Our Blog Structure

Not everyone understands our blogging:

The information contributors (the Two Centers) will simply email the information to be shared to the Blog of his/her choice and the blogger will in turn publish it wherever he can squeeze it in. Same with photos, together with a real or pen name that can be used. Can be as little as one sentence which would be better in the comments section of any blog. One or two paragraphs would be ideal as well as a couple photos. At any rate, the information contributors and the guest authors can work it out to their mutual satisfaction.

"When you arrive at perfection and are without sin - then you certainly have the right to speak out against the sins of others."

What is a guest author? The guest authors in our blogs really have a blog within the blog of their choosing. Once they decide they want to, the blog owner will notify Blogger and Blogger gives the OK and the password is between Blogger and the guest author. The guest author can then get in, open his/her own new blog, post any articles, photos as he/she wishes. Can edit, save, close or publish just like any blogger. He/she can do this whenever they wish without saying boo to anyone. The guest postings belong to the guest author and are so attributed, so the concept is quite straightforward. And the Guest Author has a blog with ready made readers.

"I'll Remember You" by Don Ho

All four of our bottom blogs have hit the wall. Actually I prefer to call it a plateau because they have SOS. They are all poised to go into the 20s. Watch them when they get information contributors and guest authors. The hits are going to go through the roof. And I can plan on making the best one into the first independent.

Bloggers Law #37E: "If an idea can survive a bureaucratic review

in a large club, and be implemented, it wasn't worth doing." 

A Little Latin

By Aristides Raul Garcia, aka as El Intruso.
New York.

After WWII, great Cuban musicians came to the United States to learn Jazz. The best example of them is the late Mario Bauza who became a Jazz master as a musician, composer, and arranger. One could disagree with his contention that he was the "inventor of Latin Jazz", but he was certainly a pioneer of the gender. In any case, New York born Latinos could relate to this fusion of Cuban rhythms and Jazz; they could culturally identify with both idioms.

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by

going beyond them into the impossible."

The Mambo in NY was able to take elements of Jazz, and became, perhaps, the first ever Latin Pop Musical expression with cross-over possibilities; it was also taken up by other New Yorkers, mainly by the up and coming Jewish middle class, but also by Italians, Irish, and Afro Americans.

One of the main characteristics of the New York Mambo was its lyrical simplicity, and many times its total lack of any lyrics. That is one of the reasons why it was never popular in Latin America. The main thing for Mambo lovers in NY was the instrumentation, the solos, the virtuosity of the musicians and arrangers.

"Ven Devorame Otra Vez" por Los Cuatro

Some of those Mambos are classic pieces, in every sense of the word. It was a time of experimentation without the taboos which usually accompany village life. This was New York, and the sky was the limit, they went for it. Speaking of demographics, race, and economics, the end of the Mambo Era coincides with the flight of the white ethnic middle class from Manhattan to suburbia.

"La Bella Maria" por Antonio Banderas

The New York Palladium in the 50s

In reality, during the dying days of the Mambo rage, if you wanted to dance Mambo you were better off going to the Catskill Mountains, which had become an almost all-Jewish "enclave" and resort area. It became a museum piece to be found only in the dance studios of the Ballroom teachers. Was everyone dancing on the "2" at the Palladium? If you look at film footage from those glorious days, and you really know how to count to the music, you see that people were dancing on different counts, mainly on what today is called the 2, and on the 3.

(to be continued some other day)

Shared by Bishop Grant Woo on Facebook

The Big Island

It is getting bigger, with people I mean. Traditional, it has always been five to one ratio between Hilo and Kailua Kona. At present, the populations are about four to one and is expected to be two to one by the end of this decade. And no one has ever mentioned second city status for Kailua Kona. It just grew and it will keep on growing.

"Truth can hardly be expected to adapt herself to the crooked policy

and wily sinuosity's of worldly affairs; for truth, like light,

travels only in straight lines."

"Stranger In Paradise" by Tony Bennett.

Of course there is another one developing on the North Shore of the Big Island. However they are going to have a dilly on the Kona Coast in October. The Aloha Ball at the Sheraton at Keehou will definitely establish the Dance world on the Big Island. There are many new fans of social dancing on the Big Island but most are tied up with Web sites. We are going to hear much more from them.

