Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fractured Fairy Tales 2014 (Part Two)

Welcome back to Part Two. General dancing continued for a short while before Act Two..


 

ACT TWO:

                            .  







(Koko Head Dance)

(Koko Head Dance)

ACT THREE



(Kesler's)



(Kesler's)





The Bolero concluded the showcase of exhibition dancing. Then all the exhibition dancers were called to the dance floor to be presented with Awards. Mr. Kesler presented the awards to each one of them. It was a night of enjoyable general dancing to good dance rhythms, and an entertaining showcase of exhibition dancing. General dancing continued till closing at Midnight. Thus ended another chapter of Kesler & Company's Fractured Fairy Tales that was successful and loaded with a SWEET showcase of dance performances.

CURTAIN CALL & AWARDS:


















See you all on March 27, 2015 for Kesler & Company Presents: "Bright Lights On Broadway".











Sunday, October 26, 2014

Fractured Fairy Tales 2014 (Part One)

WOW! Mr. Doug Kesler had a live one this past Friday at the Pacific Beach Hotel Grand Ballroom. Although billed as Kesler & Company Presents Fractured Fairy Tales, there was little showing of a "Fractured Fairy Tales" story compared to last year's showcase. There was a "Mad Hatter" (David Ostler) all dressed up with a top hat and playing cards costume, and Toni Matsuo came as a "Bacon & Egg" breakfast costume. And Linda Mitsunaga was dressed beautifully in Red Riding Hood costume for the dance exhibition.There were a few children in costumes, too. But even with the small number of Fairy Tale characters, you gotta hand it to Mr. Doug Kesler & Company for producing a wonderful showcase of exhibition dancing. Like Sugar In The Raw, all the performances were SWEET. (Dat's a term I learned from watching Pawn Stars on TV. It's a cool slang to describe anything that's excellent and a winner. So 'nuff said fo' now.

Lani and I got to the Pacific Beach a bit early. The showcase dancers were in the Ballroom rehearsing and there were a few guests waiting outside the ballroom. It was good to see and have small chat with Grace Nohara and her friends while we waited for the lovelies (Joann Konys and Val Williams) to man the Reception Table.  (Left click on photo to zoom in)
 

Soon as Lani and I got settled at our assigned table, I got an eye full of the colorful decorated Ballroom and table centerpieces. Colorfully dressed too was Shari Berinobis who was sitting at a table near ours. She was in a wheelchair with a leg in cast. But her fractured leg did not damped her spirits. She was all smiles when I took this photo with Doug Kesler and even more when she EmCee'd the program.







Music disc players were Nick, Willie, and Nick from Starpoint Mobile Disco Production. Gotta hand it to these guys for keeping the dancers on the dance floor with their mellow non-stop music. Even got my main squeeze Lani swinging to fast Latin music with her sprained foot.



Another guest who was sitting near our table was David Ostler who was, I think, in character of the "Mad Hatter" of Alice In Wonderland. He is the husband of Ellen Ostler, the dancer who performed in the showcase. David in the costume looked like a person of interest to me and he gladly consented to have a photo taken with Lani.



Another person of interest was Toni Matsuo who came dressed in a "Bacon & Egg" costume. The back of her costume shown the strips of bacon. Very creative!

Toni Matsuo
The program opened with Mistress of Ceremony Shari Berinobis as she was wheeled to the edge of the dance floor. Mr. Kesler was introduced as "the man of the hour" followed by the introduction of owners of professional dance studios and other teachers who teach dancing professionally. Mahalo also goes to Koko Head Dance's Joe Shorba whose students participated in the showcase, Diane Wack for creating the beautiful table Centerpieces, and to David Iwamoto for Programs/Tickets/Flyers.


There were three Acts with nineteen dance exhibitions on the program. A bit long for one blog sitting. This is Act One and I hope you'll come back for Act Two and Act Three later on.

Act One opened with the Viennese Waltz by Professional Joe Shorba with Ellen Ostler of Koko Head Dance. This is the first time I've seen Mr. Shorba and Ellen perform an American Smooth Dance. They were just as smooth in the Viennese Waltz as when they do Latin dances. Besides Mr. Kesler, they were the only Professionals on the card.
(Koko Head Dance)

Most of the dancers in the showcase are students of Mr. Kesler. And some of them were performing in the showcase for the first time.



