DANCING TEENS
AN ANT’S LIFE. Depicting the culture of preparedness of ants earned the judges’ nod to declare the contingent from the Don Vicente Rama Memorial Elementary School as this year’s best.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Don Vicente Rama Memorial Elementary School and the Apas National High School were adjudged as this year’s best in the elementary and secondary divisions respectively at yesterday’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan competition at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The Don Vicente Rama contingent depicted the culture of preparedness of ants in their presentation while the lead dancer of the Apas group glided on a sea of silver to get the nod of the judges.
A total of 15 contingents joined this year’s competition.
Fair weather allowed the contingents to push through with the street dancing from Plaza Independencia going to the Cebu City Sports Center unlike last year when organizers had to cancel the event due to rains.
This year, the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) introduced a new category in the competition: the Best in Street Dancing which was bagged by the Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. Memorial National High School and the Mabolo Elementary School in the secondary and elementary divisions respectively. Each got a P50,000 cash prize.
“Every year we want to innovate and to outgrow our previous Sinulog sa Kabataan. The people and the judges always look forward to something new every year,” said SFI executive director Ricky Ballesteros.
After falling short of the championship title last year, Apas National High School successfully made a comeback and bagged the title for the secondary division of the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan yesterday.
Dancers in black and white costumes with accents of silver wowed the crowd and the judges with their Sinulog presentation.
They also bagged the Best in Costume award and got an extra P50,000 on top of their P300,000 cash prize from winning the title.
Don Sergio Osmena also impressed the crowd at the CCSC with their refreshing concept this year. Dancers were dressed with red short pants and yellow long sleeves with red suspenders, sporting slick black hair and nerdy glasses as they depicted students learning all about the Sto. Nino through a “lakbay aral” activity.
Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. National High School’s comic performance impressed crowd, judges. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
Their wacky and comic getup and choreography amazed the judges and audience as they bagged second place for the secondary division with P150,000. They also won Best in Musicality (P50,000).
Last year’s champion, the Abellana National School ended in third place with P100,000.
Although they were among the most cheered contingents yesterday, their presentation, which focused on countryside life featuring the national dance, tinikling, as an offering to the Sto. Niño, failed to help them defend their title.
They however took home the Best in Costume Award for the secondary division.
The other awardees for the secondary division were: Talamban National High School in fourth place and Pasil Night High School in fifth for the Best in Ritual Showdown.
ANTS’ LIFE
In the Elementary Division, the Don Vicente Rama Memorial Elementary School took home the championship title with their presentation which depicted the lives of ants and how they gave thanks to the Holy Child Jesus for their food.
Their neon-colored props and cartoon-inspired costumes made the judges choose them as the Best in Costume for the elementary division.
Mabolo Elementary School wins 2nd place of the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan 2015 and 1st place in Street Dancing. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
Second place went to Tribu Mabolokon of Mabolo Elementary School which also bagged the Best in Musicality and Best in Street Dancing awards with their dancers’ exaggerated facial expressions and wide, open-mouth smiles.
Cebu City Central School bagged third place, Labangon Elementary School in fourth place and Carreta Elementary School in fifth place.
Cebu City Central wins the 3rd place.
Labangon Elementary School wins 4th place.
CRITERIA
The judges looked out for a total package performance from the contingents.
“The presentations were nice and impressive, much improved from last year. We looked at the totality of all performances. The winners were able to use the space, position and their costumes well,” said Annie Divinagracia-Sartorio, chairperson of the board of judges.
She suggested for future participating contingents to sustain the impact of their presentation from start to end and to employ developing choreography making use of their entire body and props.
For his part, Ballesteros suggested for contestants to think of a good concept.
“A good concept will trickle down to good choreography, storyline, and even costume. Don’t be afraid to experiment. The judges and people will always look for a fresh concept,” he said.
Yesterday’s activity was very well attended with the CCSC’s seats full packed.
By 2pm, Ballesteros said all 15,000 tickets for the event was already sold out. Some weren’t allowed entry into the sports center anymore since the facility’s capacity was maxed out.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Sinulog overall chairman, was thankful to Sto. Nino for yesterday’s good weather.
“You are Sinulog. Kitan tanan Sinulog (We are all Sinulog). If you’re happy, we’re happy. Ang mga modaog, ayaw panghambog. Ang mapildi, ayaw basula ang judges (Winners, don’t be boastful. Losers, don’t blame the judges),” Rama said as he addressed spectators at the grandstand yesterday.
During yesterday’s grand finale, all contingents danced to four Sinulog songs, a first for the event, according to Ballesteros.
After the announcement of winners, the champions for each category did an encore of their performance.