ACADEMY DANCE NEWS - Latin and Ballroom Dancing on Maui

Hans Bonny surrounds Marty-Jean Bender <strong>and</strong>
Sunya Echternach with the “Aloha” of the
Holiday Spirit at the Academy’s Holiday Ball!
The festive evening began with Teri
Mister <strong>and</strong> Julie Katz greeting <strong>and</strong>
meeting everyone at the door. Each
person in attendance had an assigned
table. Teri <strong>and</strong> Julie gave them
directions to their respective tables.
Jennifer Goss made the arrangements
for The Academy to use the Fairmont
Kea Lani <strong>Ballroom</strong>. The <strong>Ballroom</strong> lights
were dimmed to a romantic level. As you
entered the <strong>Ballroom</strong> your attention was
drawn to the beautiful centerpieces that
had been lovingly prepared by Cheri
Ridings. The centerpieces were
grapevine wreaths gaily decorated with
Christmas ornaments <strong>and</strong> ribbons. A
hurricane lamp with an electric c<strong>and</strong>le
had been placed in the center of each
grapevine wreath.
The Academy Officers, Al Yniguez,
President, Shelley Ting, Vice President,
Les Grimes, Vice President Maintenance,
Teri Mister, Treasurer, Julie Katz,
Secretary, plus Rita <strong>and</strong> Brian O’Connor,
Cheri <strong>and</strong> Charlie Ridings <strong>and</strong> Jim Bailey
came at 2:30 p.m. on the afternoon of
the dance to decorate each table with
the centerpiece.
H<strong>and</strong>some Men & Lovely Ladies adorn the
tables at the Academy’s elegant Holiday Ball!
Back row: Francis Taomoto, Art Sumabat,
Richard Inouye, John Tattsuke; Front row:
Etsuko Taomoto, Flossie Sumabat, Carol
Yamamura, Janet Yokoyama, Alice Inouye.
Photo by James Furumizo
In addition, a colorfully wrapped
Academy angel ornament was placed on
the table for each attendee. The
Academy’s Officers, who also fall into
the “angel” category, individually wrapped
The Academy angel ornaments.
As you were seated at your table, your
eyes were drawn to the round table on
the opposite wall. The table had twelve
beautifully decorated gift boxes stacked
upon each other to represent the 12 days
of Christmas. The boxes were tied
together with a gold metallic bow that
was artfully draped from the top gift
box.
This was the table that was used to
collect the wrapped presents for the
children at the Ka Hale A Ke Ola
Homeless Resource Center Wailuku <strong>and</strong>
for the children at the Na Hale O
Wainee Resource Center in Lahaina. Each
attendee brought one or more wrapped
gifts for the children. The “Spirit of
Aloha” was generously exhibited by The
Academy students <strong>and</strong> guests who
contributed more than 140 wrapped gifts
<strong>and</strong> $200 in gift certificates.
The beautiful 60 by 40 foot parquet
dance floor whispered an invitation to
dance to the <strong>Ballroom</strong> dance music that
was playing as you entered the <strong>Ballroom</strong>.
The dance floor was an amalgamation of
dance floors from the Gr<strong>and</strong> Wailea <strong>and</strong>
the Fairmont Kea Lani Hotels & Resorts.
From 5:30 p.m. until 6:35 p.m. you had a
chance to dance, to meet your dinner
partners for the evening, to socialize at
the other tables <strong>and</strong> to check out the
glitz <strong>and</strong> glamour of each attendee’s
attire that evening. To be sure, glitz <strong>and</strong>
glamour was in attendance.
The women were visions of
loveliness. The women’s attire ranged
from traditional <strong>Ballroom</strong> gowns in a
veritable rainbow of colors to mid-calf
length gowns with scalloped necklines to
very modern gowns with plunging
necklines <strong>and</strong> irregular hems. The women
had a vast assortment of accouterments
that included sparkling earrings,
beautiful necklaces <strong>and</strong> hairdos that
would make Vidal envious.
Charlie Ridings presented the
invocation at 6:45 p.m. The invocation
included a special request to remember
<strong>and</strong> to keep safe the men <strong>and</strong> women
8
fighting for our country in far flung
locations but especially in Iraq.
Dinner began promptly at 6:45
p.m. The Fairmont Kea Lani, as usual <strong>and</strong>
with a special mahalo to Jennifer Goss,
served a sumptuous Holiday feast of
salmon, teriyaki beef <strong>and</strong> chicken plus
vegetable <strong>and</strong> rice side dishes. The
dinner was complemented with an array
of desserts to tempt even the most
dem<strong>and</strong>ing palate.
At precisely 8:00 p.m., Rita <strong>and</strong>
Brian O’Connor made series of
announcements regarding The Academy
<strong>and</strong> how its mission statement is about
“giving back” to the Maui community.
However, the one announcement that
continued the “giving” tone of the Holiday
season <strong>and</strong> the “giving” tone of the
evening was the presentation of a check
for $250 from The Academy to the Ka
Hale A Ke Ola <strong>and</strong> Na Hale O Wainee
Homeless Resource Centers. Charlie
Ridings, the Executive Director of the
resource center, was there to receive
the check. He expressed a heartfelt
thank you for the children of the
Homeless Resource Centers.
Homeless Resource Director & Academy
Student, Charlie Ridings accepts donated gifts
<strong>and</strong> monetary contributions from Rita O’Connor
on behalf of the Academy.
Photo by Brian O’Connor
Beginning at 6:00 p.m. <strong>and</strong>
continuing every 30 minutes for the
balance of the evening, door prizes were
awarded to the attendees. The door
prizes were donated by Private Image
Dance Studio (Rita <strong>and</strong> Brian O’Connor),
by Boutique Owner Helen Hattori, by
BellyRoll Dance Company (Beka
Merrifield), by Crystal Fantasies (Charles
& Annie Yane) <strong>and</strong> by Topaz Jewelers
(Nancy <strong>and</strong> David Fairclough) whose
largesse continues unabated. A warm
mahalo to all the donors.