AFTER THE addition of street dance to the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) dance cadre half a decade ago, the opening of the league’s 79th season brings in a third dance competition, the formation ballroom competition.
This latest addition to the prestigious collegiate tournament gives an opportunity for the Ateneo Dance Sport Club to rise to the occasion.
The Ateneo Dance Sport Club was established back in 2008 by Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medallist and dance sport instructor Belinda Adora. Its establishment has also led to the creation of a dance sport class in the Loyola Schools’ Physical Education department, which became the source of the club’s main pool of recruits.
However, the recently concluded UAAP ballroom competition was not the club’s first foray into competitive dancing. “Before UAAP, the club has already joined several intercollegiate competitions within Metro Manila, specifically, the UP Diliman Dance Sport Cup, held by the UP Dance Sport Society.” says Rej Bagonoc, the ADSC’s Council Head.
They have also joined competitions hosted by independent dance studios, such as the Lilian’s Cup held by the Dollar Dance Studio, among others.
It’s not easy
Everything leading up to the inaugural UAAP formation dancing competition was a rush for the club, as they were only notified less than a month before the competition itself. According to their coach, Jan Gabriel Cerezo, the UAAP selection was formed with only three weeks to train before the competition.
“Initially we were discussing that they wanted to have a theme that was related to the UAAP theme,” says Cerezo. However, due to the time constraint and the fact that this will be the club’s first UAAP gig, the club decided to stick to their normal choreography.
Training was gruelling as well for the team. “We had trainings from 10am to 8pm,” relates Bagonoc. It became quite a sacrifice for the twelve student-dancers, who would be physically tired coming from ballroom training and then would have to attend to their academic requirements.
On to the next one
While there was initially some disappointment as the team failed to notch a podium finish, the ballroom kings and queens of Ateneo were nonetheless proud of each other’s performance. “Even though we didn’t place we felt, we still felt it was worth it. We were still winners in our hearts,” says Bagonoc while reflecting on their performance this year.
Coach Cerezo also shares the same thoughts, while adding that he would like the formation ballroom dance to get more attention next year. “I’m looking forward to seeing the UAAP formation dance being part of the real UAAP because what happened last Saturday was just sort of like a demo competition. So I want to see it as like the cheerdance competition, something like that.”
He also wants to go out there and prove that Ateneans “are not just good in basketball and volleyball,” but that with enough preparation, the Blue and White can also excel in other facets of athletic competition.
With their heads held high after this year’s battle, be prepared to witness a better and more experienced Ateneo Dance Sports Club as they represent the school in next year’s festivities.
