SKIP: Dancing is all about passion

Bouncing with pure energy and stamina with smiles on their faces, members of the SKIP Entertainment Dance Company had given Cebuanos a peek of how fun and exciting dancing could be. Just recently, Guam's success story performed at SM Entertainment Plaza, showing off snappy, graceful moves to the rhythm of contemporary beats.

The dance group is composed of Shiina Lynn Kuniyoshi, Arielle Dimalanta, Chloe Joanne Kernagham, Danielle Leon Guerrero, Giana Nicole Pangelinan, Francesca Calvo, Matthew Wolff, Patrick Wolff, Dorian Nelson, Jonathan Cortez, Thomas Cruz, and Anthony Francisco more known as Tony, who once worked as one of Britney Spears' back-up dancers.

Sponsored by Skechers, the group flew to the country from Guam after accepting legendary talent discover Gelene Eugenio's invitation to guest at a TV show on ABC-5, plus the chance to perform in some parts of the country.

The group has set no age limit, as their youngest is only 15 while the oldest in the group is already 25 and is studying law. Worth noting is the fact that most of them are Filipino-Americans.

Skip dancers have met success in the world of dancing, having traveled and performed in several countries already and having joined competitions in US mainland and Europe and won prestigious championships since the group was formed in 1982. The main goal of SKIP is to provide a fun and wholesome avenue for the talents of the youth of Guam.

The dancers are trained early, as young as three years old. As part of the honing of their skills, they would move up in levels, from beginners, to intermediate, and then to senior level - considered as the top performers of the pack, the ones who would go to competitions.

Their group was nice enough to spare a few minutes for a chat with The FREEMAN, after which they rushed to the airport for their flight back to Manila. On their preparation for every show:

They prepare for a show by warming up. As a group, they always help each other in perking each other up as they don't want to go onstage looking tired. To be energetic is what attracts the audience. On dancing:

To them, it is a pastime, hobby and profession rolled into one - dancing is a way of life. On time-management:

Some of them are still studying, so they make it a point to go out during summer vacations only. On dealing with differences within the group:

According to them they are "pretty much like a family" and that differences normally occur because "families have issues too." To deal with such, they talk and make sure that everybody knows what's going on and that everybody's getting the exact truth. On what sets them apart from other dance groups:

They stressed that they treat each other like family. Their passion for dancing teaches them not to discriminate; that they are willing to perform not just on big and nice stages but on smaller and makeshift stages as well. This makes them unique and more flexible. They survive without breaking their own style. We give a different flavor compared to the stateside groups, which are all refined in their perfect stages. On the difficulties they encounter while on tour:

A member shared that one time, when they went to Europe for a competition and the plane schedule got delayed, so when they did arrive there was little time to properly prepare. All these time delays, off-schedules, bad hotels, among others are stressful, but the group is proud to say that they pulled it through. In fact, in that Europe competition, they emerged as over-all grand champion. On their most unforgettable performance:

Every single moment they skip is unforgettable! According to Tony, "I would never find another group with so much passion and so little drama, because in the dance industry, there's a lot of drama." On how does it feel to be dancing for a pop superstar:

For Filipino-American Tony who did back up dancing for Britney Spears for eight months said that getting there was no easy climb. Auditioning for Britney, in fact, took six hours of non-stop dancing. "When I first moved to LA, I did not get dance stints for two years, but with my dedication and hard work, I stayed in class and never missed a single audition," Tony revealed, "I made sure I know what's the in thing, or what's going on, and what I am to do to be able to reach that certain caliber. So I just kept on until I got the job for Britney Spears." On their advice for aspiring dancers:

Start dancing as soon as possible. Always dance from your heart and always have fun with it. Don't take it seriously. It's about what you love to do, so don't make it like it's a job. It's something you can do for the rest of your life. As Tony stressed, "I wasn't a good dancer. I didn't even start out as a dancer! But with dedication, it can be learned and mastered."