The lead dancer

CEBU, Philippines - Hello, kiddos! Did you know that February is observed as National Arts Month? This is to give importance to both the visual and performing arts like drawing/painting, music, photography and film, literature/letters, and the dance, among others.

As a preparation to the observance, let me take you today to the Talisay City Central School where Ate Gelay is enrolled. She led the school's Sinulog contingent in the recent Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan competition and the Sinulog Grand Parade last January 19.

Gelay is Rg Lyn U. Fuentes, a 12-year-old Grade 5 pupil, and a resident of Barangay Dumlog in Talisay City.

It is her second time to play "rayna" (queen) in the school's contingent to the said Sinulog competitions.

She shared that she loves to dance and would never get tired of it. In fact, she is keen on joining a dance troupe once she reaches high school, perhaps at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University.

"I will be in CIT soon because my older brother, Rg, is studying there. Our parents (Rogelio and Gina) want us to go to the same school," she bared.

Her mother is in Dubai right now working as a lady driver. Gelay recalled that there was one time, when she was a bit younger, when she and her mom became spectators of the Sinulog Grand Parade. "I remembered my mother wishing that I would be able to dance someday while holding the Santo Niño image. I think that this is my Mama's wish coming true," she added.

But it is her father's dancing prowess that has rubbed on to Gelay. "My mother plays the piano. It is my father who has influenced me in this interest in dancing," Gelay further shared. Her father is also a driver and plies a tricycle route in Talisay.

Gelay also mentioned her Nursery teacher, Janet Nacor, to be among the first few persons in her life to have spotted early her talent. Currently, she is in Grade 5 - Class GT, which means  "Gifted and Talented."

"As for my part as rayna, it only takes a day for me to train since I'm already familiar with where and how to travel inside a formation, paying attention more to the drumbeat. The only thing that keeps on bothering me is how to hold firmly the image, that's why I always pray before my performance that I may not stumble along the way and lose grip of the Santo Niño," she went furthermore. (FREEMAN)