Divino Ritmo St Patty's Day Studio Dance Party - 2013

Marie, Yanna, and Edward all dressed in green, looking very Irish to me!

Did you know that St Patty's Day is the day that commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish in general?  This year Divino Ritmo Dance Studio celebrated St Patty's Day with a studio party.  Although the original color associated with St Patrick was red and not green, this was indeed a green event....all except for the air conditioner that blasted arctic temperatures through your body, the music that vibrated your eardrums with depth and intensity, and the fossil fuel that it took to transport the 100 odd patrons to the studio to eat, dance and be merry. 

Early in the evening before the dance floor was filled.  The vendors wares
can be seen in the background.  The background lighting warmed the room,
accented with dancing bubbles of light on the dance floor.

Why even write about such an event? The answer IS it was the funnest of fun! And it wasn't just me, everyone seemed to be funning it up! The lights were dim, the studio was dressed with posters, and St Patrick's day paraphernalia, a few vendors selling jewelry and ladies dance dresses, and small circular tables cutely adorned with blue tablecloths for the guests to sit at - OK, don't make a stink about everything needing to be green.  There was homemade food, nothing fancy, but yummy nevertheless - thank you Connie, Marie, Maria and countless others.  You could bring in your wine from home and avoid the exorbitant cost of the sewer water that they serve most of the time at five times the cost.  

Many but not all of those attending
were DRD students. DRD events seem
to attract countless social dancers and
students from other studios who
faithfully attend. 

The  music was wonderful - playing everything conceivable that was standard ballroom and Latin ..including Bachata and EVEN a polka that found me happily spinning around the perimeter of the dance floor like one of those Roomba iRobot vacuum cleaners, gaining traction and momentum from bouncing off of corners of the studio or the unlucky people sitting or standing in our way.  Everyone seemed to be having fun, more interested in social dancing, eating, talking story, laughing, rather then posing, or pretending to dance their best ballroom on a dance floor filled to capacity with social dancers.

Indeed, while the Pacific Beach Hotel Showcase culture has added much to the enjoyment of the Honolulu ballroom dance scene, it is just tiresome and predictable.  Year after year - the same people doing and saying the same things, the buffet line with the same dreadful food served in exactly the same order, tasting like left overs from the previous showcase. Dance exhibitions that look like deja vu all over again, verbose and endless speeches, the musty odor of the Pacific Beach Hotel, way over due for a make over, that can be tasted lingering in the air.  

Now clearly I go to these because I enjoy them, and I'm guilty of the same things I just finished complained about above in others. But sometimes in dismay, I wish for something more. There is just not much choice in attending ballroom events in Honolulu. Still overall, the experience is positive. But sometimes I wish for something more!

Amid this backdrop, the St Patty's day DVD studio party was a welcome respite from the boring and predictable, a surprisingly upbeat event that was fun for all.  Even the cost of the event including unlimited home made food was a third of the typical PCB Showcase events.  There were only two exhibitions, both formations....one by our cute chorus of four young girls, and an additional one by our young adult formation team - that we have both seen before.  The number of exhibitions was perfect, not too many or too few, just enough to give everyone a short break from what they were doing.  Not too many to dampen the spirited flavor of the night.

We were given a special treat when Jones, who was thankfully participating in the second formation, was observed dancing his formation steps with pants zipper unzipped - the news spread like wildfire. With face turning red, Jones attempted to initially hide his opening by shielding it with his hand - all while dancing the formation routine. The crowd went crazy with laughter, the unscripted reaction of Jones caught even himself off guard. To be sure, Jones usually enjoys the limelight, dancing provocatively every chance he can to indulge the crowd with his unusually flexible hip movements.  But last night, Jones was uncharacteristically circumspect as the embarrassment of the situation set in.  He did finally succeed in zipping his zipper by the end of the routine, certainly a welcome relief to him, while the crowd continued to cheer and jeer his every movement for a job well done.