Photo grabbed from Sandiego Dance Company Facebook page
On the second floor of a nondescript building along Kamuning Street, Capitol Site, is housed the first and oldest dance studio in Cebu City. Second generation owner Val Sandiego, son of Luz Mancao Sandiego who founded the Sandiego Dance Company in 1947, is welcoming kids and teenagers to the 69th annual Summer Dance Workshop, set to be staged on April 4, Monday.
“Kids these days are occupied with computers and iPads, and that’s why parents need to keep them more active and productive during the summer,” said Val. The workshop offers basic classes in ballet, disco, jazz, hip hop (for boys), modern dance, and Hawaiian hula and Polynesian for kids ages 3 to 12, as well as teenagers. The classes run for an hour and fifty minutes, Mondays to Fridays, with morning and afternoon sessions, and are to be conducted mostly by Val’s wife, Ofelia, and youngest daughter, Anna.
“We really are a family oriented dance studio, and people can see to it that we make it a point to be more than just a business,” said Sandiego. “We are an institution, and we do this for the passion and love of art, as well as to continue the legacy of my mom, which makes us happy and fulfilled as artists, that it should be handed down through generations.”
The workshop will run for six weeks, at the end of which will culminate with a dance recital to be held at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation theater on May 14. According to Sandiego, this recital, which is also called live art fest, will showcase how the students have developed a personality in the course of six weeks, since “dance plays an integral part of personality”, as well as to help them practice their confidence and overcome stage fright.
Sandiego is still entertaining calls and walk-ins for applications. The dance class packages range from Php 4,000 to Php 5,000. Sandiego Dance Arts Studio is located at 24 Kamuning St., Capitol Site, Cebu City. For inquiries, call 514-3003, 514-3002, or 253-5568, or for further information, find them on Facebook at Sandiego Dance Arts Studio./Ateneo de Zamboanga University intern Pristine Janielle Padua