Nadine Kam photos and video
Kamakoa Page in one of the designs from Anne Namba’s “Fashion in Motion” show at Halekulani April 18.

Having conquered the retail world, Anne Namba finds herself increasingly drawn to the world of theater and stage. Adding to her costume work for Hawaii Opera Theatre and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the designer entered the world of dance when Mikhail Baryshnikov visited her boutique and started the collaborative process of dressing dancers for a fashion show/performance at the Baryshnikov Art Center in New York on May 6. The legendary dancer will choreograph the show.

Models, from left, Wendy Pearson, Aukai Reynolds (a hit with the women attending the show) and Marisa Gey posed for a photograph before the show’s start.

But before that, Namba presented a preview show April 18 at the Halekulani, a fundraiser for Ballet Hawaii. Fashion segments were introduced with dances evoking the energy and spirit of the various collections, featuring dancers Kelsea Kalei Auld, Jared Bugarin, Gabrielle Chock, Albert Franz, Arielle Magpoc, June Nishioka and Courtney Schenberger, with surprise guest dancer, KITV’s Pamela Young, who’d be a real contender on “Dancing With the Stars.” The judges on that show, as well as “So You Think You Can Dance,” often talk about bringing personality and the wow factor to their performance, in addition to technique, and she’s just a natural.

You can catch the vid for iPhone here: Sorry Pamela about the lengthy rear view, but coming from the TV world, you understand the drawback of the solo camera. It would be far better to have two or three cameras.

iPhone vid

In the dressing room before the show members of the Belle Torre Academy were working on the models’ makeup, while Shelly Obata of newly open Pynk salon on Hotel Street (where INTO was) worked on models’ hair.

You can read the advance story on the show here: http://www.hsblinks.com/2bm