SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento-based Japanese ballroom dance group has stood the test of time. Tsubaki Dance Club has been a vessel for locals to practice their moves for more than 40 years.
For decades, club members have moved to the rhythms of the cha cha and tapping to the bass of a swing with Tsubaki Dance Club.
"We just love to dance," said George Lee, a member of the club for around 40 years.
He is one of the group's original DJs.
"So I could pick all the music that I liked to play," he said.
The club was founded in the early 80s in Sacramento. It was named after the Japanese word for camellia flower, which was adopted as the city of Sacramento’s official flower back in the 1940s.
The dance club was comprised of more than 50 couples at its height.
Members continue to gather for monthly dance socials decades later. The socials mark a time of fellowship and, most importantly, a time to share their passion for ballroom dancing.
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Lee joined just one month after the group was formed and got people up on their feet with music from cassette tapes.
"If somebody wanted a certain song, it's hard to find. Then CDs came out, makes it much easier," Lee said.
These days, you'll find Lee by the speakers. He has a vast knowledge of artists and the greatest hits, which he keeps in a binder and shares with DJs he's passed the torch to.
"I don't dance as much anymore, but I enjoy listening to the music," he said.
You'll find longtime members Paco and Ruth Madlangbayan on the dance floor at the monthly dance socials.
"It's been an adventure," Ruth said. "Most of the people here are about the same age, so there's a lot in common. You pretty much grow together."
Most club members are in their 70s.
The Madlangbayans joined Tsubaki Dance Club more than 15 years ago. They are first-generation Filipino immigrants who came to the United States in the 70s.
When the group formed, it was originally an entirely Japanese group. President Ernie Fernandez says there's history there. When people of Japanese descent were forced into internment camps during World War II, young people learned ballroom dancing to pass the time.
Photos from the 1940s show young people swing dancing at a camps across the United States, including Manzanar, located in the Owens Valley of California between the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo mountains.
"They didn't have anything to do so they took up dancing, the younger ones," Fernandez said.
Over the years, Tsubaki Dance Club expanded to welcome folks from all ethnicities and backgrounds.
Kimland Yee and his wife, Ellen, are Chinese and joined more than 25 years ago. The couple has been together for nearly 60 years.
"Dancing is one of the most romantic things you can do, where you can dance together. But it's not easy, it took a lot of years of lessons to be able to do different ballroom dances," Kimland said. "We enjoy the music of the era. Most of the music is from the 50s and 60s."
As the years go by, some members spend more time catching up with old friends than waltzing around the room, but they keep coming back year after year.
"The most important thing is it's something we can do together and enjoy together," Ruth said.
The group meets on the second Saturday of each month at Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church on Franklin Boulevard.
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