The Aldeguer Sisters dance on!

When the Aldeguer Sisters Terri and Laly showed up on time (after all, we’re in America!) at the coffee shop of the Four Seasons Hotel (where Hollywood stars feel right at home because there, they’re treated "casually" which is how they want things to be) in Beverly Hills that Tuesday (June 3) afternoon for a friendly "reunion" with Bulletin’s Cris Belen and this columnist, who were in Los Angeles to interview the cast and director of Universal Pictures’ Hulk (Eric Bana, Nick Nolte and Sam Elliot among them, along with director Ang Lee) and, just me, Columbia Pictures’ Hollywood Homicide (Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett, etc.), I was amazed by how young they looked and how bubbly they still were. Any moment, as we strolled around the beautiful garden of Four Seasons, I expected Terri and Laly to swing their (still) long hair, fling their graceful arms this way and that just like they used to back in the ’70s during their heyday as the dancing duo to be reckoned with.

Oh, yes, Terri and Laly did just that as I clicked away with my Olympus, all for fun. For old time’s sake, you know.

Although they quit professional dancing temporarily, Terri and Laly never really hung their dancing shoes, proving to the world that, yes, once a dancer...

Now owners and artistic directors of The Aldeguer Sisters Performing Arts Center on Glendora Avenue in West Covina, Terri and Laly (who came with Teresa "Te" David, the school’s PR and media director) are, so to speak, back on the twirl, surprising their much younger students with their boundless energy and youthful exuberance. Why, the sisters never seemed to have aged; they looked, well, the same as they did the last time I saw them, uh, ages ago! Back in the early ’70s, I remember having a cover pictorial with them for Expressweek magazine at the breakwater (where the Philippine Plaza Hotel now stands) under the summer sun, with Terri and Laly leaping into the air, tossing their pretty heads, and landing on their feet with feline grace!

Their school, which offers not just dancing lessons (jazz, lyrical, Hawaiian/Tahitian, hip-hop, etc.) but also singing and acting lessons, started with l5 students last year. Today, as it gears up for its first anniversary, the school has more than 150 students, including the students’ parents who started with aching backs and bones and who now walk – and dance – with the agility of sweet sixteeners. Dancing is invigorating, as if we didn’t know.

Soon, due to insistent demands, Terri and Laly are opening branches in Carson City and Panorama City.

"We don’t just teach the children how to dance and sing," said Terri, "we also instill self-discipline in them. We teach them about Filipino culture. You see, Filipino children born in America sometimes forget about their Mother Country. It’s important for them to know where their parents came from and for them to treasure their heritage."

The Performing Arts Center continues the tradition and reputation of a similar school Terri and Laly founded in Manila but which, with heavy hearts, they were forced to close in l986 after l8 years. "We were not enjoying it as much as we used to," recalled Laly. "When we mounted our farewell show, we had popular movie stars as performers, garbed in our school’s stock of colorful costumes. The day after the show, we simply said goodbye."

They tried other fields, including putting up a garments business and events management but they never felt fulfilled. Early last year, they decided to close their businesses, sold their house (in Makati), packed their bags and migrated to America armed with visas for people with "extraordinary ability."

Smiled Terri, "The energy is back. We feel young when we’re dancing. We keep updating ourselves on dance techniques and styles" while at the same time retaining – and sustaining – the inimitable "Aldeguer Sisters style" which has influenced hundreds of other dancers who have come after them.

"Remember," said Laly, "we are dealing with young ones who don’t really know who Terri and I are; only their parents know who we are. So we have to be up-to-date all the time. Hindi kami nagpapahuli. The good thing is that we are not only the school’s artistic directors, we are also show producers with a ready venue for the performances."

Besides the school, what keeps Terri and Laly busy is the Flowers & Garden Café which they recently put up in Glendale, also in California, which doubles as a gift shop. "We also plan weddings," said Laly. "Our café offers a wide selection of food, with Saturdays reserved as Paella Day because our clients simply love our paella."

Terri and Laly have organized from among their students an all-boys singing group called Jazz

Just For Boys and another one cleverly called ASSETS (Aldeguer Sisters’ Sensational Extra Talented Singers). Their heirs and heiresses, no doubt.

As the sisters sped away, with Terri at the wheel, Cris and I stood at the driveway of Four Seasons, thankful that the Aldeguer Sisters have put their dancing shoes back on.

(For those in America or in the Philippines who are interested in contacting the Aldeguer Sisters, call tel. nos. 626-9180950, 626-5899094 or 323-6832598 for information about ther school; and 818-2408891 or 818-2408819 for information about their café/gift shop.)

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