Animo Squad aims for top finish anew in this year’s CDC

With the UAAP basketball tournaments approaching its climax, the rhythmic and thunderous banging of the drums coupled with the spirited and signature chants of each participating university’s pep squads get more deafening and significant in the annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition (CDC). This season’s edition of the UAAP CDC will be held this Sunday, September 14 at 2 pm in the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After months of practice and halftime performances, DLSU’s very own Animo Squad will finally take center stage to showcase their cheerleading together with aerial exploits and flashy routines as they attempt to surpass last year’s third place finish and win their first ever championship in the contest’s 20th anniversary.

In a competition dominated by first-place mainstays in the likes of the UP Pep Squad and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, who won a combined 16 first-place finishes in the past 19 seasons, the Animo Squad looks yet again to wow enthusiasts and judges alike.

In the previous year, the NU Cheer Squadron caught everyone’s attention in a performance that saw them snap UP’s three-year reign in the tournament after sweeping awards for both the cheer dance and the stunts contest.

Now, besides the main cheering performance, the Animo Squad will also participate in the stunts category. In the previous year, DLSU surprised spectators by finishing ahead of usual contenders such as the FEU Cheering Squad and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe. In addition to bagging third-place overall, Ana de Leon of the Animo squad was also named as the UAAP CDC Stunner Award.

Last year featured Taft’s cheerleaders in camouflage army outfits performing traditional military exercises complete with prop rifles-turned-nun chucks to accompany La Salle’s signature cheers and dance routines.

Expect this coming Sunday an equally, if not more impressive, performance filled with aerial acrobatics, figure formations, synchronized movements and well-planned props.

The team has been practicing since summer, pushing themselves to the limit in order to finally give DLSU its first top finish. With the competition getting stiffer every year, expect more squads to seek to land at least a podium finish. But nonetheless, the La Salle community hopes that the Animo Squad are on the run to finally clinch the elusive title.

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Below is a teaser video for this year’s UAAP Cheerdance competition directed by an alumnus of The LaSallian, Adi Bontuyan.