Putting their best toes forward

Never have I seen too many tutus and pointe shoes, and too many graceful bodies all in one place in my whole life! I’m talking about the Asia Pacific Dance Competition (APDC) held recently in Singapore where young and talented ballerinas from the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet pirouetted their way to victory to bring home a haul of awards. Young Star, represented by this writer and photographer Fernan Nebres, was there to cover the three-day event.

APDC is a much-celebrated dance competition that has been held yearly since 1999. The competition draws participants from both dance schools and professional dance companies. It is invitational and only dance schools, which prove to possess a high standard of education in dance, are qualified to participate. Students who usually compete are Chinese, Filipino, Malaysian, Australian, Singaporean, Canadian, Spanish and Korean. Categories are based on age, but there are also categories according to dance form – classical, neo-classical, modern, national and demi character. Then there are categories based on the number of dancers in the performance: Solo, duo, trio, ensemble and group.

It was a very early Friday morning last July 23 when a Philippine contingent composed of teachers Shirley Halili-Cruz, Anna Kathrina Cruz, Grace Garalde-Perez and Anna Lissa Tuazon-Balmadrid and, of course, 72 students from the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet (HCSB) left for Singapore to compete in the Asia Pacific Dance Competition. All dressed in black HCSB T-shirts and black pants, the very disciplined children patiently lined up with their proud parents, who wore the same HCSB "uniform," at the check-in counter of Philippine Airlines, official carrier of this year’s Philippine participants to APDC.

Upon arrival in Singapore, the teachers carefully carried various props while trunks and trunks of costumes and more props were loaded onto coaches. We checked in at The Golden Landmark and soon, Teacher Shirley, losing no time, was leading her dancers in a warm-up of stretches. Each of the choreographed dance number was presented onstage minus the costumes. My eyes were glued to each performance. I did enjoy every minute of it and couldn’t wait to watch the real thing the following night.

It seemed that Shirley’s students never stopped practicing. They were up against 16 other schools and professional companies: Attitude Performing Arts Studio, Ci Yuan Community Centre, Crestar School of Dance, Dance Spectrum International, Dance Synergy, NUS Centre for the Arts, Ellie Zhou Ballet Studio of Kuala Lumpur, Guang Zhou No. 86 Middle School, Huang Pu from China, Hai Yang Cultural and Devleopment Centre, Japanese Association of Singapore, JCT Dance Workshop, Kebun Baru Community Club, LA SALLE-SIA College of Arts, Shan Dong International Kenbo Dance School from China, Singapore Ballet Academy, Singapore Chinese School and The Classic Company.

Teacher Shirley believed that among these, the Philippines’ closest competitors were the Dance Synergy, NUS Centre for the Arts, La Salle-SIA College of Arts, Singapore Ballet Academy and The Classic Company.

On the first night, our delegation arrived at the competition venue a little ahead of schedule. Backstage, teachers Anna Kathrina, Anna Lissa and Grace were busy as queen bees doing last-minute touches on the girls’ hair, costumes and makeup. I could feel the tension in the air as the children carefully but hastily put on their costumes and got themselves warmed up. Meanwhile, some visibly anxious parents volunteed to do their children’s makeup. The dancers, on the other hand, looked like they were just there to have a great time. I smiled as I looked on and felt the pride that Teacher Shirley must be feeling every time she looks at her energetic and determined students.

Soon, it was time to get the show on the road. We all rushed upstairs for the show. I could sense how tense Shirley was at that moment. Yet, I also knew how confident she was about her precious little gems.

The first category presented was for Groups under 16, Modern and Jazz. Here, two of Shirley’s groups saw action. Doing a dance titled "Images," Shirley’s girls went up against the Singapore Chinese Girls’ School. Our girls wore black velvet pants. The backs of their blouses were also in black velvet, but in front, it was a delightful mix of green, gray, purple and pink. The finale for this category was HCSB’s "Ani Wana," a rhythmic tribal song, where the girls wore orange tops and pants with a sarong draping in yellow gold. The dance was aggressive, just as the girls were about bagging the award.

The next category was Classical Solo for dancers under nine. Of the five competitors, four were taught by Teacher Shirley. First off was the cutie Eya Navarro with her "Fan Dance." This six-year-old charmer wore a white and orange dress and held a white fan with a red border. Now, it was time for Bea Uy’s "Viennese Musical Clock." Bea wore a dazzling green dress with pink shimmers. She was as whimsical as her playful pirouettes. Also performing for this category was the sylph-like Bianca Nobleza with her piece "Ballet de Sylphes." She was a standout in a white dress with a touch of glossy aqua blue. The last to perform in this category was the Charlene Brillantes with her "Fossils." Hers was a brilliant performance.

The competition got more and more intense as the category moved up. Up next were the Duos and Trios for those under 10 and under 13. Out of the eight performances in this category, five belonged to HCSB. Third to perform were Ia Garcia, Denise de Leon and Keesha Panlasigui executing the "Polka." The girls wore light pink and white dresses with sparkling silver on the bodice and colored ribbons lining their skirts and sleeves. I just thought they were terrific! Then came "Pas de Deux," performed by incredible duo Janine Baldonado and Merry Joyce de la Torre. The girls, wearing white dresses with silver lining, proved to be a crowd favorite. After them came the HCSB’ cool trio composed of Meinell dela Cruz, Sarah Homilla and Rizza de Jesus doing "Les Troyennes." They looked stunning in their silver and white dresses adorned with gold. Performing seventh were Ann Go and Regine Magbitang doing the solemn and breathtaking "The Prayer." They were aptly garbed in flowing white skirts and leotards. Up next was "Jazz Legato" by Charisse Lee and Lia Mazo, wearing tops adorned with the American flag and white skirts with delightful hats to match.

