Every Christmas, we think of ways to celebrate the birth of Jesus and give joy to others.  The merry-making normally consist of musical programs, games and, of course, lots of food! Our preparation was our dance presentation.

Initially, our dance performance was only for the Christmas party of our church organization, Legion of Mary, but we were also invited to perform for our family-oriented church organization, FAMILIA and finally, at the party of SUBPRES, the association of officers of different villages within Barangay BF but outside BF Homes subdivisions in Paranaque, Metro Manila.

We were composed of seven dancers and five whose role was to serve as ocean waves. The dancers were fast learners because some of them were teachers, while the rest had previous background in Hawaiian and modern dances. Most of them only have one to two affiliations with the organizations mentioned above so I had to hold rehearsals for three different groups.

They may be different groups but they all had one thing in common and that was the appreciation of herbs during break time. They all enjoyed cold Pandan-Tanglad and Tarragon-Mint juice with fresh Ashitaba, Stevia sweet leaves and crackers.
But food wasn’t the only preparation I made before the dancers came to the house for practice. To make our rehearsals more pleasant and relaxing, I lit a candle and placed homemade Citronella-Mint Oil for mint scent and aromatherapy. And to set us in the Christmas mood, I made a wreath with Citronella leaves and Christmas décor and ribbons. I strategically placed it in the living room not just to serve as design but for it to exude fragrance that drives away mosquitoes.



Hawaiian Interpretative Dance is a dance for matured women. It interprets the feelings   in the song projected through facial expression and body movements. The interpretative dance is accentuated by the graceful hula of the hands and the feet.  It is challenging to keep up with the discipline required in this kind of dance while maintaining the individual dancer’s poise.

Enjoy the dance with us! Click the video below to watch ‘MoonlightBay’, a Hawaiian Interpretative Dance, choreographed by Ma. Vida Madrigal, Ph.D.


Merry Christmas and Aloha!