(Kesler's)

Kenji Iwasa from Koko Head Dance put on an amazing and entertaining performance with Tessie Cabral in the Samba, Swing, and Cha Cha. Student? Teacher? or Professional? We'll know for sure if he continues to perform in the dance exhibition circuit.






(Kesler's)




(Koko Head Dance)


Thus ended Act One. General dancing was in full swing during the intermission with a short break to call out ticket numbers for door prizes.

Stay tune for ACT Two and Act Three.


Monday, October 13, 2014

Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society 40th Inaugural Ball

The year 2014 is moving like the fast east wind and the month of October has surprisingly crept up and one could wonder what happened during the past nine months. Here we are in the early half of the month with Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society of Hawaii celebrating their 40th Inaugural Ball at the Palladium this past Saturday. Gotta give a big hand  to the Event Chairpersons Ed and Matilda Felix for organizing this big and successful event that included Bento, General Dancing, and a Showcase of Exhibition Dancing. And speaking of Bento (from Fat Boys located on the first floor), the ono dinner were handed out by Wally and Marie as Lani and I got to the second floor.
(Left click on photo to zoom in)

Pan Pacific sure went big time in decorating the Reception Table with a colorful table cloth and colorful bright flowers. Add a touch of pretty ladies like Matilda and Luby with pretty smiles adds to the friendly and welcome atmosphere.


The Music Man for the evening was George Suetsugu who kept the dancers on the floor. The hardwood was nearly filled to capacity with dancers as he played each tune, Goes to show that he has an endless collection of good danceable music.


EmCee for the evening's event was Robert Lau. He kept the program running smoothly, made general announcements, and introduced the Professional dance teachers as well as representatives of the various dance organizations. I'm grateful to Robert for sharing the names of the Exhibition Dancers, and the names of the Officers and Board of Directors with me.



Reigning President of Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society of Hawaii Rudy Luat took to the podium and welcomed everyone with an inspiring President's Message. Rudy has been at the helm of  Pan Pacific for many seasons and because of his caring expertise and guidance, it's no wonder he is well liked and holds the President's position year after year.



The Inauguration of Officers and Board of Directors soon followed with the introduction of former Mayor Mufi Hannemann who presided over the swearing in of the Officers and Board Members. After the swearing in, Mr. Hannemann treated the audience with his singing "It's A Wonderful World".



The 2014 Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Society of Hawaii Officers are: President Rudy Luat, Vice President Eric Brienzo, Secretary Wallace Nakagawa, Treasurer Matilda Felix, Auditor Amy Lau, and Dance Director Ed Felix. The Board of Directors are: Luby Brienzo, Ray Dang, Louise Fujiyama, Robert Lau, Lucy Matsunaga, Marie Perreira, Greg Wong, and George Suetsugu. Then the Officers and Board of Directors were let loose to dance with anyone in the audience to "the Snowball Dance" while Mr. Hannemann belted out "It's A Wonderful World"..


At the conclusion of the Inaugural Program, Les Chang was introduced. Les Chang was the Director of Parks and Recreation under then Mayor Mufi Hannemann. His nice-to-know talk was how the Parks and the Palladium were maintained under his watch.



The Dance Exhibition opened with the International Waltz performed by Ed and Matilda Felix. Choreographer was Mr. Akiyoshi Sugino.



Followed by HBDA Mililani Chapter performing the Cha Cha Cha to the tune "Chili Cha Cha". Dancers are: Dave and Lea Twigg, Jensen and Dale Lipton, Andy and Donna Ng, Mel Camat and Susan Matsumoto, Chris and Sherry Yamada, and Craig and Nadine Abing. The dance was choreographed by Mel Camat and Susan Matsumoto.



Next was a solo dance of the romantic Rumba performed by Romeo and Tessie Cabras.



Professional Reggie Gascon came on next with Joseline Sangalang with the International Foxtrot.



Concluding the Exhibition Dance showcase were Pan Pacific Formation Team dancing a Standard Medley choreographed by Ed and Matilda Felix. Team members are: Eric and Luby Brienzo, Paul Ta and Jennifer Lin, Ed and Matilda Felix, Jim and April McConnell, and Leo Liang and Jing Zhang.


At curtain call, gifts were presented to the Exhibition Dancers by Marie Perreira and Greg Wong.

Refreshments were served out on the foyer compliments of New Aala Bakery,

Special Thanks went to Marie Perreira for the Inaugural Leis, Ticket Sellers: Annie Furguson and Herbert Omizo, and New Aala Bakery for the Refreshments.