ACHIEVEMENTS: UP Dancesport Society in the 1st Philippine Starball

February 16, 2008

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas -- ballroom and latin dancers from all over the world gathered in this day for the first-ever Philippine Starball!

This international event was organized by the Council of United Professional Dance Teachers of the Philippines, headed by no less than Jojo Carino, President of the CUPDTP and UP Dancesport Society's creative director.

This events was divided into the Daytime and Evening competitions: Daytime consisting of Junior, Senior, Under 21, Syllabus, Beginner, Novice, and Pre-Amateur divisions, whereas the Evening events consisting of Amateur, Pro-Am, and Professional divisions.

Members of the UP Dancesport Society again proved that they are beginning to find their spot in the dancesport world. Edgar Jay Patacsil and Kathleen Joyce Morcilla did a clean sweep the Syllabus category, emerging as champions in the Syllabus Chacha, Rumba, Jive and Samba. Alejandro Uy and Charlene Eusebio got Silver in the Syllabus Chacha and Jive, Bronze in Samba and Rumba, while Patrick Simon Corrales and Toni Marie Narvaez bagged Silver in Rumba and Samba, Bronze in Chacha and Jive.

On the other hand, Jaypee Decena and Maryanne Jenelle Yabut and Joshua Aniversario and Rona Kaye Hipolito ended up as semi-finalists in the Novice A (Chacha/Jive) and Novice B (Rumba/Samba) respectively.

Truly, the Philippine Starball is one of the most memorable events in UP Dancesport history.

ACHIEVEMENTS: UP Dancesport Society in the 7th Sabah Dancesport Championship

December 6, 2007

UP Dancesport Society members once again showcased their dancing prowess in the 7th Sabah Dancesport Championship, held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Members and trainees of the UP Dancesport Society ended up winners in this dancesport event, namely: Joshua Aniversario and Jeshya Ang (3rd Place Novice Latin, 5th Place Pre-Amateur Latin), Jaypee Decena and Maryanne Jenelle Yabut (4th Place Novice Latin, 6th Place Pre-Amateur Latin), Edgar Jay Patacsil and Toni Marie Narvaez (1st Place Syllabus Jive) and Alejandro Uy and Charlene Eusebio (2nd Place Syllabus Jive).

Members Emil Duenas and Dawn Daniel Christine Pavo (Novice Latin) and Jade Mark Alvarez and Rona Kaye Hipolito (Novice Latin) emerged as semi-finalists.

Congratulations to the UP Dancesport Society!

Today, Asia. Tomorrow, the world!

EVENTS: UP Dancesport Society @ Pag-iilaw sa Pasko 2007

December 3, 2007

Pag-iilaw sa Pasko is a song-and-dance concert held annually for free as a Christmas present for the UP community. It aims to showcase the skills of the premiere dance groups and choirs in the university and at the same time spread out the Christmas spirit through numbers and performances that reflect the meaning of the Yuletide season.

In this year's Christmas offering various groups participated in the Pag-iilaw, namely: UP Concert Chorus, UP Pep Squad, UP Dance Company, UP Filipiniana Dance Troupe, UP Streetdance Club, and last but not least, the UP Dancesport Society.

The gathering of all these dance groups is one of the biggest projects UP has ever had, bringing together different genres of dance such as ballet, hiphop, cheerdance, folk dance, jazz and ballroom into one big dance extravaganza!

UP Dancesport Society was part of 6 numbers, two of which are "spot" dances where the group performed their specialty. UP Dancesport did group Chacha and Samba numbers.

One of Pag-iilaw's gimmicks was to show the UP community that each dance group is not only limited to the particular genre that they specialize in. Thus, there are also "crossover performances". UP Dancesport Society did hiphop with the UP Streetdance Club, while the UP Filipiniana Dance Troupe did a Jive number with the UP Dancesport.

But perhaps what really did stick to the memory of the audience were the opening and finale numbers. The opening performance, Boogie Wonderland, was a huge mix of all the dance types, whereas the finale, Hataw Na, was a modern-dance number accompanied by the singing voices of the members of UP Concert Chorus.

Pag-iilaw sa Pasko 2007 is one of the biggest events in the series of Christmas activities in UP. See you all next year!