Manila to Host Latin Dance World Cup

Philippine dancesport professionals aim to put the country’s dancers right at par with dancesport champions from European countries like Russia, Italy, and Denmark.

For the first time both in the Philippines and in Asia, a prestigious dancesports competition will be held in Manila on December 15.

The World Cup Professional Latin Competition comes to the country through the Professional DanceSport Association of the Philippines (PDSAP).  This year’s competition brings together champion dancesport couples from some 24 countries across the globe dancing their way to the top in a whole-day event.  Judging the various categories in the competition are fourteen jurors composed of four Filipino and ten European adjudicators.  Some 116 dancing couples will compete in the juvenile, junior, youth, senior, teacher-student, professional, and amateur categories.  The World Cup in Latin and Standard will cap the event in an evening show to be opened by Stepkids, a dancing group of streetchildren formed by PDSAP president Belinda Adora, as well as other top dancing couples in the local dancesport scene.      

Represented by Adora, the organization made a bid at the Luxembourg headquarters of the world governing body of dancesport, the World DanceSport Federation Professional Division (WDSF-PD), which is also the organization responsible for mounting the dancesport event that brings together champion couples from all over the world.  Through this event, the organizers intend to put the Philippines on the map as a dancesport contender.  “For so long, the World Cup has been held in Germany and Austria,” Adora shared.  PDSAP chair Cynthia Carrion further explained that “this is the chance for the Philippines to show the world that we have international-caliber dancesport athletes, who can stand with their peers in the global arena.”  Adora herself has personally accomplished feats towards this end with various awards in dancesport competitions including the gold in the Latin division of the Sea Games in 2005 and the championship crown in Asia-Pacific and Philippine dancesport competitions from 1997 to 2005.

At stake in the dancesport competition are 1,500 Euros for the winners of the World Cup and 1,200 Euros for the winners of the WDSF Latin and Standard competition.  The World Cup Professional Latin Competition will be held at the Sofitel Hotel in Manila.

Photo:  lifestyle.inquirer.net