Ilya Kornev with Daria Zhukova of Russia perform during World DanceSport Federation Cebu Open 2016 at Waterfront Hotel in Lahug (CDN FILE PHOTO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The grand World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) Cebu Open 2023 (WDSF Latin & Standard Adult Open) will mark the first major international dancesport competition in Cebu since 2019.
This international dancesport competition is slated on September 30 at the Grand Ball Room of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
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Edward Hayco, the organizer and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner and Dancesport Team Cebu City (DTCC) founder, told CDN Digital that they were gearing up to host over a thousand athletes from 26 countries.
Some of the countries competing for September 30’s competition are the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Serbia, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Switzerland, Poland, and Spain.
“We’re expecting a thousand athletes, probably the biggest in Asia. As of now, we have 600 couples na. We are expecting last minute registrants,” said Hayco.
“It’s the first face-to-face international competition since the pandemic.”
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Pandemic virtual competition
Hayco said that he felt a sigh of relief that they had surpassed the pandemic period where they struggled, but persevered to be one of the very few sports that continued organizing virtual competitions and training.
“We hosted on a small scale, during the pandemic, we were one of the few sports that continued to be active. Two to three months after the lockdown, we were the few sports that organized virtual competitions,” Hayco said.
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Hayco and his team noticed that as the lockdown persisted for months, they’ve heard news of household problems and violence which encouraged them to bolster their efforts to reach more people to learn and compete in dancesport.
“We organized online training at first. However, we noticed that during the months of the lockdown it created a tension within the households and families. Naa na gamayng (There is a small) domestic violence and other problems. We implemented our program in May 2020. Two months after that, we started the competition,” Hayco said.
At first, they were discouraged due to the very few turnout of the number of participants in their virtual competition, but they persevered.
“We started with only 15 participants, it was discouraging, but ako sila giingnan nga padayon lang (but I told them to just continue on). From 15 competitors online, we reached 600 participants. It evolved into a full blown online production. We had staff, we had floor director, we had equipment, we were producing a show like for television. Now we’re back to normal, the worst has passed. It’s a new beginning for everyone,” said Hayco.
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PDSF quarterly rankings
Besides the main event, the WDSF Cebu Open 2023, there will also be the Philippine Dance Sport Federation (PDSF) Third Quarterly Ranking and Competition that will be simultaneously held at the venue.
This separate event is expected to field in over a hundred Filipino dancesport athletes.