An all-consuming romance with dance

The bigger the star, the humbler, more down-to-earth he is. This is what internationally-acclaimed dancing pair Nick and Lena Kosovich found out in all the years they have been coaching the likes of Richard Gere and Enchanted stars Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams.

“Patrick is an eager student, so down-to-earth and professional. So is Amy,” relates Nick.

He and Lena will guest in the coming Oscar Awards to interpret Dempsey and Adams’ scene in Enchanted, nominated for Best Original Musical Score.

Danish dancer Charlotte Jorgensen won’t be left behind where coaching big stars is concerned. She has taught Jennifer Lopez no less in Shall We Dance, and finds working with the Hollywood star a breeze.

The Kosoviches, Jorgensen and a host of dance champions are in Manila for the just-concluded First Philippine Starball held at Crowne Plaza last Feb. 16 and to be aired on ABS-CBN tomorrow night, Feb. 24 on Sunday’s Best (after That’s My Doc).

Up to 50 international couples joined the ambitious competition organized by Michaela “Pinky” Puno, chair of the First Philippine Starball Organizing Committee and Jojo Carino, president of the Council of United Professional Dance Teachers of the Philippines.

The event saw the world’s top dancers moving to the beat of such popular steps as cha-cha, samba, rumba, pasa doble, jive and the more modern slow waltz, tango, foxtrot, Viennese waltz and quick step.

World-class adjudicators Shirley Ballas, Jorgensen, Espen Salberg, Irina Suvorov, Ron Bennett and Stephen Hannah lent their expertise to the big event.

The celebration of dance is also a fashion spectacle. Lithe bodies  came in elegant evening ball gowns (for the women) and formal suits (for the men).

Hosted by Pops Fernandez and Ruffa Gutierrez, the event will prove what dancers knew all along: Dancing gives you grace and helps you stay young and energetic.

In fact, the dancers who flew in from as far as Russia and the US for the event still had the energy to rehearse complicated numbers the day after they arrived in Manila.

What’ more, if a US study is to be believed, dancing has a big role in preventing the scourge of old age: Alzheimer’s Disease.  Jorgensen, who joined the first season of the Emmy-nominated Dancing with the Stars, believes this.

Dancing, after all, is aerobic exercise. And exercise increases blood flow in the body, including the brain, where Alzheimer’s is said to start.

The Net further boosts the benefits of dancing in keeping the disease at bay. It says that “Dancing is a physical activity and the fact that it requires  a person to learn dancing steps as opposed to traditional exercise stimulates the brain and improves muscle coordination. At the end of a dancing lesson, a dancer will feel both mentally and physically exhilarated and this is one of the key prevention secrets in Alzheimer’s.”

Besides, you can’t dance alone.  You need a partner.  The interaction goes a long way in promoting well-being. 

And  since dance loosens taut muscles and shakes away tension,  the harried can find a great way to relax by indulging in it.

Take it from the experts. There’s  nothing like putting on your dancing shoes and shaking that booty for all you’re worth. 

And those who don’t feel like it can just stay home in their favorite pambahay.  All they need do is turn on the TV set and watch those dance experts do their thing. Look ma, no expensive dance lessons, no costly ballroom gowns!

Okay, all together now: one, two, three, dance!