Dance Hawaii's 17th Annual Christmas Gala

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Last Saturday night was Dance Hawaii's 17th Annual Christmas Gala.  There was open dancing, lots of good Filipino and local food, and dance exhibitions of ballroom, line, and Zumba styles.  The ballroom exhibitions were quite varied themselves.

Dance Hawaii was founded with the intention to provide quality dance instruction an accessible cost, with a focus on ballroom and line dancing.  It is affiliated with my church, and meets there.

Dance Hawaii's president and vice-president, Maurice and Remy, gave
the final exhibition of the night, a tango-salsa.

Dancing is a central part of Filipino culture in Waipahu.  I am told this goes back to the home country.  This seems to be true for the young and the old, though the preferred styles of dance might be a little different between the generations.  

There are numerous social dances put on by groups.  A local Filipino restaurant chain, Golden Coin, offers banquet halls and programming for dance parties.  Residents sometimes use their backyards and living rooms to host dance parties.  

Dancing is built into the culture of the Philippines.  Given that there are over 100 unique cultures and languages in the Philippines, this is a proud and varied dance history.  The Filipino Community Center in Waipahu recently hosted a performance group made up of folk dancers and instructors who were each trained in different indigenous dance styles.  

This heritage seems to live on in the Filipino love of dance in many forms.  It certainly lives on in Waipahu.  

At the gala this past Saturday night, Malia (my dance partner), and I danced a solo and in a group performance.  We had worked on both for over three months. 

I had never danced before in my life.   At least in public.  As a kid, I was extremely proud of avoiding school proms, for many reasons, including my aversion to dance. Recently, my DNA was evaluated and showed that I am genetically, “least likely to enjoy dancing.”  

But there we were.


The audience threw a bunch of $1 bills all over Malia and me when we ended.  I learned later this is a Filipino custom.






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