I will be coming to Manila in June. I will be with my new bride and we are both Dancesport Champions and we are interested in the ballroom dancing scene in the Philippines. Can you pls. tell us what's a good place to go out dancing? or a good dance studio to practice in? What is the scene like? The last time I was there was back in '97 and is it still pretty much the same? I notice in some websites that West Coast Swing is now being dance. When I came there not a whole lot of people knew what it was. Do they also do Salsa? Do they also do American Style? As you can see I don't know much about the Philippine scene and any help you can give will be appreciated.
Please let me introduce myself. My name is Gwena Cordero. I have just opened tonight the website of Philippine Ballroom as suggested by my dance teacher Jason Beaman. I am very happy to know that ballroom international standard is picking up fast in the Philippines. I have been learning from Mar-Shere Dance Academy here in Melbourne for 10 years. Mark O’Donoghue and his wife Sheryl were sent by the Australian Dancing Society 3 years ago to teach there in Julie Borromeo’s studio. Jason is a teacher at Mar-Shere. He also does coaching for competitors and adjudicate during competitions. He just came back from Singapore to judge and taught 3 days in Sri-Lanka. In Singapore, he met a Filipino competition couple who invited him to teach in Manila. He will be going there in 3 weeks time to teach for 4 days. Jason is an Australian Dancesport Chamption for 3 years. He usually choreograph the opening of the Australian Dancesport which is held every December. I noticed in your website under “events” that you have Michael and Beata as guest in the Philippines and another pair who were also here as guest in our championship.
I come from Iloilo City and when I was there in 1997 with my partner (we danced in Del Rio Hotel in Iloilo and in Bacolod City), the DI’s were thrilled about our dance steps and took a video so they can learn.. At that time, people there were only beginning to learn the modern ballroom style so that they were amazed when we danced around the floor. I am very happy to know that now, modern style is being taught there.
Ballroom is big here in Australia. I have a lesson once a week and my partner and I go social dancing every Saturday night from 8:00 p.m. to 12 midnight. We used to dance socially 3 times a week but because of work the following day, I get very tired. It’s not like Philippines where we have maids to do things for us. It takes for us longer here to learn as our time is limited. There you can practice every night if you want to. At Mar-Shere, we have 4 examinations every year two of which is called the Golden Awards Night where we perform in costumes with our teacher and being examined at the same time. I am now in the Gold Star level in Latin and Modern. We just had the Golden Award last April 12. There are two of us Filipinos who are students at Mar-Shere. Catherine is only 20 years old but very good. Her mother comes from Cebu. She is a competition dancer. The studio has been urging me to do competition for sometime now but I find it hard to commit to practice 3-5 times a week expecially that I have a family to look after. There are only a number of Filipinos that do dancesport. There are a lot of Chinese though.
What is the calendar of events this year? I would like to attend one of your events but maybe not this year as I will be going back to the U.S. for holidays. I wish the Philippine Ballroom good luck and hope to see our dance couples win the world championship one day.
My name is Akgun, from Istanbul, Turkey. A few years ago I met a dancer from Manila, whose name is Ednah Ledesma, we kept in touch for a long time but, somehow I lost her contact information. I will really appreciate if you can let her know that I'm trying to reach her, or if you can provide with her phone number or mailing address. I know it may sound a silly request but, you are the only one who can help me. Many thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Akgun Usta
Telephone : +90 212 4423868
Mobile : +90 505 5137888