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.