Weather and Visitors

Web Site Hit Counter

Highlight text to copy
Graphics:
Click left mouse button to enlarge
Click right mouse button to copy or save

What are we going to do?

Well, I live in Nanakuli, so I have to think of the Waianae Coast first. I have to go to Makaha Resort to check out the dancing. There are bars there so that will not be problem, I can sit down and have me a Rum & Coke. I must go on a Saturday night when it is most likely they will have some dance action.

"New Year's Day is every person's birthday."

Second is a good run in the daytime, down the coast with my PR copies, making sure that Waianae High School and Waianae District Park get a couple copies. And say something to them.

Then make another run later down all the way to Nanakuli and prepare the Kapolei contacts. The biggest problem remains to find a Community Center that will admit ballroom dancing. They are notorious for keeping dancing out of the centers.

I must divide Kapolei into three parts, the Kapolei Chapter HBDA and its neighbors in the evening, the schools and the Hawaiian Center on one run and the Shopping Center in the third run in the daytime. I will have to ask questions about the Ko'ilina Resort and maybe put that on the agenda for the future.

"Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle."

Next I will have to make the Ewa run which includes Ewa Beach. I must make sure that I include Crestview Community Park and Pearl City Manana Community Park both for line dancing. That I must do first. We need line dance information on our blogs.

"Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion

from Up Close and Personal (1996) - This song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for 6 weeks beginning in March 1996. It won the Grammy for Best Song Written For Motion Picture or Television and was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

That is about all for the January Agenda except that I will be including more information from line dancing, we need that for all the blogs. The entire agenda makes for interesting traveling and my bicycle keeps me in shape. I may make to 85 in September.

"Easy Street: Always a dead end or a blind alley."

Da Latest

From the Internet:
Many people writing something don’t really enjoy the editing process because by and large it’s the least creative part of writing a blog. Still it’s the most necessary. One of the writers I’ve read compared the editing of his manuscript to cleaning a dirty light shade. He said eventually and as more and more layers were stripped away, the real meaning of what he was getting at was left shining through.

Many times people overlook the basics in self editing and sometimes technology makes it hard to concentrate on what you need to. For instance, even though the Word program has a spell check that many people use, and it does catch some things, it’s not the best for deciding what you want to do about others. For example this program will alert you to the fact that words like there and their are often mixed up but it’s up to you to understand the difference and the correct usage for each word.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use automated spellcheckers. What it does mean is that you should understand the limitations of each so that when you’re using them, you’ll know what might have slipped through the cracks.

In the end there’s really no substitution for reading your blog out loud and keeping your eyes focused for any spelling and grammar mistakes. Concentrate, it’s easy to let your mind wander away and that’s why I find reading the text out loud to yourself is the best method to catch mistakes. When you’re finished with a careful self edit, you’ll be pleased with the way the blog sounds afterwards.

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols."

Many still are not in agreement with the rock step which is used in maybe 2000 different dances. It is a basic movement. What do you do? You rock! As per usual you have six different "rocks." And the first part of the rock step, in ordinary dancing, is called the "break."

1. You break forward on your left foot and rock back on your right.
2. You break forward on your right foot and rock back on your left.

3. You break backwards on your left foot and rock back on your right.
4. You break backwards on your right foot and rock back on your left.

5. You can break to your left with your left foot and rock back to your right with your right foot.
6. You can break to your right with your right foot and rock back to your left with your left foot.

Yes there are two others but they are usually used in dancing where the prime objective is to be seen. Not necessary for the Universal dancer.

Easy as pie and you will do that often in many different dances but you will learn to move just a little bit different in each one according to the music. It will tell you.
You've come a long ways, baby.

"Success does not consist of not making mistakes, but in never making the same mistake a second time."

Dream To Dance, 2010 Sked.

Wishing you a HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

DREAM TO DANCE 2010 Group Lessons
661 Auahi St., Suite 201, Honolulu 96813 (between Keawe St & Coral St)
Debby Borges Barboza @ 372-5574
dream_to_dance@msn.com , www.DreamToDance.com

SESSION 1
Tuesday--Beginner SALSA 7-8 pm $10. or $35./4
Tuesday--Intermediate SALSA 8-9 pm $10. or $35./4
December 22, 29, January 5, 12_______________________

Thursday--WALTZ 7-8 pm $10.
_ January 7, 14______________________ _

SESSION 2
Tuesday--Beginner SALSA 7-8 pm $10. or $45./5
Tuesday--Intermediate SALSA 8-9 pm $10. or $45./5
February 2, 9, 16, 23, March 2

Thursday--HUSTLE & Night Club 2 Step 7-8 pm $10. or $35./4
__ February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4


PRIVATE LESSONS BY APPOINTMENT
Studio rental time available for lessons and practice

SalSAturday w/ DJ Rod el Moreno de la Salsa
Guest DJ Ray Cruz, Dec. 19 & 26, Jan. 9, 16, 23
9 pm-12 am Saturdays, $5. with beginner lesson 8:30 pm
plus Swing & Ballroom dancing 7:30-9 pm before salsa
dance on 4th Saturday of month (See dates listed below)
Note: no lesson on 4th Saturday,
Studio Dance Parties for 2010, 7:30 pm-12 am
Swing & Ballroom Dance plus DJ Rod for the Salsa Dance
January (Sorry, there is no ballroom dance this month)
February 27, Saturday
March 27, Saturday
April 24, Saturday
May 22, Saturday
June 26, Saturday
July 24, Saturday
August 28, Saturday
September 25, Saturday
October 30, Saturday, HALLOWEEN DANCE
November 27, Saturday
December 4, Mark your calendar for the
HOLLY JOLLY TROLLEY dance, Saturday

She will send updates to her students and friends every month.

