Smart awards best student teams in biggest dance tilt

MANILA, Philippines - An explosive show of talent and style marked the Jump In Dance-Off 2 finals recently at the Araneta Coliseum, with seasoned crews from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Miriam College (MC) bagging the top awards in the country’s biggest nationwide interschool dance competition.

Hosted by the Boys’ Night Out trio — DJs Tony Toni, Slick Rick and Sam YG, along with Rizza Diaz — the star-studded finals was graced by James Reid and Nadine Lustre, athletes Phil and James Younghusband, Ramon Bautista and the dance group A-Team, who recently bagged the gold medal at the megacrew division of the World Hip-Hop Dance Championship. Georcelle Dapat-Sy sat in the panel of judges along with Manoeuvers’ Jon Supan and Lema Diaz, one of the founders of the two-time World Hip-Hop Dance champions, Philippine AllStars.

UPLB’s Street Jazz Dance Company bested talented groups from eight other schools in the college category with their coordinated stomping and flipping that left the crowd gasping in awe.  On the other hand, MC’s all-girl dance troupe, Sayawatha, clinched a back-to-back victory in the high school category with a fierce and fiery routine. Both UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company and Sayawatha won Texter’s Choice awards for college and high school, taking home an additional prize of P20,000 each. 

Meanwhile, Wesleyan University’s A1 took the championship for the elementary level with an intense number that belied their age. Introduced this year, the elementary category made the Smart Jump In Dance-Off an even bigger competition, casting a wider net for the country’s most talented dancers.

The Smart Jump In Dance-Off 2 champions won P300,000 each — half of which will be awarded to their respective schools. The winning teams also snagged a chance to perform live on national TV as well as become Smart Jump In brand ambassadors, which all add up to the biggest prize offered in an interschool dance competition in the country.

In the college category, De La Salle University’s La Salle Dance Company won the second place and University of the Philippines’ UP Street Dance Club, won third place with P150,000 and P100,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, the powerhouse teams of CSA Dance Troupe of Colegio San Agustin – Makati and the LSGH Airforce of La Salle Greenhills clinched the second and third places in the high school level with P150,000 and P100,000, respectively.

In the elementary level, Cebu-based Crew Evolution of Pasil Elementary School and Davao-based Hupay Dance Troupe of San Roque Elementary School finished second and third, winning P150,000 and P100,000 respectively. Aquinas School’s Preppy Kidz swept all the special prizes in the elementary level.

The final teams were judged based on their artistic expression, technical execution and musicality and overall effectiveness. Text votes also comprised 10 percent of the teams’ final scores. UP Street Dance Club and CSA Dance Troupe bagged the Social Media Award for college and high school, after they trended on Twitter during the run-up to the finals.