Antonio Banderas’ Pinoy co-star coming for visit

The name Dante Basco doesn’t ring a bell just yet but it surely will once the latest Antonio Banderas starrer, Take The Lead, is shown in the Philippines sometime next month. In the movie, inspired by the true story of Pierre Dulaine (a Manhattan dancer-teacher who volunteered to teach ballroom dancing to a diverse group of New York inter-city high school students serving detention), Dante, a Filipino, plays the Puerto Rican character Miguel Ramos, a role that requires him to put in harness his dancing prowess.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Dante started break dancing at age eight with his three brothers. They quickly became one of the top dance groups in San Francisco, opening for acts like Ice T and performing during half-time shows for the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland As.

Dante and his family moved in the mid-’80s to Los Angeles. Introduced in the Steven Spielberg movie Hook topbilled by Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, playing Rufio, leader of the Lost Boys, Dante has appeared in several movies, including Biker Boyz, Naked Brown Men, Extreme Days, But I’m a Cheerleader, The Debut, Fakin’ Da Funk, Rave and Riot.

Described as multi-talented, Dante writes poetry and hosts open-mike poetry readings billed as Da Poetry Lounge at a theater in L.A.

The good news is that Dante is coming end of May for a visit and to help promote Take The Lead.

Here are excerpts from production notes sent to Funfare by Pioneer Films which is releasing Take The Lead in the Philippines:

What attracted you to the role in Take The Lead?

"First and foremost is the dancing. I was a break dancer before I was an actor. Dancing is my first love. Take The Lead is a dance film and that’s what attracted me to it."

How much does the racial background play into the role?

"It was written as a Puerto Rican role but it doesn’t matter when you’re shooting. I’m a Filipino and I’ve been in the industry for a long time and I’ve played a lot of roles. Being Filipino is unique, you know. We have a unique culture and we have a lot of Spanish blood and Asian blood in us. In the movie, Miguel Ramos is Puerto Rican but he can be a Filipino. Antonio Banderas came up to me and he said, ‘Well, you know, Dante, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Cuba, we liberated all of you. Same thing.’ It was a funny comment because Antonio is a Spaniard."

How was it working with Banderas?

"He’s a pretty good dancer. He has a lot of control of his body. We all flew to Toronto a month early to study ballroom dancing. It was intense and Antonio was with us, studying with us. He didn’t have much hip-hop experience so he learned from us – you know, how to swing into a hip-hop style and what not. In the film, his tango scene is amazing!"

Three Pinoys vie in 2006 Manhunt tilt

Did you know that in the recent 2006 Manhunt (held in Jinjiang, China), won by East USA bet Jaime Augusto Mayol, three macho Pinoys were among the contestants, representing three different countries?

Here’s the report by Funfare’s "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Gery Yumping, Joey Cezeare and Francis Calubaquib:

* Iago Lagapa Raterta – A former cager of the UST Growling Tigers, he represented the Philippines, chosen by fashion director Robbie Carmona, franchise holder of Manhunt-Philippines to represent the country in the world’s most popular pageant for men. This 25-year-old model is one of the Bench image models. He was among the semi-finalists.

* Chris Friel – He represented Western USA. This 20-year-old actor/commercial model dreams of joining showbiz here. Related to Rannie and Lance Raymundo, he was here on vacation several years ago. He won the Mr. Popularity Award and was first runner-up in the Mr. Friendship category.

*Nomer Yuzon – This 30-year-old flight attendant of an American airline is very fluent in Filipino. A good singer, he won first runner-up in the talent division.

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