From Julia McCormick: Sent from my iPod

Subject: Don't Panic!!!
IF A FAT GUY IN A RED SUIT GRABS YOU AND PUTS YOU IN A BAG,.......
DON'T Panic, I TOLD SANTA I WANTED A GOOD FRIEND FOR CHRISTMAS!

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle in their journey. Thank God and them for the opportunity to walk this leg of their journey with them.

Merry Christmas!!!! aka.... Mele Kalikimaka!!!

"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?"

From El Intruso.

Dancing on the "2": The Western Fluke of History
By Aristides Raul Garcia (aka Ari, aka Intruso)

Early fifties, by all accounts, at that time there were no Latino Dance teachers in NYC. So Westerners teaching Ballroom dances were called to service. Since everything Cuban was "in", or perhaps for practical reasons, they took the "Cuban" step sequence I described above to teach the newcomers.

To them it was, and still is, inconceivable that a dance could have a step sequence beginning in one frame and ending in the next, such as the step sequence for the Son. Much more inconceivable for them to have the accent of the music to be on the 4. For the western dance teacher, at least in those days the 3 step dance sequence had to fit into the 1234 "box".

"Even If My Heart Would Break"
by Aaron Neville with Kenny G.

In a way they were lucky, because once two of those old fashion "Cuban" dancers got over the "protocol" step, to the well trained eye of the Ballroom teacher, who was totally unfamiliar with the feeling of Latin music, those dancers looked like they were dancing 234 etc. And so, they started to teach the Mambo on the 2.

Their "luck" also turned out to be their misfortune, for ever since then they have had to come up with all kinds of senseless explanations for this non-existent accent on the 2, as well as dirty tricks to make their students "feel" the accent. '"

"Se Acabo" by Lucia Mendez

They should have changed the Tumbao, switch the slap and the TumTum around. Luckily, that was beyond their powers. The rubbish placed around the "House of the Two", to protect it, is threatening to fall on top of it. According to dancers of The New York 2, you do a step on the one, and "break"on the 2. I don’t know of any 2 dancer in New York stepping on the 1. That is international (British) style which is wrong.

In a future article I plan to include my views about Eddie Torres’ teaching and his video. Also, an explanation as to why the Clave beat is for everyone. Finally, I will like to raise the question: "Do people really dance to one particular beat on the music (like horses), or is there something more human involved which can help to explain the diversity of ways in which people dance?"

The Rootzi Tootzis will never understand that. Never, Never. Never. It is an impossibility. Once they know everything nothing can convince them differently.

"All that glitters is not gold."

Merry Christmas

So many things to do, I may as well get this one over with. Merry Christmas everyone and I hope to make more contact after Christmas. I hope everyone enjoys their Christmas as they usually do.

Most people are going to their own private parties which sounds pretty good to me. And there are not too many dances scheduled for this time of the year. Then I suppose too, that many will be preparing to welcome the new year in. All indications are that it will probably be a good year for all.


There are plenty of parties for New Year's in Waikiki. I don't know too much about the West yet.

"Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space." ~ Dave Barry

Merry Christmas

American Style in the UK?

Ballroom not exciting enough (adapted from another article.)
When talking to young people learning to dance in England they often hear that they find Ballroom dancing a little boring due to the restrictions it comes with: the permanent body contact being the main one. For that reason they often prefer Latin dances or even go for disco or jazz instead. There is however an easy way to make Ballroom more exciting for people of all ages - it is the way they dance it in America.

What is American Smooth
American Smooth can be best described as a form of ballroom dancing with an enhanced repertoire of easy to perform, yet exciting steps All basic principles and the technique of ballroom dancing still apply, however partners are not required to maintain a continuous body contact. Lifting the body contact restriction allows the dancers to perform steps such as: lady under arm turns, spins, side by side positions, parallel turns, dips, drops and other variations that would never be allowed in the traditional International Style dancing. Anyone who has ever learned ballroom dancing will find American Smooth very easy to learn, yet refreshing due to its interesting, rich syllabus.

The music used for American Smooth, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz and Foxtrot is basically the same as that used for Ballroom as we know it in Europe, with the exception of quickstep, which is not danced in the American Smooth style. The closest dance you have is the Peabody. In other words you can surprise your friends by dancing a totally new choreography to almost any ballroom dance music.

American Smooth comes to UK
Dancesport UK has invited Mr Anderson Moore, himself a former Fred Astaire Rising Star Champion to come to London to train the first generation of American Smooth dance teachers. We may expect in the next few months schools around the country starting to offer classes in American style Ballroom too. Consequently the competitions will follow suit. American Style is also invading Europe. There should be a law.

"The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected."

Meanwhile the Stats for first twenty days of December show that the three of the blogs. Town Dancer, Dancing in the Dark and Inter Island Dance News are down. Probably because of the new blog in town. Of course they will not remain there for long. We have work to do.

We all need information about the line dancing and the line dancers. And we also need information about our three Dance Studios. Keep On Dancing Studio (which includes Doug), Dream To Dance Studio and Al Franz Dance Studio. We need input (information) from the studios of small items and perhaps even a photo. This should give the rest of the readers the everyday acknowledgement of the existence of the Studios.

Then there is the puzzle of Dance West Oahu and West Oahu Dance. The old blog about to be deleted and the new one. Together they racked up more the 70 average hits per day. I simply cannot explain it. Somebody is going to point it out. Always does, I don't have the solutions to everything. We shall see what we shall see at the end of the month.

"Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls

And of course we mustn't forget the other everyday opportunities that exist. Look into Dancing in the Dark blog and you will read items about dancing that you will not find anywhere else. That is what I call "publishing a blog."

"Genius has its limitations but vanity and stupidity have no limits."