Register to Attend:
May 20th @ 3:30 PM
This free family event will celebrate the spirit, pride, culture and joy of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with singing, dancing, comedy, special guests, acknowledgments from civic officials, Ballroom Dance demonstrations, and an open dance floor for all ages.
Program and activities occurring inside ballroom and outside in the parking lot.
Acknowledgements from Civic Officials, food and drink vendors, special guest appearances, DJ, dancing, live music and MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED located outside in the parking lot.
Vocal Performances, Special Guest appearances/Entertainment and Ballroom Exhibition Dancing by Community, Pro/Am and Professional Dancers inside ballroom, followed by a tea dance open to the public.
Entrance in rear of the building on First Street.
Meet the Co-Hosts
The dance will be co-hosted with Brenda and Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed the gunman following the mass shooting on Lunar New Year’s Eve.
For as long as he can remember, Tsay and his older sister, Brenda Tsay, 27, have been fixtures at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio. His paternal grandmother, Eng Chen Tsay, opened the business in the 1990s after emigrating from Taiwan. His mother, Yvonne Hwei Fung Lin, managed the studio and worked the front office.
To learn more about Brandon and the Tsay family, click here.
Lai Lai has been part of the comunity for 30+ years now.
When it opened in 1992, Lai Lai prided itself on being the first ballroom dance studio in the region with a floor larger than 2,400 square feet. “It was an instant hit, the grand opening was packed,” said Tom Tsay, whose parents were one of four couples who founded the studio. The studio has been in the family for 3 generations.
Since the dance community is very close-knit, students attended both Star Ballroom and Lai Lai. For many, with the rise of anti-Asian hate, many seniors felt vulnerable and the dance studios were their place of comfort.
Read more about these studios and the dance community here.