Carcar City with its scenes preparing for a feast of roasted pigs or lechon won second place in last Saturday’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan for the secondary division at the Cebu City Sports Center. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
In the last month, 14-year-old Gezreel Tanodtanod endured sleepless nights and sore joints wile rehearsing for the school’s dance offering to the Sto. Niño.
It was her first time to dance in front of a crowd as huge as the one in the Cebu City Sports Complex last Saturday.
“Nalipay gyud ko kay nakahalad ko ni Sto. Niño,” she said.
(I’m very happy because I was able to offer something to the Holy Child.)
Carcar City finished second place, following Tuburan town, in the secondary division of the Sinulog showdown among public schools in the province for the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan
They look forward to doing a reprise in Sunday’s Sinulog Grand Parade, where a P1 million cash prize awaits the first place winner in the Sinulog-based and Free Interpretation categories.
Facing stiff competition, this time from out-of-town contingents, choreographer Kathryn Estenzo said she would make some tweaks in the routine for a better show.
“I think we will improve on props. Let’s just wait and see,” she said.
Tuburan, which featured male dancers on bamboo stilts in the performance of the Tinubdan sa Kauswagan Culturang Troupe, bested all other contingents.
Carcar City highlighted preparations for the feast of Sto. Niño, making use of papier-mâché pigs as props.
“We all know Cebu has the most delicious lechon in the country,” said choreographer Estenzo.
It’s a custom, especially in rural areas, to raise and fatten pigs to be butchered for lechon (roast pig) during the feast.
In 2013, Carcar City won the grand prize. The following year, they did not join the Sinulog sa Kabataan and instead directly participated in the Grand Parade.
Estenzo, who has been handling the Carcar City contingent for eight years, said she was not disheartened by the second place finish.
She said that it was enough for them to have been able to offer a dance to the Holy Child, the rest are just bonus blessings.
Carcar City was among the southern towns affected by typhoon Seniang last December with pockets of flooding, but it wasn’t severe.
“That is why we dance. We dance because we were spared,” said Estenzo.
Gezreel and 97 other high school students practiced for about six hours a day, including weekends, for the presentation.
Both of Gezreel’s parents are devotees of the Sto. Niño.
At times she missed reading assignments for school because she came home late from dance rehearsals so she and classmates would catch up on days their schedules were less hectic.
When she saw the crowd cheering for her team, she couldn’t contain her excitement.
“If it were up to me, I would want our team to be the champions in this category,” said Gezreel.
Choreographer Estenzo said scheduling time for rehearsals was always a challenge and then the typhoon hit December 30.
“Our time for practice was really limited but they were able to pull off a very good performance. I am very happy for them,” she said.
Carcar City won first place in the street dancing category on top of winning second place in the ritual showdown.
On Sunday, all 98 dancers will be on the streets again, impressing spectators and, hopefully, contest judges with tweaks worth waiting for.
“Let’s just keep it a surprise for now,” said Estenzo.