Sports dancing is not mere fun

IS dance sports for real?

For Becky Garcia, president of the Dance Sports Federation of the Philippines, it is.

This, Ms. Garcia declared dur

- rum where she appeared as guest, along with Filipino men and women dancers who combined for 10 gold medals in the Day 1 of 30th Southeast Asian Games two Sundays ago.

“Our dancers impressive showing in their respective events, hopefully, that the sport we love is alive in n the SEA Games as it is alive in the Olympic Games,” Garcia exclaimed in reference to one of the segment of the sports

be played din the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“And, we hope, too, that the sport of dancing will become a per

and the Asian Games calendar,” Garcia, a ManilaTimes lifestyle columnist, said.

The tandems of Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nualla and Mark Jayson Gayon and Mary Joy Renigen, who were with the DSF head in the Forum organized by the Sports Organization of the Philippines in coordination with TheManilaTimes Publications, agreed.

The two tandems accounted

medals that host Philippines used as launching pad in its overall championship campaign, which look on the track from December 1 on to today,

closing ceremonies.

“Dancing, like other sports in the calendar of all multi- event meets as the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics, is a sport and should be treated as that,” Nualla said.

“Ang dance sports po is no for fun as many believe. Like in all other sports, dancers, before competing spend times in preparations,” Nualla explained.

“Unlike other sports that are being contested while sitting, we dancers exert physical strength for several hours daily while preparing for competitions. And our preparations take not only a week, but months even years like what we did

Games,” she said.

Renigen, for her part, said what makes dancing harder than other events is that performers are require to develop special skills in order to be good.

“Besides, grace, we also have to adopt to the music in or events, like tango, for instance. Choreography and presentation are also required to impress the judges, who decide the winners in competitions,” Reginen said.

Everybody attested that that contrary to the belief of many, dancing is also expensive in the sense that practitioners need, too, international exposure.

“Kamisa Philippine team have to travel to as far as Europe because it in there that sports dancing originated,” Gayon disclosed.

“And it is in Europe, too, where the best professional coaches and trainers come from,” Garcia, who came to the forum with Greek husband George Sarakinis in tow, interrupted.

European coaches to come here to