"Be My Love" by Mario Lanza

And what ever happened to the Double Blues? Dancers were dancing this in the forties on the Kona Coast. It then came over to Oahu.  Or maybe I got it backwards. I would see some very good Double Blues dancers in the 80's here on Oahu. Terrific to watch.

"Dance may be something that can never be explained adequately

but it can be shown by dancing."

We are not too far behind.

An Early Adopter of Club Culture, Progressive Seattle is More Than Ever a Hot Spot for Dancing the Night Away By John Ferri, Local Expert, Seattle

As a progressive and culturally open city, Seattle was early to the club culture phenomenon. When disco waned and electronic beats took over nightclubs across the land, the Emerald City was right on the forefront of that trend with clubs like Neighbours, one of the city’s original GLBT nightspots.

 "Learn from yesterday, dream for tomorrow and live for today."

Opened on Labor Day weekend in 1983, the innovative club is still in action, but it now has plenty of competition in its own Capitol Hill neighborhood, as well as in Belltown. Those two nightlife hotspots are home to the city’s largest concentration of underground clubs and swank Euro-style ultra-lounge spaces, which share the nightlife landscape with chic hotel lounges and live music venues.

"The Wonderful World Of The Young" ... Andy Williams

Right Photo: SEE Sound Lounge, Dance Club, Neighborhood, Local Expert Tip: "This intimate club space was designed for smaller crowds, and the place can be booked for private events such as art shows and openings, birthday parties, bachelorette bashes, or corporate events."

"Flying Home" by
Lionel Hampton

Of course, there are dozens of rock dives with dance floors, but in terms of electronic dance music, the Showbox at the Market manages to bring in top current touring acts from the genre. Still, those shows are more about seeing the performer live than dancing into blessed-out oblivion until the wee hours. For that type of nocturnal activity, there is no shortage of valid venues, and each specializes in subgenres of dance-club culture.

"Fly Me To The Moon" by Jimmy Borges

Left Photo: Bar Dance Club, Neighborhood: Downtown, Local Expert Tip: "Located in a historic brick building, the Alibi Room by day comes off as rustic, all exposed brick and beams with vintage hardwood floors. But don't be fooled. At night the club booms with beats."

"I'm Sitting On Top Of The World"

by Bobby Darin

As practical as it is forward thinking, the Seattle club scene features chameleons like the Alibi Room, which could pass for a frontier bar in daylight but turns out churning beats after dark, serving two distinctly different crowds from the same historic brick building. For sheer glitz and pretty people taken with a healthy dose of thudding subwoofer, there are spots including Trinity Nightclub and Re-Bar.

"Paniolo Country" by Melveen Leed.

Right Photo: Noc Noc, Dance Club, Neighborhood: Downtown, Local Expert Tip: "The decor in here is broodingly trendy, with a dark gothic vibe, but don't be afraid. Simply go with the flow, and you'll enjoy excellent pricing and portions on bar snacks, great drinks, and both guest and house DJ's spinning a blend of popular dance music, varying from pop to techno to hip-hop sounds"

Tonight I think I will have me a few Rum and Cokes.

The Neighbor Islands

Reeeived from Yanna in two formats. Good enough.

The third annual major International Ballroom Competition comes to Kona! The Sheraton in Keahou will host the Aloha Ball on Friday, October 21st to Sunday, Oct 23rd. Professional/Amateur Ballroom competitions will take place with a Professional Showcase to highlight the evenings. See the top Ballroom and Latin dancers from California, Japan and Hawaii compete for the top prizes.

"Morning Dew" by Melveen Leed

One day all day and evening dance competitions in American, International, smooth, Latin, solos, formations, scholarships, professional showcase, and VIP party to end the evening. The event is open to non dancers as well to watch the beautiful performances, cost of the all day and all evening event  for more information, reservations, or dance classes contact.

"Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho

 It is just terrific that the Big Island allowed Kona to develop into Second City and it is doing very well. At the end of this century Hawaii will be the Big Island. All the rest will be nice places to visit every few years. And on the Big Island there will be a Third City on the North and a Fourth City on the South. Each one will have over 100 thousand residents and a million things to see. Can others see it?

 Dancing there? You can bet your dancing shoes on that.

