Keeping the best of Sinulog 2015 for last

Out-of-town dancers glowed in the dark; congressman asks organizers to level the playing field

Tribu Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe of Tangub City takes center stage as they dance their Sinulog-based routine. The performance was good for 2nd place in the category. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

When out-of-town dance contingents performed toward the end of the Sinulog 2015, it was already nightfall.

Twinkling LED lights, an innovation in the props of Placer, Masbate group this year, impressed both spectators and the judges, winning for the municipality their second straight grand prize.

Cebu City South District Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa said he noticed the timing, and wanted organizers to “level the playing field”  next time and have a random order of presentation.

“The time of presentation of the contingent makes a difference,” he said in a text message, where he noted that almost all the major winners performed at the tail end of the program when it was evening.

“Their costumes and props flicker and shine more brightly under the spotlights. Some of them used LED lights in their props and even control or direct the stage spotlights to their advantage,” Abellanosa said.

But organizers said the sequence was a deliberate decision to build up excitement.

Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) executive director Ricky Ballesteros said they placed the out-of-town contingents at the last to “set the mood” since these are the strong contenders with winning records in past years.

He compared it to “seeding” a sports competitions.

“We want the best contingents to be grouped together which is very effective for the judges, who said this is the best year so far,” he said.

Ballesteros instead challenged other contingents to be winners first so they can be placed at the later part of the program.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he  plans to introduce a new category next year to bring out the talents of private universities and colleges.

The two-day Sinulog sa Kabataan which precedes the grand parade already showcases dance contingents from public elementary and high schools.

Among the last to perform in Sunday’s grand parade were out-of-town groups like Tribu Lingganay of Alang-Alang, Leyte, Tribu Buyoganon of Abuyog, Leyte, Kulturang Placereño and Tribu Himag-ulaw both from Placer Masbate and Tangub City’s Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe.

Abellanosa funded the Abellana National School dance contingent performed earlier in the day and didn’t land in the top five in a field of 21 for the Sinulog-based category.

Kulturang Placereno, which thought of adding LED lights in their props, anticipated they would perform among the last since they were last year’s champion in the Sinulog-based category.

Other local contingents were placed in the last part for winning the Cebu-based Sinulog  sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan and Lalawigan among public schools. These were Apas National High School, Talisay City Central School, Carcar City Division and Tuburan National High School among others.

Ballesteros said organizers don’t accept requests from contingents to be placed at the last but they can accommodate those who want to perform earlier.

For example, Lumad Basakanon, last year’s champion for the free interpretation category, asked to perform earlier in the lineup, about nine groups ahead of the Abellana National School.

Ballesteros also tackled the perennial problem of crowd control and is looking at the South Road Properties as an alternative venue for street dancing next year for a wider and longer lane for the carousel route.

He said during the 888 News Forum that they were anticipating a smaller crowd for this year because of the papal visit, but they were proven wrong because the crowd was estimated to be the more or less the same as last year’s. /With Correspondent Apple Ta-as