Dancing to keep young
It takes me too many hours of instruction to perfect one dance routine. The dance floor doesn’t love me, but still I get mesmerized by those lean, graceful bodies gliding in their high-heeled shoes (when I can’t barely walk in them).
Ballroom dancing’s popularity has never waned. I met long-lost friends in New York last year and was surprised that a friend from way back who I never remembered as a dancer (except for a simple folkdance we had to do in a Jaycee Asia-Pacific Convention in Thailand) now owns and operates her own dance studio in New Jersey!
The place, called Step by Step Dancesport and owned by Ben and Nenita Martin, is the natural converging point for the 14,224 Pinoys in Bergenfield, New Jersey which also produced the very first Fil-Am East Coast Mayor Robert Rivas (who served from 2000 to 2004) . Apparently, with Pinoys comprising 22 percent of its population, this is the “Little Manila” in the East Coast. It is conveniently near other Pinoy communities in Jersey City, Belleville, Union, and Queens.
What keeps the place so happy and vibrant is all that dancing. “The secret of youth is to dance,” whispered Nenita who didn’t seem to age at all. I felt old, looking like a chaperone to my husband and friends who were dancing the night away. While Nenita kept me updated with trivia about how that lady is already pushing 80, or how that man lost so much weight or how that widow survived depression through dance, I remembered Van Shuler of Seattle (the poster lady of dancing as an antiaging potion) who by now is pushing 104. Her daughter said that she has remained healthy and active by doing ballroom dancing every day (even twice on Thursdays).
Dance Is Her Life
I had forgotten that mental note I made late last year to take up dancing as my own fountain of youth until I bumped into Usec. Cynthia Carrion and the 3rd Philippine Starball group at their post-event bash at Shangri-La in Boracay. There I met a new dance inspiration, Pinky Mendoza-Puno, the organizer of the international dance competition.
Pinky, wife of DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno, shuttles from Manila to Virginia these past 20 years. Before keeping home in the US, she had her own school The New Manila Ballet Center. While she has stopped teaching, she has never stopped dancing and in fact even competes all over the world. Like a lot of ballroom dancing enthusiasts, she has her own testimonial on how the sport made her healthier.
“I can draw from my own experience. After my seventh child in 1989, I had a difficult time losing the last 15 pounds. I took up ballroom dancing in 2000 (at the age of 50) after watching it on TV in the US. I was so inspired by the beauty and synchronization of two bodies dancing as one. Not only did I lose the extra pounds, I now weigh less than when I got married — 106 lbs. and wear a size 2. I’m a mom of seven and a grandma of 10, and my husband and kids are proud of how fit I am and how great I look. Barring injuries, I expect to be dancing as long a I can because it has kept me healthier and stronger,” Pinky enthused.
Before ballroom dancing, Pinky kept herself fit by playing tennis and bowling regularly. A natural dancer, she competed in two US events before meeting her current Russian partner and teacher, Slava Sergiev. She competes in the professional/amateur category where students train with their teachers, and then compete with them as partners. She doesn’t look 60 and she has the energy and stamina that would put a lot of young women to shame. She practices for at least two hours every day to prepare for an event. “Doing the jive for a few minutes is like running a 100-meter dash,” she explained.
Known to produce the best ballet recitals and president of the Council of United Professional Dance Teachers of the Philippines, Jojo Carino approached Pinky to organize an international ballroom dance competition. Thus, the very first Philippine Starball was held on February 18, 2008. Pinky is chairperson and in charge of planning, production coordination, sponsor solicitation as well as inviting top competitors and adjudicators while Jojo is in charge of running the competition proper on the day itself.
Last February 13, the 3rd installation happened at Shangri-La Manila. “We had representatives from 26 countries for a total of almost 500 participants. Countries represented were USA, Italy, Hongkong, Australia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Norway, Finland, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Korea, England, Germany, Slovenia, Canada, Spain, Latvia, Moldova, Serbia, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, and the Philippines,” Pinky proudly reported.
Participants competed in amateur and professional categories — Latin (chacha, samba, rumba, paso doble, jive) and standard (waltz, tango, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, quickstep.) There was also a pro-am (professional dancing with an amateur) category.
Top dancers Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagorouitchenko , Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova won the top prizes in professional Latin and professional standard categories, respectively. Both couples represented the United States. The two other main events were amateur Latin and amateur standard won by Jurij Batagelj and Jagoda Strukelj of Slovenia and Andrea Ghigiarelli and Sara Andracchio of Italy, respectively.
“They danced like it was the easiest thing to do. But it was not; this was all a result of hard work. The finalists and winners of our events are some of the top in the world. They practice almost every day for at least four hour, combining gym work as well. They join competitions at least twice a month so they are well prepared. Many of them have been dancing since they were young,” Pinky explained.
Pinky has succeeded in luring top dancers and famous judges, as well as ballroom dancing fans, to the Philippines. Her hope is that by bringing world-class competition and competitors here, we will soon produce champions in this category.
As for me, I will be happy to see more and more dance their way to 100.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
