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COURTESY OF HEATHER URSULUM Heather Ursulum was awarded the top honor at the Dance Excellence festival this year. At last year's festival, Ian Murakami was also selected to attend the Young American Program. He now resides in California.

Honolulu Dance Studio
steps into winners’ shoes

HONOLULU DANCE Studio, with directors Cathy Izumi and Elizabeth C. Miller, brought home four gold medals last month from Dance Excellence, an international dance festival and competition held in Los Angeles. Only one dance troupe from each state -- plus one dance group from each of several countries including Australia, England, Canada, Gibraltar and Scotland -- is invited to participate in the event. HDS's 23 dancers represented Hawaii in jazz, ballet and hip-hop categories. David Kane, 17, Jordan Julian, 18, and Terri-Anne Butac, 16, did so well that they were selected to attend the Young American Program (a dance and musical theater college in Corona, Calif.). Maryknoll High School student Heather Ursulum, 16, wowed the judges again to receive the top honor -- a full scholarship to attend the Dance Excellence week-long event. Only five dancers out of about 900 are chosen annually and this was the second time Ursulum picked up the honor. You'll have a chance to see the dancers' award-winning form during performances at 7:30 p.m. June 10, and 3 and 7 p.m. June 11 at Mamiya Theatre. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Call 524-8455. ...

Another restaurant has joined the "Kids Eat Free" program. Beginning tomorrow, children 12 and younger can enjoy a free kid's entrŽe when accompanied by an adult purchasing a regular entrŽe at Tiki's Grill & Bar from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The restaurant is in the ASTON Waikiki Beach Hotel at 2570 Kalakaua Ave. Free validated valet parking is available. For information, call 923-8454 or connect to www.tikisgrill.com. Some other restaurants in the "Kids Eat Free" program are Compadres (all day Sundays), Denny's (4 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays) and Gyotaku (2 to 9 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays). ...