An unlikely and ‘viral’ dancing queen

Mary Rose Ditsos, now dubbed as the “Sari-Sari Queen” or the “Dancing Tindera” of Consolacion, shares her humble beginning and her love for dancing that took social media by storm after she uploaded a video of her dancing to the beat of ICONA POP’s “Girlfriend” to get the attention of her crush.
(CDN PHOTO/MARC ERIC COSEP)

It was not just her crush who was the inspiration behind her viral video.

For 20-year-old Mary Rose Ditsos, dubbed by netizens as a “Dancing Tindera” or “Sari-Sari Queen,” she also wanted to entertain the public especially the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who feel homesick.

Ditsos gained fame after a video of her dancing, which she uploaded on Facebook on June 10, immediately went viral.

Ditsos’ video, captioned “PANSINA NAKO CRUSH PLEASEEE” (Crush, notice me please), has gained more than 2 million views, 27,000 likes and 20,629 shares as of 3 p.m. yesterday.

Not only did her hilarious and extremely nimble dancing antics become popular among Facebook users in the Philippines, it also landed in television news programs not just in the country but also in Thailand.

What made her shoot a video? Her answer was simple: she was bored.

“Wala ra gyud koy lingaw ato. As in, bored jud ko,” Ditsos laughed as she spoke with Cebu Daily News yesterday.

(I had nothing to do and I was just bored.)

The viral video was taken inside the sari-sari store owned by her cousin in Barangay Poblacion Oriental, Consolacion, a town some 13 kilometers north of Cebu City.

It happened on a day when she was having her rest day from her internship and was helping watch over her cousin’s sari-sari store, a chore she would usually take on during her free time.

On June 9, while waiting for customers, Ditsos thought of recording a video through her iPhone 5s.

With the background music “Girlfriend” by Icona Pop, she started the video when she came out from the table, dancing side by side.

Ditsos then started to perform random dance steps, but her video recording was unexpectedly interrupted when a customer bought cigarettes.

Despite the interruptions, Ditsos attempted to continue her video recording, but another customer bought cigarettes. The uploaded video lasted for three minutes and 16 seconds.

Friends

Ditsos told Cebu Daily News that the caption on the viral video was meant for a man who hails from Dumaguete City and works as a seaman in a foreign vessel.

“Nagka-crush lang ko niya kay cute siya and mura siyag si Enrique Gil,” Ditsos added.

(I have a crush on him because he looks like Enrique Gil [a Kapamilya actor].)

She could not recall how they became friends on Facebook, but she was the first one who sent a message which was, “Hi, baby boy!”

“Nag-reply man siya nakalimot na ko unsa to pero wala jud niya gi-reject akong message,” she said.

(He replied, but I could not recall what it was. But he did not reject my message.)

Although the guy knew that Ditsos had a crush on him and that he could not reciprocate the feeling, they still ended being friends.

“He shares to me about his life on board (vessel) and his relationship with his girlfriend,” Ditsos added.

Ditsos said she had no intention of forcing herself on someone who did not like her back. But it did not mean she could not have fun for having a crush or for being in a one-sided relationship — if it could even be called a relationship.

Dance was Ditsos’ way of coping with anything, her way to not take herself seriously.

Distos, an information technology graduate, said she started posting videos since high school, which were all about parody dances.

Her crush also knew about her love for parody dances that she posted on her Facebook account. Several times, he had asked her to inform him if she had new videos as he would want to watch them immediately.

In her last video, however, she forgot to tell him ahead of time that she had done a dance video. Instead, she came up with the caption “PANSINA NAKO CRUSH PLEASEEE (Crush notice me please)!”

Mary Rose Ditsos’ dance covers that went viral were done inside this sari-sari store, owned by her cousin, in Barangay Poblacion Oriental, Consolacion, Cebu.
CDN PHOTO/MARC ERIC COSEP

“Ni-comment siya ug heart heart (on the video)! Kilig kaayo ko!” she laughed while talking to CDN.

(He commented with hearts on the video. I was thrilled!)

But after her video went viral, Ditsos now had little time to chat with her crush as she had her hands full replying to messages from her admirers and followers.

She found it funny that after she gained online fame, her number of suitors suddenly grew.

But for Ditsos, this was not yet the time to get back into the love department since aside from being focused on work, she actually had a boyfriend whom she broke up with just over a month prior to her sudden online fame. A third party involved with her boyfriend was the reason behind their break-up, she said.

‘More videos coming’

Ditsos is the only child of Alme, a factory worker, and Junte, an electrical technician.

Their family is currently living in Barangay Poblacion Oriental, Consolacion.

Ditsos graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (IT) in April 2017 from the Intellisense Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mandaue City.

At present, she works as an administrative assistant at the Creation Tomorrow Philippines Corp.

“I am doing the videos because this is also my way of making other people happy, like the OFWs,” she said in Cebuano.

Distos showed screenshots of some overseas Filipino workers who thanked her for giving them a reason to laugh and be happy as they battled homesickness and depression.

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, Ditsos has 28,168 followers on Facebook, a far cry from the just about a thousand she had before her “Girlfriend” video became viral.

On July 4, she posted another video of a chipmunk version of the US Billboard topper “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, the two-minute video has gained 685,510 views; 16,000 likes; and 6,801 shares.

With fame also came bashers, some of whom called her names or even called her an “addict,” but Ditsos took it all in stride. She believed no one should be embarrassed, especially if your intention was just to make other people happy.

“Unsay sayop ana nga buhat nga ganahan ra man ta na malipay ang mga tawo. Ngano ang ubang Pilipino kay kusog man manghilabot sa life sa uban,” Ditsos added.

(What’s wrong with wanting to make others happy? I can’t understand why some Filipinos like to meddle with the lives of others.)

With her newfound fame, Ditsos said she was planning to come up with more videos soon, which would still involve dancing but with a twist. So Ditsos fans, watch out!