For Oahu, Bad News: Last Wednesday, federal officials privately told rail staff that construction costs for the project, originally estimated to be $5.2 billion, may grow to $8.1 billion by the time it’s completed in (hopefully) 2024, five years after the original completion date. The next day, rail leaders released a revised cost estimate made two months ago by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation: $6.9 billion. It took HART leaders another day to acknowledge the much higher federal estimate and the implications it might have for the 20-mile project. But the Fat Cats in Honolulu already knew this and have plans for more. Millions and Millions of dollars in gravy train profits. It has always been the bread, Fred.

La Rumba Appreciated

When the first illegals arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 there were more than ten million natives in all the Americas. Perhaps two hundred thousand in the Caribbean. By 1592, there were already more than 5000 African slaves and ten thousand Europeans in the Caribbean. The Indian music and dance had been there for ages, Now Latin music and dance was emerging during this period and the Europeans and the Blacks did not have much to do with it.

"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements

that will never do any harm to the world."

The classes were firmly established and the Europeans were first then the Indians, then the Blacks. The Indians made many small changes in their music and dance to impress the Europeans not the Blacks. And since the blacks came from all over Africa with dozens of different cultures, the only thing to really learn was what they saw on a daily basis, the Indian music and dances.

"Cuando Me Enamore" por Enrique Iglesias.

When the slaves were freed during the 1800s, they had completely assimilated the Indian dances. Any changes made by the Blacks were made by those who had African ancestors from two or three centuries back. During  this time, several secular dance-oriented music styles were developed by native workers in the poor neighborhoods of Havana and Matanzas that influenced the rest of the Caribbean. And Partner dancing was introduced.

"Siempre Te Amare" por Yuridia

Ths fast Rumba was danced differently in the islands of the Caribbean. But the basic step was there and it was danced solo. So if there was a "Ritmo" out there the men would dance. The Caribbean was well traveled by Sailors and they were the ones to bring it out. In their descriptions, "Por ese Rumbo," meant that type, lidat. They recognized the similarities. Since la dansa is a feminine word, El Rumbo evolved into La Rumba as the name of the dance.

"Besame Mucho" por Placido Domingo 

Photos

And in our blogs we certainly have been fortunate to get some great ones. Probably the best ones were by Calvin and the Dance competitions or exhibitions in the Town Dancer blog. And the most recent great example were those photos contributed by Wahiawa Ballroom Dance Club. Those had readers all the way to the Big Island.

"Believe that life is worth living and your belief

will help create the fact. - Be true to thyself."

I now give you some results from the readers. Two people in a photo are more interesting than one person. Three people more than two, and four more than three. From there up, they can and should be at the discretion of the photographer and have no reader preferences.

"Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho

Forty Nine people in a photograph are better than 50 people. Forty eight better than 49, and 47 better than 48. But you all understand that more or less. Then at some point, it becomes the personal opinion and decision of the photographer. These photos usually require the entire page across.

"Walk With Me Through Paradise" by Melveen Leed.

The amount of photos also makes a difference. One photo is more valuable than one half of a two photo contribution. And two photos are more than two thirds of a three photo contribution. Now the frequency of the photos has no boundaries that I can find because they are not contributed very frequently. And take into consideration that this entire blog has not been carved on stone. Everyone of our reader/dancers should do as they damn well please.

'Slack Key Medley" by Gabby Pahinui

Photographs are being taken by thousands of people and ending up in libraries such as Photobucket, Flicker, Picassa, Facebook and more. There are estimates of close to a quarter billion photos available in all the libraries at present. Lucky us, it would take us thirty eight years, 24 hours a day, to go through all of them. Our photos in our blogs are for our friends, relatives, club members, fellow dancers and the reader/dancers on this island of Oahu.

Our email has dropped to about half. Now a New one.

"Fly Me To The Moon" by Jimmy Borges

La Milonga, 1800s

La Milonga remained almost a complete Indian dance from 1492 to 1692 and danced mainly in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. However in 1700s, Argentina was developing the Milonga more strongly with the advent of the Gauchos in the Pampas. Guacho in the Indian language meant "without a known father." So these half breeds became more European with good horsemen arriving daily from Europe. And many became big land owners and the Gauchos became richer with the exportation of beef and hides.

"It may be difficult, when we are faced with a situation we cannot control,

to admit we can do nothing.”

