Carcar, Talisay top Sinulog contest for province

CEBU, Philippines - For the third time in a row, Carcar City Division championed the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan besting eight other contingents of the Secondary Division in the jam-packed Cebu City Sports Center yesterday.

Talisay City Central School emerged as grand champion of the Elementary Division besting six other contingents.

Carcar City’s library concept and Talisay City’s coronation of the Sto. Niño impressed the board of judges who said the two, along with the rest of the top five winners for both categories, have the chance during the grand showdown on January 20.

Both of them swept all special awards of Best in Costume and Best in Musicality.

Tuburan National High School (second place), Tribu ni Beatriz of Danao City (third place), Toledo National Vocational School (fourth place) and Uling National High School of Naga City (fifth place) complete the Top Five in the High School Division.

Second placer to Fourth placer in the Elementary Division are Pajo Elementary School of Lapu-lapu City Government, Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Danawanon of Danao City, Gregoria Milan Memorial Elementary School from the Municipality of Balamban and Naga Central Elementary School of the Naga City.

Top five winners received trophies and cash prizes of P300,000, P150,000, P100,000, P75,000 and P50,000 respectively. Best in Costume and Best in Musicality awardees get P50,000 each.

Separate prizes were given to the choreographers of winning contingents. Choreographers of first placers to fifth placers went home with P10,000, P5,000, P4,000, P3,000 and P2,000 respectively.

The top five winners in both categories shall advance automatically to the grand showdown on January 20 while non-placers may join as long as they improve.

New concepts and moves

Larry Gabao, chairman of the board of judges for the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan, said that Carcar City’s library concept impressed the judges because it is something unique and new.

He said the group, which has championed the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan in the last two years, performed neatly on stage.

Carcar’s concept this year attempted to show that diligence and devotion pay to be successful academically. Gabao said they were impressed by how the choreographer has linked academics and Sinulog.

Talisay City Elementary School also stood out among the elementary contingents because of their moves Gabao described as “refined.”

Gabao said the judges hope to see more highlights and elements of surprise from the contingents come January 20.

Katherine Estenzo, Carcar City’s choreographer, said she got the concept from a study tour in Iloilo April last year. She was at a library during her tour when the idea came to her.

With 96 dancers and 150 propsmen, Carcar started preparing since December 9. A month before that, they started scouting for dancers during the Kabkaban Festival. Carcar’s contingent is a pool of best dancers from four Carcar high schools.

She proudly said that all of their resources, including talents, are from Carcar City. She said there will be more elements of surprise when they come back next week.

Marvey Caño, choreographer of Talisay City Elementary School, said there are more to expect from them during the showdown. Talisay’s concept is the coronation of the Sto. Niño. With 100 dancers and 300 propsmen, the Talisay City contingent spent over P2 million for the production.

Carcar and Talisay will be competing in the grand showdown in the Sinulog Based category.

Level up

Sinulog Foundation Inc. Executive Director Ricky Ballesteros said the participants have truly upgraded this year. He said the grandstand also has more spectators than last year. Police estimated the crowd at 14,000.

Ballesteros said participants have to be reminded against the use of too much props which in some performers did bad rather than good.

More spectators are expected to crowd the grandstand today during the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan. — /JPM (FREEMAN)