Pinoys shine in US ballroom tilt

From the highly-rated American TV series Dancing with The Stars to the Ohio StarBall, the biggest ballroom competition in the United States, the Filipinos are making their mark.

There has recently been an added portion in the acclaimed TV show. Junior dancers now participate in the show. They fielded from among many and a chosen few are asked to join the show live. Judging from the excitement of their family and friends who are sometimes shown during taped portions, this segment will probably become a regular thing for the TV show. Filipinos Craig and Samantha Abaya-Campos from New Jersey bested them all. Three hard-to-impress judges and the voting audience declared them the Junior Champion of Dancing with The Stars.

At the Ohio StarBall last November, where there were over 30,000 entries — considered the biggest ever, Filipinos again showed their talent. Belinda Adora, former Latin gold medalist for the Southeast Asian Games and 10-times undefeated National Champion, coached her amateur student Ryan Nicho Jago to the Finals of the Latin Pro-Am A Division. Pro-Am is a teacher dancing with the student, which his very popular in the US. Their inclusion in the Finals (the top 6) was a tough feat considering they were unknown in the field of 34 competitors and some of their teachers are past or present champions.

After every round, Belinda and Ryan’s technique and stamina just kept getting stronger to convince the judges that they did deserve to be in the finals.

Also at the Ohio StarBall, Michaela “Pinky” Puno, organizer of The Philippine StarBall, was there not only to promote it and get confirmation from Top Competitors and Top Adjudcators, but to join the competition herself. She is a Pro-Am competitor too with her teacher Slava Sergiev.

She danced three different styles — Open Latin, Silver Smooth, and Silver Standard, and made the finals in almost all her single dances against a field of 40 couples. Pinky was also chosen to represent her region in the Dance Sport Series in the Smooth style competition. As a Patron of the Arts, the organizers bestowed on her the honor of giving the Overall Top Award for the Professional Latin division.

The Philippine StarBall on Feb. 15 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel is generating excitement everywhere, especially for the local competitors.

It gives them the opportunity to compete in a formal atmosphere and be part of a first-class production. As one competitor put it, “Where else can we ever be on the same floor with the best in the world?”

Pinky believes Filipino competitors who will join the event will do well in this Open International Ballroom competition. “We have so much talent here in the Philippines. Our dancers just need to be more disciplined about their practices and commit to give it the dedication and effort it needs, not for just an hour a day, but many hours in a day. They will be competing against top dancers who practice daily for at least five hours. We can be everything they are too!”