By the middle of the 1800s, the new more moneyed Gauchos accustomed to their favorite dance, the Milonga of the Pampas, were being accepted into the middle classes in Buenos Aires much more readily. With better education, better manners and more elegant dress (embroidered shirts, polished boots, Spanish hat,) they were and looked more European. These were the places where many Europeans came to notice the dance and tied it to the Gaucho.

"El Dia Que Me Quieras" por Carlos Gardel

Los Gauchos del siglo 17

Many of the poorer horsemen continue to go to the brothels in La Orilla in Buenos Aires. And the Milonga began to change the way it was danced and had a big influence on the entire dance community. Then the influx of the German refugees in the 1860s, introduced the Bandoneon and the Milonga changed even more. The drastic change to music and dance of the Milonga made the French diplomats attempt to introduce the sheet music in the 1870s to Paris as the Milonga with little success.

'Mi Buenos Aires Querido" por Carlos Gardel

And it was still called La Milonga.

Struggling Along

With so many dance blogs and web sites, we got to face it. Gonna be a struggle. This blog just continues to be an addition to this great blogging around us. It is likely that some of it may rub off on the rest of us and we will produce better blogging. And then we can fill our days with items of interest to our readers. Together we will give the readers what they want day after day. So come one, come all, here, there, everywhere.

"It is not who is real to your face, it's about

who stays real behind your back."

We are also very much interested in helping the many good people in those dance organizations that do not have a Web site. Photos, dance information, and anything else that may be of interest to the readers. Read the blogs, you can see a sameness in many of them. We need the differences of opinion in our blogs and you are the only ones that can provide that difference. Pick a blog, anyone you like and stick to it for writing and contributing photos.

"Be My Love" ... Placido Domingo

"Flying Home" by Lionel Hampton

We must also recognize the great teaching by so many of our amateur teachers in the American Style of Dance. So many good dancers out there that have learned to dance the same movements over and over again in sheer joy. This definitely cannot be understood by the Rootzi Tootzis, never will. But you will notice that our social dancers are standing up a little straighter.

"Maui Waltz' by Loyal Garner

Our blog sphere is just about as far as it can go with about 50% of the blog and web action on this Island. You looking for exact figures, I ain't got'em. But at 50% we have a good hunk. Now how do we get more? There is only one way. The additional Guest Authors in the different blogs to make them definitely different and the gradual independence of each blog. Independence would guarantee our blog sphere going upwards to perhaps 75% of the action which should be quite enough.

"Wine can make every meal an occasion, every table

more elegant and every day more civilized."

Maya

Most famously, the Maya of the southern lowland region reached their peak during the Classic Period of Maya civilization (A.D. 250 to 900). They built the great stone cities and monuments that have fascinated explorers and scholars of the region for centuries. The most famous being Chichen Itza. They were famous for establishing a large profession cast, mathematicians, astrologists, musicians, dancers and more.

"It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on
the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth,
where few are willing to search for it."

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site. Their musicians and dancers had developed over 2500 dances. And you got a new one?

"Adoro" por Armando Manzanero

Armando Manzanero Canché is a Mexican musician, singer, and composer of Maya descent. Born: December 7, 1935 in Mérida, Mexico and widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin American music. Mayans were short people, about five feet tall, but Armando is about  4' 6" which could be considered a midget. But it has never been mentioned in Latin writings. He is considered a giant in Latin American music.

"Contigo Aprendi" by Armando Manzanero.

The development of Latin American music and dance from 10000 years ago has been amazing. Throughout the world many people are cashing on what they sell as Latin music and dance. Actually the music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America and incorporates music from the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
 

Due to its highly syncretic nature, - the influence of the Spanish, and other European nations and with a large new development by the Negro populations in the Caribbean, Latin American music has encompassed a wide variety of styles.We are slowly establishing Da Reel Teeng. And we will have a Latin Nightclub on Oahu. Rumba, anyone?

Everyone knows where this Night Club is.
Q: What's the difference between a Bartender and a toilet seat?
A: A toilet seat only has to deal with one asshole at a time

From the Past

From the Waha of 25 years ago - Richard Masuyama:

Fancy Steps - By or for use in social dancing. Forget the open and fancy figures that can be done only with one or very limited number of partners. Learn to do the simple figures well and leave the fancy stuff to the expert exhibition dancers. They are for show? Of course!

"Clouds may come floating into our lives, no longer to carry rain

or usher storm, but to add color to our sunset sky."

