STEPS scholars garner awards at Asian Grand Prix

MANILA, Philippines - Six scholars from STEPS Dance Studio received top prizes at the 2014 Asian Grand Prix (AGP), a prestigious international dance competition in Hong Kong. This is the third year in a row that the student-scholars of STEPS Dance Studio, representing the school and the Philippines, all received awards and places at the AGP.

Trained by STEPS dance teacher and coach Jeffrey Floyd Suico Espejo, the six winners are: Jasmine Pia Dames (Silver Medal, Senior Division), Jessica Pearl Dames (4th Place, Senior Division and Fonteyn Special Award), Kevin Cascaño (5th Place, Senior Division), Lope Tobias Lim (Silver, Junior B Division and Kirov Scholarship Award), Raye Vince Pelegrin (7th Place, Junior A Division and AGP 2015 Scholarship Award), and Elwince Magbitang (8th Place, Junior A Division and So Danca Special Award).

The Kirov Scholarship Award and the AGP 2015 Scholarship Award are six-week and five-day intensive dance workshops in Washington, DC and Hong Kong, respectively, which are awarded to the most promising dancers in the competition.

Espejo says that selecting the students for AGP is tough because “the student must be ready to compete and commit to the training,” which is a rigorous period of private coaching and daily rehearsals on top of their academic load and dance classes. STEPS follows the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus for its ballet courses, with a mix of open Vaganova training from Jeffrey Espejo’s advanced classes.

STEPS managing director and former ballerina Sofia Zobel-Elizalde adds that the six were selected because they were “our strongest group of students with strong technical ability, proper classical physique, performance quality, and of course enjoy the challenge of competing.”

Competition in both the international and local dance scene, such as the AGP and the forthcoming Philippine Dance Cup, is an important part of a dancer’s training at STEPS. Elizalde explains, “Although competition is not for everyone, we have a new generation of young dancers that thrive in competition — they are brave and fearless. These competitions can be extremely challenging emotionally and technically, but the process of their individual training shows impressive results in such a short period of time. It also gives the students exposure to the high standards of students from other countries.”

Now on its 20th year, STEPS Dance Studio is considered the most innovative and creative dance studio in the country with state-of-the-art facilities and highly trained dance instructors. Founded in 1994 by Sofia Zobel-Elizalde, STEPS offers a variety of dance courses for different age groups and different levels of ability. STEPS Dance Studio is located at 8465 Kalayaan Avenue, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City. For details, call (632) 621.6186, (0917) 532-7360, (0917) 898-1419 or e-mail: admin@stepsdancestudio.ph.