NATIONAL DANCE DAY

The life of a dancer is short. In terms of the skill that the craft requires, starting young is an investment. I, for one, started late and up until now, how I wish my parents had brought me to ballet school when I was young.

That didn't stop my fate in ending up doing what I love to do best though. I still remember the first time I went out to perform in the Araneta Coliseum for the University of Santo Tomas way back 1999 to do a half-time show for the Tigers. The lights were bright and as it shone on me, I whispered to myself, "This is exactly where I want to be, right now, right here and there's nothing that could stop me from doing this." I was so proud to be a part of the Salinggawi Dance Troupe back then.

Not to brag, but I was an A-lister student. I didn't have to take an entrance examination to enroll for college. I had the privilege to choose whatever course except for Electronics and Communication Engineering (which was at its ultimate boom and was reserved for a quota of valedictorians that time). Here's the catch, my passion for dancing had brought me some trouble in taking up my course, Chemical Engineering.

I went home late because of the practices for the cheerleading team at that time, and I skipped some Trigo classes (because it was always on a Saturday in which almost all half-time performances were scheduled) in order to dance, and so, I garnered a blank grade or a.k.a., FAILURE DUE TO ABSENCES. Whenever I remember that, I am proud of it for some reason. That feeling that they say, don't be afraid to make mistakes because it'll help you grow up into becoming a better person. And so, it did. I gave up the course, and went for the right one, NURSING. Hahaha! Yep! It still wasn't dancing.

teaching Latin Dance for a 4 night product launch

You see, in the Philippines, there's just lack of uni's for offering performing arts and that being said, probably because the culture goes, the elders prefer a diploma rather than something else.

I was a scholar being a Salinggawi dancer so, leaving UST had put me on my feet into advancing into the professional/commercial world of dancing. I had to earn money to finish school and my beloved, WHIPLASH DANCE COMPANY helped me get thru that phase of my life.

Going into the big world of performing and entertainment, huge opportunities also came which aided my schooling and a lot of other expenses. Different advertisements, tv guestings, concerts, corporate events, product launching, musicals and even a simple birthday party needed talents. Studios also called as they needed dance instructors because of a great demand from clients of all ages. There are private tutorials of home schooled kids, there are companies who needed instructors to coach them for dance contests and there are fashion shows, workshops and singing contests that needed performing artists as backups, additional extras and lead roles for certain commercials. As long as your body can take it, it's yours to do. The budget wasn't always that promising but, collectively, it was more than enough. I was young, driven and passionate. I was thirsty for more each time. And I never let an opportunity pass.

choreographed a feminine wash commercial
27 hours straight of shooting 

NESTEA commercial

blocking for TUPPERWARE to the tune of, "The Heat is on in Saigon"

representing the coloured lines of the TV, PANASONIC laser tv launch

PH care product launch

HOSEKI Jewellery Fashion Show

Pinoy Pop Super Star Halloween Episode

Folded and Hung Product Launching

Rico J. Puno and friends' concert

Pinoy Pop Superstar show

NIKE product launch

FEDEX Express Cheerleading Team

"Keep on Dancing" - show for celebrities of the Philippines dancing with great choreographers..
somewhat like Philippine version of "Dancing with the Stars"

Overall, these experiences had moulded me into loving dancing more than ever and expressing it from the heart. As what "So You Think You Can Dance" always emphasises on, "When you combine talent with the passion, then it becomes the BEST it could be." Like what I said, I wish I could have had ballet as my background. But with the limits of time, finances and opportunity to get inclined to that kind of dance (since commercial dancing somewhat prefers jazz, hip hop and funky dance, modernly speaking), I just could grasp the company classes that had come my way from college onwards. Then I eventually had to dream more. I dreamt of performing abroad so I auditioned for HONG KONG DISNEYLAND. 

Grateful for all the roles I am able to portray and different kinds of
dances I was able to learn about.

Performing internationally was one of the things in my bucket list. Whenever I think of the years that I have spent dancing, I am thankful and amazed that I own the same passion still, if not, even more. Seeing how the guests react at the park, most especially the kids, when we dance are more than fulfilling if we will talk about life's purpose.  Sometimes, I ask myself if I'm wasting what I've studied in Nursing. But my query in mind is always answered everyday as I feel more than fulfilled in bringing happiness to thousands and thousands of people thru dance. I may not be practicing Nursing right now but one thing's for sure: Making a person feel happy is the most holistic approach in preventing illness. And PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE in all counts. I share this simple story as National Dance Day is honoured by many. I know my dancing years are slowly coming to an end as the "Wear and Tear" dawns with age. Yet again, "KEEP CALM AND DANCE YOUR HEART AWAY."

Related posts:

1. 9 MONTHS PREGNANT AND STILL DANCING - check out how ballerina, Mary Helen Bowers celebrates her pregnant body.
2. WHO'S GOT SWAG - a blog post that features today's dance monsters that fear nothing except not being able to dance.
3. JUST DANCE EPISODE 6 - a throwback on a project we did here in Hong Kong under BVC productions