Dance Beat (America's Foremost Dancesport News Source - www.dancebeat.com or www.dancebeatworld.com ) attended the Philippine Star Ball as a judge and had this to say about the event:

"A truly world-class international event in the Philippines brings out many of the worlds best from Europe, Asia and North America! 

The Organizers, Michaela "Pinky" Puno & Jojo Carino have run this event three times and each year they invite many of the world's best amateur and professional dancers to contest their events in the superbly decorated ballroom complete with a full stage and marvelous sound system and lighting. The whole event is filmed for later broadcast  on Philippine national TV."

Winners of the Professional Latin were Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko from USA. Second and Third place was a dual between two couples from Russia - Sergey Surkov & Melia (2nd) and Slavik Kryklyvyy & Anna Melnikova (3rd). Fourth place was Andrej Skufca & Melinda Torokgyorgy - Slovenia. Markus Homme & Ksenia Kasper from Germany were Fifth and from Canada, Andre & Natalie Paramonov were Sixth.

Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova from the USA were easy winners in the Professional Standard (Ballroom). Second from Italy Domenico Soale & Gioia Cerasoli. Third were Domen Krapez & Monica Nigro of Slovenia. Former World Champion Alessia Betti with new partner Angelo Madonia - Italy were Fourth. The English couple, Warren and Kristi Boyce finished in Fifth place. Very happy to be in the final and finishing Sixth were Aleksander Zhiratkov & Irina Novozhilova from Hong Kong

There were many high profile and world-class amateurs competing. The Amateur Latin was won by Jurij Batagelj & Jagoda Strukelj from Slovenia. Second and Third positions were apparently an upset. Dorin Frecautanu & Reselina Doneva from Moldovia were Second and Martino Zanibellato & Michelle Abildtrup from Denmark were Third. Fourth place was taken by last year's winners Kirill Belorukov & Elvira Skrylnikova from Russia. An Australian couple, Manuel Favilla & Yuliya Nikitenko took Fifth place and from Austria  Zufar Zaripov & Anna Tchemodourova were Sixth.

Italy took the first three places in the Amateur Standard (Ballroom). First Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio, Second Federico  DiToro  & Genny Favero, Third Gaetano Lavarone & Emanuela Napolitano. Fourth from Serbia Dushan Dragovic & Ekaterina Romashkina, Fifth  from USA Ronen Zhinstein & Mariam Izmaylova, and Sixth the only couple from the Philippines to make a major final Emmanuel Reyes & Maria Rosete. 