Celebrating the joy of dance

The first time Regine Velasquez met Hotlegs dance diva Christine Blando, Asia’s Songbird knew intuitively that she was in the presence of a great artist. "Just one look and I can tell if someone has talent," Regine explains. "It’s as if I can see an artist’s aura. And when I first spotted Christine, I immediately knew that she was gifted. I didn’t even know she was a dancer, but I was certain she had what it took to shine onstage."

It’s easy to see why Christine easily cinched Regine’s vote of confidence. It’s because Christine exudes earthy confidence and graceful intensity, with every move, every step she makes. With her body, she speaks the language of dance – passionately, sensually.

Christine, however, seems a bit embarrassed by the tag Dance Diva. She, in fact, modestly calls herself a "late bloomer." Like any proper young lady of her generation, Christine took the requisite dance classes when she was but a wee kid. "My mom used to push me to take all those ballet classes," Christine recalls. "There was nothing inspiring about those classes because I was forced into them! But when she discovered "jazz," Christine reached the turning point, in more ways than one. "I was already in high school when I wandered into my first jazz class," Christine looks back with fondness. "That was when I started enjoying it."

Truth to tell, she never really planned on a career onstage. "I just fell into it," she roars. "By the time I was in college, I was already dancing professionally. It wasn’t a conscious choice I made. I just felt good dancing so I spent most of my time in the dance studio."

"I decided to be a dancer when I had my first class with Douglas Nierras (one of the founders of Hotlegs)," Christine reminisces. "At that time, I was already with the Metropolitan Dance Theater. That was where we met. He was our guest teacher," Douglas recruited Christine to be part of the then three-year-old dance company Hotlegs and the rest, as the say, is her story.

Before meeting Douglas, Christine was just dancing for the sake of dancing. "But Douglas opened my eyes to the feeling of dance," Christine pays tribute to her mentor. "And maximizing what I had. He really pushed me." Douglas challenged Christine to be the best dancer she could possibly be. "That’s one thing about Douglas. He really pushes people. Especially if he sees that a person has promise. Otherwise I don’t think he’d even bother."

Perhaps Douglas saw in Christine what she now sees in the new batch of Hotlegs dancers. As soon as she wraps up work on the monumental dance concert Hotlegs... In the Flesh, Christine promises to slow down, go on retirement, pass the torch to the next generation, and take on another challenge: teaching dance. "My dream is to find new talents who are natural-born dancers," Christine beams. "Ako" I realized very late in my classes that I wanted to be a dancer. But there are kids who already know so early in life that they want to dance. You see the glow on their faces. The way they look at themselves in the mirror in the dance studio May vanity factor! When you watch them dance, you can see on their faces: "that there’s nothing I’d rather be doing in this moment, no other place I’d rather be in than where I am right now, onstage dancing.’ That’s the expression you see on their faces. That’s when you know they are natural dancers."

Christine’s goal is to share to this new breed of dancers what herown dance teachers gave her: the love for dance! "It’s because you don’t have to instill the passion in them," Christine elaborates. "They already have the hunger for dance. I’d like to tap that hunger."

This is the hunger she is now feeling as they gear up for Hotlegs’ biggest production since their first dance concert in 1987: their 21st anniversary show Hotlegs . . . In the Flesh, on Nov. 5 and 7, 9 p.m. in Onstage Greenbelt Makati. "All your hard work comes into play when you go up onstage." Christine says. "And then you see that all seats are filled. That all the faces in the gallery are amazed. You see their heads moving from left to right, right to left. They are following your every move, your every step. And then you hear the applause!"

It melts away all their worries, all the sacrifices they’ve made for the love of dance. That’s the ultimate joy of dancing. But before the pleasure comes the pain, Christine cautions. "Our rehearsals involve a lot of suffering," she says half-earnest, half-jesting. "We sustain a lot of injuries. Our knees. Our backs. We experience a lot of muscle aches and pains. So we often go to chiropractors and physical therapists for massages. And for first aid, we turn to drugstores, to buy all sorts of painkillers and ointments!"

It takes nothing less than passion, commitment, sincerity, the sheer utter joy of dancing to be the best dancer. "There are lots of good dancers out there," Christine concludes. "They can spin countless times. They can raise their legs up to their ears, but there are only a few who can really feel their dance, who can really make the audience feel the dance. And that’s the mark of a true diva."