Get down for dough
The "Ultimate Dance Competition"
in Waikiki keeps contestants
on their toes
FOLLOWING A successful run in February, the Wave Waikiki presents another round of its "Ultimate Dance Competition," starting Monday at 9 p.m.
"We used to do the dance contest every other Monday for many years, but we stopped doing it because there were ... dance contests all over the place, said Wave promotions director Flash Hansen. "Now it's gotten to the point where nobody does them anymore, so we wanted to bring it back."
Wave Waikiki's Ultimate Dance Competition
Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.When: 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Mondays through Jan. 5
Admission: $5 (liquor card holders get in free), 18 and over
Call: 941-0424, Ext. 12
Up to 10 contestants are allowed to enter the competition each week during the first three preliminary heats, with the top three finishers moving on to the finals Jan. 5 for a chance at sharing $1,000 worth of prize money. Last year's champions, the Kakimochi Funk Crew, will receive a free pass to the final week of competition while other genres of dance are given an opportunity to qualify.
"If we had someone doing straight up ballet, or salsa, or tango, or mambo, or some tap or whatever, I'm down for all that," Hansen said. "It's just totally nice to get a little variety."
EACH PRELIMINARY heat will consist of three parts -- a freestyle round, wild card round and final dance-off. The freestyle round, judged by audience response, is the easiest of the three. Each individual dancer or group is given 30 seconds to shake their groove thang, using music provided by the contestants. After the first round, the top 75 percent of the entrants will move on to the wild card portion of the contest.
Using music selected at random, the wild card round is meant to challenge each entrant, according to Hansen. "It'll be songs that'll throw them for a loop, and what we're looking for is for them to show their versatility."
Contestants end up "dancing to something they probably aren't used to ... they don't know what the music is going to be," he said. A panel of local professional dancers and choreographers will serve as judges during this round, assigning points based on how creative each contestant's impromptu rug-cutting session is.
Following the wild card round, a dance-off will be held to give the judges and audience a final look at the top competitors of each week's heat. Both the judges' scores and audience response will determine which four entrants move on to the "Ultimate Dance Competition" finals on Jan. 5.
WITH ONLY a handful of slots filled for the first week of competition, Hansen is still looking for dancers and/or groups to take part in the latest installment of the contest. But be warned, he says.
"You never know" who's going to show up, "and certainly you never know what to expect ... they get a little extra creative."
Doors open at 9 p.m. weekly, with the competition scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Those still interested in competing are asked to e-mail Hansen at promo@wavewaikiki.com, or call 941-0424, ext. 12.
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