As it turned out, neither of my girls turned in the kind of performance we'd hoped for at the Oct. 16 You Can Dance gala.
Audrey was disappointed and embarrassed about the obvious flubs in her routine, but recovered in time to enjoy the rest of the program. Lauren's performance was better than her sister's, but still not consistent with practice. It was a relief that the girls went early in the line-up (Lauren was fourth and Audrey sixth), as my mom couldn't stay the entire length of the show due to poor health, but also a bummer that both my sisters missed the girls' performances entirely because they got stuck in the hotel's full parking lot.
Due to unforeseen complications, we were late, and in our haste arrived at the wrong venue to boot. Upon realizing our error, I told my sisters to try and get the car to valet parking as quickly as possible and split from them to lead my girls to right hotel on foot. After running the entire length of the parking lot to the Marriott Suites on high heels, Audrey and Lauren were out of breath and stressed to the max. Their instructor, Paul Bond, was waiting anxiously outside the hotel lobby to usher them into the ballroom. They barely had time to catch their breath before getting in line to perform.
The sponsor dance segment consisted of 6 routines of about 2 ½ minutes each, whose music clips were pre-arranged and recorded in a medley, so our late arrival had actually held up the program because the order of the performers' appearances could not be interchanged and the Dancesation team wouldn't be able to begin the show until Audrey and Lauren had turned up. We were terribly sorry we'd started everyone out on the wrong foot, and it wasn't a good night for Audrey at all!
While waiting for her sister to come home from the salon, Lauren enjoyed going through her own beauty routine in the privacy of her room. When I last checked up on her, she'd spent a good twenty minutes painting meticulous card motifs on her nails in keeping with her Poker Face dance theme. As her nails were drying, she drew heart-shaped designs on her lips in red and black. I wasn't crazy about the funky look, but not going to deny Lauren her creative license either as long as the result wasn't wildly inappropriate. At her age, you can experiment and get away with a lot.
Due to unforeseen complications, we were late, and in our haste arrived at the wrong venue to boot. Upon realizing our error, I told my sisters to try and get the car to valet parking as quickly as possible and split from them to lead my girls to right hotel on foot. After running the entire length of the parking lot to the Marriott Suites on high heels, Audrey and Lauren were out of breath and stressed to the max. Their instructor, Paul Bond, was waiting anxiously outside the hotel lobby to usher them into the ballroom. They barely had time to catch their breath before getting in line to perform.
The sponsor dance segment consisted of 6 routines of about 2 ½ minutes each, whose music clips were pre-arranged and recorded in a medley, so our late arrival had actually held up the program because the order of the performers' appearances could not be interchanged and the Dancesation team wouldn't be able to begin the show until Audrey and Lauren had turned up. We were terribly sorry we'd started everyone out on the wrong foot, and it wasn't a good night for Audrey at all!
On the positive side, we loved the way Audrey looked on the dance floor thanks to the magic of La Belle! The Golden LaBelle team, which included shop owners Johnny Phong and Mina Uyen, the official hair & makeup artist of You Can Dance reality show, had graciously taken her in on a last-minute request from my sister Quyen, even though they were booked solid the entire day doing the contestants' makeup.
While waiting for her sister to come home from the salon, Lauren enjoyed going through her own beauty routine in the privacy of her room. When I last checked up on her, she'd spent a good twenty minutes painting meticulous card motifs on her nails in keeping with her Poker Face dance theme. As her nails were drying, she drew heart-shaped designs on her lips in red and black. I wasn't crazy about the funky look, but not going to deny Lauren her creative license either as long as the result wasn't wildly inappropriate. At her age, you can experiment and get away with a lot.
In the past, Lauren and Audrey have always worn off-the-rack dresses to all their dance graduations and competitions. I thought it was about time Audrey got a proper dance costume of her own. She'd ordered hers on eBay (Audrey was still an eBay fiend despite that disastrous experience with her pageant dress) from a Vietnam-based dancewear shop. I had some misgivings about ordering online with a foreign vendor when the event date was less than 2 weeks away, but there wasn't anything I could find elsewhere within our budget that Audrey liked. Fortunately, the dress arrived on time and needed no alterations. It was such a relief as we didn't have any back-up Latin dance dresses in our closet. For Lauren, I'd made do by ordering a quick-ship Rocker Girl leotard with fishnet cut-out sides from http://www.starsdancewear.net/ to pair up with her choice of a $19.99 off-the-rack black & red tutu from Discount Dance Supply. To complete the outfit, we added a pair of rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses and stretch satin fingerless gloves from Lauren's favorite shoestring accessory store at Paul's suggestion.
We were happy about our costume choices, but couldn't help feeling a little envious of the YCD contestants' professional dancewear, which must have cost a fortune and looked it!
Lauren in her Rocker Girl getup
Lauren cutting the rug with her instructor, Paul Bond, to Lady Gaga's Poker Face
Audrey and Paul dancing to Marc Anthony's Aguanile
We had a marvelous evening even though no one from our family ventured onto the dance floor during the social dance segments. The most interesting part of the show, besides seeing the contestants battle it out for the People's Choice Award, was the presentation of the L'Or de Jean Martell auction for SAVICE (Save a Vietnamese Child with Education), with a dramatic James Bond skit starring Loan Nguyen, Hang-Ny Nguyen, and Alexander Andreev, a.k.a. Sasha. Although not a wines & spirits connoisseur, I was briefly tempted to join the bidding for the limited-edition decanter of rare French cognac made from a blending of the clearest eau-de-vie, aged over 100 years in the House of Martell's cellars (one of 120 bottles available in the States that carried a price tag of $3,600 each), until I was brought back to sobriety remembering Audrey's steep college tuition has yet to be paid this month. Martell, one of the reality show's major sponsors, unexpectedly decided to up the excitement level by throwing in a private party package of catering and drinks for the auction winner. Everyone at our table concurred that the private party itself was worth more than the bidding price at that point, but lacked the cash to make it ours. In the end, the famed cognac bottle went to a generous and deserving supporter of YCD for just above $7,000. The event's success allowed Dancesation to present a check in the amount of $15,500 to benefit SAVICE, which confirmed that the night's gala was truly a worthwhile endeavor to everyone who participated and a fun evening for all!
Hang-Ny in the L'Or de Jean Martell skit
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For anyone interested in glamorous special-occasion makeup and hairstylings, here's the address for La Belle: 10568 Westminster Ave, Suite #E, Garden Grove, Ca 92843. Check them out on Facebook under Golden LaBelle (Johnny Phong) and view their amazing Before & After photos!
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