Diamond Dance’s ‘Aloha Vibes’ brings together music, movement and celebration

At the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Saturday, hundreds packed into chairs or circled around the stage to see Diamond Dance Project’s all-company showcase, but that was only one of several attractions filling the space as part of the group’s annual “Aloha Vibes” event.

Around the stage were a ring of vendors selling food, toys and crafts. The selection stretched behind the complex, where food trucks waited with even more to offer. In one booth, people received massages, and in another children played games.

Diamond Dance Project dancers weren’t the only group to take the stage during the event. Anchorage-based Ladies of the Pacific performed and brought volunteers on stage for a quick crash course in hula dancing. Kala Vahey, a local musician, sang and played the ukulele.

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At around 2 p.m., the main event showcase featured dozens of local dancers who scurried on and off the stage for a series of routines that represented the many varieties of dance taught at the studio. Each was performed with only two brief breaks in the action, with Jessie Soyangco, one of the owners and directors of the company, keeping the audience fired up.

Crystal Soyangco, also an owner and director of the company, said before the event that the showcase and Aloha Vibes creates a platform to give back to the community. In addition to the performances and vendors, they also hosted a food drive benefiting the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. The food bank wrote on Facebook that around 300 pounds of food and some cash were donated.

For more information, find “Diamond Dance Project” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Diamond Dance Project’s Jessie Soyangco fires up the crowd before an all-company showcase as part of Aloha Vibes at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Dancers from Diamond Dance Project perform during an all-company showcase as part of Aloha Vibes at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)