Dancers sway their hips in the heated semifinal round of the dancesport competition of Palarong Pambansa 2024 on Thursday, July 11.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – From being a demo sport, dancesport is now considered a ‘regular sport’ in Palarong Pambansa 2024.
In fact, a total of 24 medals are up for grab in the elementary and secondary division waltz, chacha, tango, and rumba among others.
“Finally, now that it has been [made] a regular sport, now we are looking forward to getting more and more competitors nationwide because some of them are holding back because they are not a regular sport,” said Lowell Tan, a national adjudicator of the Philippine DanceSport Federation.
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Tan said it took them three years to lobby to make dancesport a regular sport in the national meet and all their efforts finally paid off.
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He also expects to see the sport grow bigger in the coming years.
Strategically done
Klynne Joseph Castigador and Kealyn Therese Castigador, the dancing siblings of Western Visayas, said they are happy that dancesport is now officially part of Palarong Pambansa.
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“I feel happy that dance sport is being seen as a sport because some people only see it as an art, not as a sport. They don’t know how hard it is to dance with much control with much emotion,” Kealyn said.
She said that everything in dance sport is “strategically done.”
Klynne Joseph Castigador and Kealyn Therese Castigador of Western Visayas. | CDN Digital photo / Josh Almonte
It is now Kealyn’s 4th time to join Palarong Pambasan while Klynne is a first time participant.
Meanwhile, Tan said that judging dancesport performances will be based on four components: technical quality, movement to music, choreography and presentation, and partnering skills.
Tan said that technical quality is the most critical because is consist of 12 subcomponents for both standard and Latin.