RP ballet dancers wow Singapore

A delegation of young Filipino ballerinas and ballet dancers arrived home in Manila yesterday after dancing their way to victory in an international competition in Singapore.

The 72 Filipino children, aged 6 to 19, from the Shirley Halili-Cruz School of Ballet harvested a crop of gold trophies and medals in the Lion City.

The dancers were given a warm welcome at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal after disembarking from Philippine Airlines flight PR 502, which landed at around 2 p.m. yesterday.

The ballet prodigies wowed an international audience during the two-day competition held at the Overseas Family School auditorium in Singapore last week.

Led by artistic director Shirley Halili-Cruz, the group won 23 gold, eight silver and nine bronze trophies as well as 18 medals.

The ballet dancers bested 23 other dance teams from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Thailand and Indonesia.

The Filipinos won the top awards dubbed "Perpetual" trophies in the Classical, Neo-Classical, Modern Solo, Groups under 13, Groups under 16, and Duos/Trios Open categories.

Cruz, who came with her victorious students in their return flight to Manila, expressed pride over the accomplishment of her charges.

"I’m very proud of them. They really impressed the audience especially the judges of the competition," -Cruz said.

She pointed out that the big victory of her school’s contingent did the Filipinos in Singapore proud since it showed that Filipinos also excelled in cultural endeavors such as ballet.

There is a large population of overseas Filipino workers in Singapore with a large percentage employed as domestic helpers.

Ambassador to Singapore Belen Anota hosted a dinner reception for the group to celebrate their feat.