We are fortunate and very happy to have Steve Fabro as our Master of Ceremonies for this event. In the past he has been M.C. for the Rotary District Conference and for the B.C. Volunteer Firefighters Spring Seminar. He has also held the pivotal microphone position for competitions such as the Salty Dog Enduro Mountain Bike Race and the B.C. Midget Nordic Championships at Larch Hills. His wit and ready humor have gone a long way to keeping his play by play announcing entertaining as well as informative.

While Steve enjoys dancing with his wife – surprise, Sharon, he has no favourite dances and hasn’t even competed in any dance competitions nor done any dance choreographic work. Maybe that lies ahead of him.

Although he’d rather be mountain biking, Nordic skiing or fly fishing, we managed to trick him into being our M.C. for this fundraiser…which he really doesn’t mind since the funds raised are going for a good cause. He looks forward to enjoying the enlarged chalet at Larch Hills.

Jacqueline Kral is highly qualified to be one of our three judges for Dancing with the Shuswap Stars. She has been a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dancing  since she was in her teens and operated dance studios in Duncan, Mill Bay and Victoria on Vancouver Island, as well as right here in Salmon Arm, where she opened Interior Dance Academy offering ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, ballroom and Latin.

Her students were highly successful in RAD examinations, competitive festivals, as well as being accepted into various renown dance companies or becoming dance teachers themselves. Jacqueline attended the Banff School of Fine Arts and has performed in the Cowichan Musical Societies productions of My Fair Lady, Oklahoma and Merry Widow. She also belonged to Take 10 dinner theatre group which entertained audiences in Victoria, Nanaimo, Cowichan and Whistler and recently performed in Salmon Arm’s Actors Studio dinner theatre this past spring.

She has created, choreographed and directed many children’s theatre productions including Cinderella, Pinocchio, and Wizard of Oz, as well as taught and rehearsed dancers performing with The Alberta Ballet Company in their annual production of The Nutcracker.

Jacqueline has passed on the love of performing to her eldest daughter, who owns and operates Adage Performing Arts studio in Duncan. As well, she is the founder of the Cowichan Valley Performing Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to youth requiring support to pursue performing arts education in music, theatre, dance and singing.  Her eldest son, owner/manager of The Cobblestone Inn also performed until his province-wide competitions in Rep hockey and golf consumed all of his time.  Her youngest daughter’s dance training was instrumental in her becoming a successful competitive rider in Eventing throughout BC, taking part in dressage, cross country jumping and stadium jumping. Also living in the Duncan area is her younger son, a past SASS school race team member, who continues his driving career as a Drift Car Pilot competing in Canada and the US as well as being employed by the Cowichan Valley Motor Sport Circuit as their head driving instructor.

When her children were young Jacqueline enjoyed skiing with them at Larch Hills. She agreed to be part of the fund raiser for the Larch Hills Chalet Expansion because she feels it brings families and friends together; a very worthy cause.

David Izik-Dzurko has been a member of the Larch Hills Ski Club for over ten years. He has been announcer for provincial club events.

His dancing experience goes back to grade seven standing against the gym wall for most of Stairway to Heaven, before working up the nerve to ask a girl to dance. Since then his greatest experience with dancing has been as a “dance dad” supporting the efforts of his ballerina daughter. His favourite styles of dancing are ballet, Latin, ballroom and especially Argentine Tango.

Being on stage before a live audience is not new to David; he has performed in choirs, concert bands, operas and even in a rock band. As a soloist he has performed as a singer, pianist and occasionally as an Elvis impersonator. His greatest joy has come from twenty two years as a music teacher helping students experience the joy of performing. As a music teacher in SD 83 and in ten years of providing a summer musical theatre program, he has choreographed dozens of musicals.

As a teacher performance assessment is constant. He will bring a unique perspective to his role as judge for Dancing with the Shuswap Stars.

Melina Moore, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, grew up in New York City and received her undergraduate training at The Juilliard School in voice and piano accompaniment, beginning at age 16. Prior to that, her vocal and performance study began at the age of 9 at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. A vocal performance major at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, Melina made her operatic debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with LaGuardia’s Bel Aria Opera Company in 1995. Among the honors she has received are a full academic scholarship to Columbia University, a tuition scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music and the Lucrezia Bori Grant for operatic and interpretive study and performance at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A versatile high-lyric coloratura, Melina participated in a four-year Bachelor Degree program at the Juilliard School. She has been an active recitalist in and around the New York area, and since her move west, has continued to appear in concert in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

Since 1996, Moore has been the founder and director of the Valley Vocal Arts Studio in Vernon, British Columbia. Acting as producer and musical director for aspiring singers of all ages, Valley Vocal Arts has enjoyed acclaimed full-scale productions of Les Miserables (2010), Mel Brooks’ The Producers (2011) Pirates of Penzance (2012), The Sound of Music (2012), and HONK! (2013). She is committed to bringing the best of live theatre and showcasing local talent to Okanagan audiences. Her newest endeavor, Big Apple Productions, over which she presides as founder and artistic director, will be taking on mainstage classics like The Rocky Horror Show, Beauty and the Beast, Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar and Chicago in years to come.

My apologies to the author of Melina’s website for lifting the above highlights. For more information about this accomplished young lady go to www.melinamoore.com/about/
We are delighted to have her participate as a judge in Dancing with the Shuswap Stars. We look forward to her enthusiastic response to our dance performances.