The first major event for Hawaii Gardenia Circle with the new Board of Directors went quite well. Frank, as usual, did a great blog in Dancing in the Dark, with awesome pictures. Geoffrey also did a blog on the event in Dance News of the Pacific, with his much anticipated comments on the performances.Because Frank and Geoffrey have covered the event and performances quite well, I’ll just add some generalized comments about the event, and add a few more photographs that should provide a good idea of the turnout they had.
Speaking of turnout, at first the “crowd” seemed to trickle in. At 7:00, the Palladium ballroom looked a little sparse. But, by 7:30 - 7:45, the seats began to fill and the dance floor had a nice crowd of dancers. I was surprised and happy to see the heads of many dance clubs and studios, as well as quite a few notable local instructors in attendance. (I’m not going to list everyone I saw because, undoubtedly, I’ll forget someone and that won’t be nice. Check out Frank and Geoffrey's blogs for details on attendees and show participants.)
I do think that this type of turnout just shows that the “new” Hawaii Gardenia Circle, which had its share of stumbling blocks during its reorganization, received a lot of support from the Hawaii dance community. And, I also think that all who came to support the event, as well as the organizers of the event, should be given a two thumbs-up.
Debra & I participated in the Latin “mock competition”, so we were at the Palladium early for the “rehearsal” or “run-through” that Gayle wanted to have. I think it was an excellent idea to have the “rehearsals” because the afternoon did start off feeling a bit disorganized. However, after a couple of run-through’s which helped coordinate all the dancers, the music master, and the MC, everyone knew what to expect during the evening’s event. So, I think Gayle deserves a big pat on the back for making sure that the exhibitions and mock competition went as smoothly as they did.The social dancers came out in mass. By the middle of the evening, the huge Palladium floor was packed during general dancing. And, during the shows, the audience was great with their whistles, cheering, and thundering applause.
By the way, although video taping was discouraged among the audience, I did - with the consent of all the participants in the mock competition - take a video of the mock comp. So, if any of you who participated in the mock comp would like a copy of the video in DVD form, please let us know (participants only please). Contact myself or Debra directly, if you have our contact information. Or, you can contact Gayle who will give me a list of everyone who would like a copy.
Just so you know, the video does not highlight couples, it is just a broad video of the entire floor, taken from the stage. So, if you were at the far end of the floor (the kitchen side), you may not be as visible as those dancing closer to the stage. The images above are clips taken from the video and should give you an idea of what you can expect from the video. It was taken with a digital HD camcorder.The bento was good. :-)
With Aloha,
Calvin