The only comment to this trend is that many students are interested only in picking up new and very advanced dance figures without too much concern about technique and styling that goes with these. The figures in the Gold Bar and Gold Star are mostly for exhibition and competitions and are starkly out of place on the social dance floor. They generally require a great deal of space for their execution and many will agree that they look terrible when not done correctly. With so many dance steps and figures available, it is sensible to concentrate on those that can be led and followed easily with any partner. You can have a really enjoyable evening.

 "What A Wonderful World" By Louis Armstrong

In our new developing Cultural class, the priorities will be in the basic basic, the intermediate basic and after a year or so, the advanced basic. With 600 documented steps and patterns available in Rumba, surely you can find 40 or so that are easy to lead and follow and the music can be enjoyed very comfortably. The established group will be the real social dancer, the universal dancer, the cultural dancer.

"Stranger In Paradise" by Tony Bennett

"Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are

the stuff of which it is made."

Huggo's On The Big Island

And we gotta another one from Huggo's and a good beginning example for all of Hawaii. Our dance blog readers prefer a little less detail in their advertising. And a couple of personal sentences, before or after, would generally make this more Social Media which is what a blog is supposed to be.

Chinese Fortune Cookie:

People with two left feet can train one to be right."

We have very nicely accepted the fact that even on the Big Island. we are a much different kind of dancer from the Competition or Exhibition dancer. These high class people have very patiently pointed it out and advised us that they are different in their dancing and they are right; They dance the right way and perhaps we can dance the left way. At least, I hope they may allow us to do it without too much hu hu.

 "North Shore Reggae Blues" by Willie K.

Back during World War II, there was a lot of dancing on the Big Island but I don't know about now. Does anyone remember the Double Blues? I thought it was a real fun dance to see too. Some people were really good at it. For now I don't hear much of Bachata and Salsa in Hawaii. The Big Island is big and far away. Patience and we can hope they will come around.

"Malama Mau Hawai'i" by Amy Hanaialiii

The readers are taking notice of Wahiawa Ballroom Dance Club (they got the name when ballroom dancing was ballroom dancing.) They teach good line dancing and good old American Style dancing using basic steps that are also used regularly in Social and Night Club dancing. Social dance is dancing, no matter how somebody wants to slice it. And the "to be seen" dance styles are something else. They are right of course, they have been insisting on this for years and we concur.

 "In our social dancing, age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant

unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.

Mariachis

Mariachi Los Camperos is a Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles-based mariachi ensemble which was formerly led by Natividad "Nati" Cano. The band migrated from Baja California and Cano renamed the band, Mariachi Los Camperos, meaning Countrymen.

The ensemble continued to grow and had four mariachis that collaborated on Linda Ronstadt’s 1987 milestone album, Canciones de Mi Padre. They also appear on Ronstadt’s sequel album, Mas Canciones, which was released in 1992, and toured with the singer nationwide. They became well know throughout the US. Nati Cano died October 3, 2014 due to declining health, passing on the group to the current musical director, Jesus "Chuy" Guzman.

"Mexican Mariachi music is traditional and a dance music of our culture and has traveled all the way down to Argentina and Chile. Europe and Asia?"

Tigres Del Norte One of the most important Mexican bands in history, Los Jefes de Jefes (as they're popularly known) are the voice of their people in the United States. Inventors of the contemporary corrido with some help, their songs tell the stories of both Mexican life and the immigrant experience. Their prize-winning recordings have been widely covered, and their live shows are legendary.

"Jalisco No Te Rajes" por Jorge Negrete

 

In Norteño/Conjunto form (a style featuring accordion that originated along the Texas border region), Los Tigres del Norte have been able to portray "real life" in a manner that strikes a chord with people across the Americas and even Hawaii. Many of their most popular songs consist of tales or corridos about life, love, and the struggle to survive in an imperfect world.

"Cien Años" por Pedro Infante

Together, the band and its public has turned norteño music into an international genre. The band has modernized the music, infusing it with rumbas, boleros, cumbias, rock rhythms, waltzes, as well as effects of machine guns and sirens integrated with the music.

"Alejandra" por Javier Solis

In closing I want to wish the dancers at Wahiawa District Park a rousing good time tonight "Seis De Mayo" shindig.  Additional: 5/7/16, Caution: This blog getting too many hits from Russia, possible scam or virus involved. I am trying to get rid of it. Be Careful.