The Dynamic Dance story

CEBU, Philippines - DanceSport athletes and aficionados from the Philippines and abroad gathered at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel Grand Ballroom. It was the 2010 Cebu IDSF World DanceSport Open and 5th DanceSport sa Sugbu Parade of Athletes and Opening Program where DanceSport officials, adjudicators and dance athletes garbed in glittery, flowing dresses and suits, ball gowns and coat tails, stood at attention at the middle of the hall representing the United Kingdom, Italy, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Australia, Singapore, Korea and from the Philippines cities of Metro Manila, Makati City, Pasay City, Pasig City, Baguio City, Tacurong, Sarangani, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, General Santos, Davao, Dumaguete and Cebu.

They were watching the story of DanceSport Team Cebu City in a full featured video – tears welled in my eyes. Beside me were more than 200 beneficiaries of the free DanceSport sa Barangay workshop program, eagerly anticipating their turn to dance their recital. They came from humble beginnings and never in their wildest dreams had they thought they would be performing in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 – a mix of citizens from around the globe.

Planting Seeds

I had the privilege of being there since it all started, back in 2001, Loloi Rendon and DanceSport enthusiasts Edward and Eleanor Hayco created E-Motions, a ballroom nightspot intended to encourage DanceSport athletes and enthusiasts to continue their passion. Ballroom gigs, DanceSport shows and competitions, fashion catwalks were held there and the group pooled resources to compete in national competitions.

Soon enough, DanceSports was chosen as one of Cebu City’s five priority sports fuelling the team members’ passion to spiraling heights. DanceSport Team Cebu City hosted on November 27, 2005 history’s first DanceSport-SEAGames competition and the 1st Cebu International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) Open DanceSport Championship on November 28, 2005 where 500 athletes worldwide converged.

The Volunteer Movement

A sense of family, genuine affinity and team effort keeps the group going. Its unique aspect of volunteerism fuels the Barangay DanceSport program that provides year-round free DanceSport training in barangay levels for potential athletes, provides weekly village competitions to bring the experience right at the doorsteps of the grassroots participants.

More than 3,000 kids have already benefited from this program, a lot of them now members of the DanceSport training pool. This enabled the team to break the Guinness World Record as the Largest Dance Class in the World with 7,770 participants!

Epitome of Sports Tourism

Four international competitions have seen these barangay trainees do their recital in front of their foreign role models, five if you include the national competitions too. These competitions are such a pain to organize, but volunteers ease it in as well, very successfully! Each year is a learning experience and organizing it gets easier.

DTCC wouldn’t have made it without its corporate sponsors, thus they are extremely grateful to the Cebu City Government, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala, Department of Tourism, Philippine Sports Commission, Panasonic, Port Restaurant, Living Asia, Business Mirror, Alegre Beach Resort & Spa, Globe Telecom, Shangri-la Mactan Resort & Spa, Kia Motors Cebu, Casino Femme, French Baker, Alpa City Suites, Alcordo Advertising and our media partners The FREEMAN, SunStar Daily, Cebu Daily News, VAsianTV and RCTV.

This year’s World DanceSport Open added a new feature, a photo contest in cooperation with Cebu Photoworks and in its first try 50 photographers participated. Log on to www.dancesportcebu.org for more of this dynamic dance story. ?