Kane'ohe dancers step up

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer

Stardom for a Kane'ohe dance group is in the hands of television viewers across the United States who will decide if 24-VII Danceforce, based at Windward Mall, will eventually take home the $100,000 grand prize in the CBS "Star Search II" contest.

Hawai'i residents who want to vote for the group will have to go online to www.cbs.com/star after 3 p.m., which is when the program will be airing live on the Mainland.

"Star Search," a national program, has several categories of competition, including comedy and singing. The audience votes for the winner, but it has only about four minutes to cast votes after a performance.

A CBS review of 24-VII's Wednesday performance said the group's high-energy jazz style dazzled the judges. Country singer and "Star Search" judge Naomi Judd described the performance as "pizzazz, razzmatazz and all that jazz."

The group is ecstatic, said Marcelo Pacleb, director of 24-VII Danceforce. They were jittery and their hearts were pounding when they got on stage Wednesday, but once the music began all of that faded away, he said.

"Once that music started that passion, that love came out," Pacleb said in an interview from Los Angeles.

"...I told them the most important thing is to show them what you love doing. Share the love with them."

Before starting the 24-VII Danceforce Company in 1991, Pacleb worked with Windward performing arts students at Castle High School, choreographing plays and teaching classes. He has trained hundreds of students, including many who have gone on into theatrical careers.

The dancers — Alicia Vela-Bailey, Orlando Ortega, Jay Queja, Jordan Ofoia and Kuponohi'ipoi Aweau — are in Los Angeles with Pacleb and had one day to refine an entirely new routine for the show today. They knew basically what they would do but they hadn't spent as much time preparing the new number, which is more Polynesian, Pacleb said.

Vela-Bailey, 20, said the group practiced all day yesterday on a new routine that they had gone over a couple of times. Working with only the basic structure, they had to add details to make it perfect, she said. The day was frustrating, but Vela-Bailey said she was looking forward to the competition, especially after Wednesday's unexpected victory.

"The competition was very, very good," Vela-Bailey said, adding that everyone had become friends and she didn't really want to compete against them. "But they pushed us to go hard."

Pacleb said he believes that his team has as much of a chance of winning as the others, but the main goal is to share a part of Hawai'i with the nation. A Polynesian theme might be risky, he said.

"We're here to represent Hawai'i so we're going to do it our way," Pacleb said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.