After the Duos and Trios, it was time to see some Demi Character Solo for dancers under 9 and under 12. What’s amazing about this category is that all seven of its performers were HCSB students. First up was young Eya Navarro with her "Basket Dance." In a shimmering silver dress with a blue ribbon in her hair, Eya held a basket of red and green flowers. Next to Eya was another cutie, Biannah Peji-Palm, doing "Cat." As you would expect, Biannah wore an adorable white cat suit with light pink buttons and a long white tail. She looked just purr-fect for her cat character and was so playfully amusing! Then, Jolina Leonardo, in a white and blue sailor dress, glided in with her "Sailor" number. After this, a cute "Bumble Bee" buzzed in, in the person of Vinz Semonia. Even under her bulky costume, Vinz moved with effortless grace. I must also say she wiggled her butt really well! Competing for the under-12 group was Jackie Milner, who turned in a serious performance as a clown. Her colorful clown costume was just so huge two could probably fit inside. Jackie’s clown act was followed by "Doll" by the dahling Merry Joyce de la Torre, wearing a red and silver dress with a red ribbon in her hair. Last, but certainly not the least, was Janine Baldonado with her "Puppet." Her puppet costume was colorfully striped, with a matching long puppet hat. Indeed, Janine moved like a puppet – as if she had no bones in her body!

As delightful as the fourth category was, we were ready for the performances for Ensemble under 12. HCSB had three entries for this category. First was "Whimsical Willows," where the girls wore light blue dresses with a hint of glossy pink and dark blue. Next was "Valse." With white and blue ribbons in their hair, they simply looked enchanting! The last HCSB performance in this category was "Classical Suite #1," where the girls wore cute tiaras.

Groups under 10 for Ballet and National categories were next. For the Ballet category, HCSB presented two performances. The first was "Chinese," where the girls wore red dresses with gold touches. They also had gold chopsticks in their hair and each girl carried a pair of red fans. What followed immediately was "Little Waltz." For the National category, HCSB presented another pair of performances. First was the amusing "Itik-Itik," where the girls wore yellow dresses with checkered red and green sash. The same cloth was wrapped around the girls’ waists and covered their hair like a bandana. The other National entry was "Lapay," where the girls wore colorful peacock headdresses.

Next came Groups under 16, National and Tap. HCSB had two entries in this category. The first was "Bulaklakan," where the girls, wearing white tops and green skirts with touches of purple, carried a beautiful arc of flowers. The other entry was "Cariñosa." Here, the girls wore long Ma. Clara-inspired dresses with white tops and pink skirts.

After the group dances came another solo category. This time, it was for Neo Classical and Modern. There were only three performers, two of whom were Teacher Shirley’s students. First was Merry Joyce de la Torre doing "Sana" in a long dress of blue and white. She was simply so full of grace! An equally fantastic performance was delivered by Janine Baldonado for "Don Quixote," where she wore an aqua blue and green dress.

The next category that HCSB joined was Ensemble under 15. The HCSB gave two performances here. The first was "Les Nubiennes," where the girls looked simply enchanting. The other was the "Classical Suite #3 and Finale," with the girls wearing red dresses with gold and white lining on their skirts.

What followed was the National Solo Open where there were five dancers from HCSB out of the eight participants. First was Cheka Cabreza for "Florida Blanca." Cheka wore a white Filipiniana costume with a long green and pink floral printed skirt. A yellow floral headband adorned her very long hair extensions. Christine Lansang was next, doing "Maria Clara" in a white Filipiniana dress with floral black prints. Meanwhile, Maan de Guzman bravely but gracefully performed the well-loved "Pandanggo." The fifth to perform was Gladys Baybayan with "Igorot." Gladys wore a beige leotard with a striped red and yellow tribal skirt. The last HCSB performance for this category was "Pamaypay" by Nikki Vera Cruz. Nikki wore a long dress in lavender and white while clutching a white fan.

After the solos came another round of Duos and Trios for those under 16. All four performances for this category were from HCSB. The first to gallop on stage were Rachel de Guzman, Lourdes Estrada and Martina Manalo for "Gallop." The girls were pretty in their purple and gold dresses. Coming on the heels of "Gallop" were Jennifer Degollado, Jessica Milner and Kathleen Sy doing "Pizzicato Polka" in peach dresses with gold tiaras. The only duo for this category was that of Yvette Perez and Denise Sales for "Tarantella." The two girls carried cymbals adorned with ribbons. The last trio in this category was that of Janina Cambronero, Lee Filoteo and Patricia Pancheco for "Penny Whistle Song." Certainly, the girls earned a lot of whistles from an admiring audience.

The last HCSB performance for the night came from the Classical Solo Open for girls. Opening the category was Christine Lansang with "Princess Aurora." The regal Christine wore a silver tiara. Another crowned head belonged to Cheka Cabreza who did "Lilac Fairy" in, of course, a lilac dress with pink and greenish blue ornaments. For her part, Gladys Baybayan did "Don Q" in a scarlet red dress adorned with ruby red and gold ornaments. Maan de Guzman performed "Pas Classique" in a light blue dress with gold and dark blue ornaments. The final HCSB performance of the night came from Nikki Vera Cruz for "Verdi." Nikki was nifty in a red top with gold and silver details.

(To be concluded)

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E-mail me at ice_wave_42@yahoo.com.