LSDC holds Remix ‘12

The La Salle Dance Company (LSDC) held its annual dance competition dubbed Remix ‘12 last November 9 at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium. The event attracted many the non-LSDC Lasallian dance crews that showcase their dancing prowess. The year’s Remix incorporated the theme, ‘Heroes of Faith.’

Hosted by RX 93.1 DJ and DLSU alumna Cerah Hernandez together with LSDC-Street’s Ken Laput, Remix ‘12 introduced something new this year with the inclusion of the Rookie Category to complement the All-Stars Category as program aims to draw attention to young dance crews.

Remix ‘12 Project Head Ella Fortun explained, “This year, it’s different because we have two divisions. Usually it’s just one for the entire competition, but since we want more crews to join and not be intimidated by former winners… we found out that people joined more and brought their supporters along as well.”

Panel of judges

To make the competition stiffer and more exciting, LSDC tapped five of the best choreographers and coaches from different dance crews in the country to judge the crews. Some of the choreographers are LSDC alumni.

The judge roster include 4th World Hip Hop Championships Co-choreographer Angelica Arda, 2012 Legit Status adult division roster member JJ San Juan, Chicser Choreographer and Director and UPeepz Co-founder Chips Beltran, the recent World Hip Hop Championships coach and LSDC alumnus Froilan “Jhong” Mesina and women’s artistic gymnastics of the Philippines National Coach Marlon Ignacio.

Gamble pays off for ABC Crew

Six crews started the battle in the rookie division. All-male group, the ABC Crew spoiled Skittlez Crew’s double championship.

A group composed of former LSDC-Street members Rodge Villanueva, Enzo Cruz, Vince “XJ” Alonzo, Mark De Leon and Andrew Garcia took a huge wager and opted to perform a single-song classical performance that separated the group from the rest of the competition.

“It was very fulfilling because we had a lot of things that constrained us, and also because we risked by doing an out-of-the-ordinary routine. We chose to do it because it has never been done in Remix before, and we want to use this opportunity to do so,” explained Villanueva.

Initially, the group decided to join Remix ‘12 for them to have fun after going their separate ways, following their resignation from LSDC.

The ABC Crew also disclosed that the group barely made the competition after paying for tickets the team had to sell. According to the rules, groups need to sell a minimum number of tickets to enter the competition. The ABC Crew had to provide the cash for the tickets since most of the group’s close friends are from LSDC, the event organizers.

Participants that went all out in challenging eventual winner the ABC Crew and runner-up Skittlez All Stars are Team Elite: Legacy, all-girl dance crew Haute Muse of C1G, male group Visual Kings and the Frixion Crew.

Skittlez scores three-peat

Deemed to be the most famous veteran non-LSDC dance crew in the University, the Skittlez Dance Crew, which is composed of Florenz Trinidad, Paulo Buenaventura, Rocky Estallo, Val Gran, Rolando Mercado, Alex Centeno and Richard Ong, was successful in snaring the title for the third consecutive year.

The team currently holds six trophies; four of which are championships.

“Bago kami sumayaw, parang hindi na namin pinapansin yung championships. Gusto lang talaga namin sumayaw for the love of it, kasi family namin yun [dancing]”, shared Trinidad.

The crew wore white long sleeves, black vests and red-colored neckties, and showed off their versatility, and acrobatic stunts in a five-minute performance.

Trinidad shared that they started practicing since September, holding regular trainings at the School of Design and Arts (SDA) Building of DLS-CSB before the team returned to the Yuchengco Lobby where the group normally practiced.

Other dance crews, which gave Skittlez a run for its money, were ComOne Ground (C1G), Team ELITE Varsity, Cadence Uprockin Crew, Z-Ave., and Air Force United Legaci.

Fortun remarked that the competition has changed in the past few years. She explained, “Remix was just for fun, but now we can really see that the competition heated up. Over the years it has really become a way for them to perform, to use it as performance, and competition [too].”

Vice Chancellor for Lasallian Mission and Alumni Relations Br. Bernard Oca FSC and DLSU President and Chancellor Br. Ricardo Laguda FSC attended the event.

Br. Ricky lauded, “This is something that we must very proud of as Lasallians. Here we can see a lot of students who are really very artistic, very talented in the field of dance and [are also] very expressive and creative.”