The Splash 2005 – Otters Dance on 24th of September

The dance was held at the Colombo Plaza and I was invited! The driveway to the hotel was beautifully lit up in fairy lights and at the entrance of the ballroom stood a photographer who invited every couple or group who entered to pose for a picture.

Wine and hors d’qeuvres were served in the lobby before everyone was requested to make their way to their tables. There were sweet little bags in black with the theme of an otter couple in the Titanic pose in silver, as entrance gifts for the ladies. The gents received telephone indexes and souvenirs in the same theme colours, while the backdrop to the stage was a giant replica of the otter couple.

The bands Gypsies and Pearl were playing that evening. Both are wonderful bands. They also had Corrine and Ronnie Leitch perform guest spots. I like Corrine, she has a dynamism all her own and I envy her pert figure. I felt though that she should have done a few English numbers, cos she did some baila and left. Ronnie Leitch followed suite … all baila and some of his usual slightly off-colour jokes and comments which have long ceased to be funny. I feel he is best suited for stage shows where he has the crowd in fits of laughter. Faizal Bonzo was a co-compere. There was the usual scotch and wine at the tables. For the first time I tasted the cinzano limetto …. I liked it!

Dinner though was soooooo disappointing! They served it at around 12.00 and had such a small choice. There was rice and noodles and a vege lasagna and a few accompaniments No meat or cheese salads, no soup, no breads, no cold cuts. Hmmm guess the organizers picked the cheapest menu! Still I had expected better food from the Colombo Plaza. There was bread pudding….. yes I kid you not….. bread pudding, a trifle of sorts and slices of nice chocolate cake and choc/vanilla/strawberry ice-cream with fruit for dessert. Quite disappointing. For me the highlight of dinner time was the availability of the photographs. What lovely souvenirs they were. It was the first time I had been to a dance where such personal souvenirs were given.

They selected a Splash Queen and they had a baila competition which tired out both the competitors and the spectators, so loooong drawn out it was. I’m so glad that SLAAPS has done away with selecting of a queen. It makes the ‘also-ran’s feel quite bad. One of the selected ladies was at our table, and all of us were cheering her on. Very pretty she looked dressed in a lovely white Kandyan saree – striking was the word for it…. She was the only one in white. Anyway, I think her evening was rather spoilt. Of course the girls they did select were absolutely beautiful and deserved to win. But I felt a bit sorry for the girl at our table who determinedly tried too hard not to look disappointed!

I remember being to one dance where the selection was such gross favoritism that it had the audience screaming in protest. The presentation went on and I’m sure the poor winner felt small. I remember that one of the ‘contestants’ happened to be a model and a beautiful one at that. She was overlooked despite the cheering by the crowdand she WAS by far the prettiest. We felt they may give her at least a runner up place…. But no! The winner was a tall, rather hunched, dark homely looking girl won the prize, perhaps by virtue of being one of the organiser’s daughter!!! The first prize was a ticket to a destination in Europe and mutterings were that they wished to keep the winner within their group***!!??

The problem with this dance is that they just did NOT want to stop! The raffle draw was at 5.30 in the morning. So we danced on till morning. Sun was streaming out when we left the hotel, after Udesh insisted on having two whole helpings of kiribath served for breakfast. It was nearly 7.00 when I got home!