Pinoy dance sport athletes shine in Germany

SPAIN – Celebrity and international dance sport athletes Stephanie Sabalo and Michael Angelo Marquez made it to the finals of international dance tournament German Open Championships held on August 11-15 in Stuttgart, Germany.

The dance couple still couldn’t believe that they clinched the top 5 position, besting 150 couples from around the world who competed in the Adult A Amateur Five Dance category.

“Sobrang happy talaga. Kahit noong tinawag pa lang na nakapasok kami ng top 6 sobrang happy na namin talaga,” said Marquez in an exclusive interview with The Filipino Channel’s Balitang Global.

They also took the 48th spot in the “Rising Star,” considered as the second biggest category of the week-long competition.

Sabalo and Marquez stood out despite height limitations and impressed judges in performing Latin dances such as jive, rhumba, cha-cha-cha, pasodoble, and samba.

Aside from them, according to the tournament’s website, two more dance couples from the Philippines dominated the Senior II A Standard Category namely Drs. Winifreda Constantino and Edgardo Ladimo and Veronica Lo and Oliver Rivera, who ranked 5th and 7th respectively.

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Celebrity and international dancesport athletes Stephanie Sabalo and Michael Angelo Marquez made jaws dropped at "Dance Festival" an event organized by Barcelona Dance Athletes. They had already impressed judges from around the world in the recently concluded German Open Championships. Watch out for my abs-cbnnews.com article and Balitang Global TV report on TFC ABS-CBN to know more about their latest achievement in the world dance stage. #dancesport #dancefloor #dance #latindance #fivedances #athletes #sports #jive #germanopenchampionships #Stuttgart #Germany #Barcelona #Spain #stephaniesabalo #angelomarquez #dancefestival #barcelonadanceathletes #balitangglobal #tfc #abscbn

A post shared by Daniel Infante Tuaño (@danielchronicle) on Sep 5, 2015 at 4:29pm PDT

 

Sabalo and Marquez were also invited to perform in “Dance Festival”, an event organized by Barcelona Dance Athletes (BDA) in Barcelona, Spain.

“Masaya kami kasi we have the chance to share our talent, at the same time inspire small children to follow their dreams. Dreams do come true, just believe in yourself, (and) believe in God’s gift for you,” said Sabalo.

Rodel Espinosa, BDA founder and international dance sport champion himself, promotes dance sport among young children in Barcelona. He emphasized that it is no different with other sports because it is very technical, competitive, and dance athletes aim for perfection.

Rhea Rose Gautier, instructor based on Antibes, France, on the other hand, stressed the values that children can learn from dance sport.

“Maging punctual, maging masunurin…Sa practice nyo andun yung patience, respect sa partner…patient to learn basic steps. Makikinig sa parents kasi hindi nakakasayaw ang kids pag hindi susuportahan ng mga parents,” Gautier said. ABS-CBNnews.com

Here’s the related TV report in Filipino aired on TFC Balitang Global:

Former Pinoy dance champ takes on Spain’s dance floor

By Daniel Infante Tuaño

SPAIN – The world’s dancing arena has no boundaries, especially for international dancesport athlete Rodel Espinosa.

After migrating to Barcelona two years ago, the former Philippine representative and finalist in world´s Ballroom Dancing Olympics has continued to bring pride to the country as he shows Spanish and Catalan audience that Filipinos can also dance, and can even teach them how to dance.

Espinosa works as a dance instructor at Buena Vida Escola de Ball, a dance school in the Catalan province of Girona.

Not knowing Spanish or Catalan when he arrived in Barcelona, he recounted that at first it was difficult to communicate with the students. But he soon found it wasn’t a hindrance since “dancing is a universal language.”

His international reputation helped him pursue his passion and profession in Spain and gained the admiration and respect of his students and colleagues.

Espinosa competed in numerous dancing championships in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, United States, and in Blackpool, UK, dubbed as the Olympics of Ballroom Dancing where he and his dance partner Marinette Alarilla placed fifth among 90 couples from around the world.

Espinosa, a member of Federació Catalana de Ball Esportiu, is the only Filipino in local dancesport groups such as Team Dynamik and Avança and the only Asian competing in local tournaments.

Despite his years of experience in professional dancing, Espinosa keeps on learning new techniques from dance camps all over Europe.

And despite being a celebrity dance instructor, he would rather keep his feet on the ground and dance. He used to teach dance steps to Filipino celebrities Assunta da Rossi and Lucy Torres-Gomez. He even once appeared on the hit reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother.

Rodel in Pinoy Big Brother

Espinosa, who hails from Angeles City, Pampanga, hopes to establish a Filipino dancesport team in Barcelona especially among the youth. In the Philippines, he was able to produce child Dancesport athletes who dominated national dance competitions.

To realize this, he opened a dance school in Barcelona called Barcelona Dance Athlete, where he teaches Latin dances such as rumba, jive, cha-cha, samba and pasodoble to Filipinos of all ages.

“Dancesport is an athletic side of social dancing. It needs a lot of discipline and focus. It deals more with technicalities to improve the body and make it physically fit so one can go beyond one’s physical limitation,” he said.

Even individuals in wheelchairs can dance and compete in a type of dancesport called wheelchair dancesport, which he also teaches.

Espinosa wants to promote dancesport in Barcelona knowing the social and health benefits one can get from it.

“Unang makukuha mo sa pagsasayaw ay ang (correct) posture, endurance, at the more na pinapawisan ka, lumalabas ang mga toxins sa katawan mo, lalo kang sume-sexy, ika nga ay fountain of youth, lalo kang bumabata,” Espinosa said.

One of his students, Victor Domingo agrees, saying dancesport is a good way of bonding with his wife and daughter who also attend Espinosa’s newly opened dance academy.

“Dati wala akong interes na magsayaw… Nagustuhan ko yung pagtuturo nya kaya sumali kaming mag-anak…yung exercise talagang napakaganda, nangangayat na nga ako eh”

Dancesport competitions are also a good way of boosting one’s self confidence and socializing with people of different cultures and nationalities.

Another student Karen Joy Salvador said that it’s a good way of relieving stress.

“Mas na-improve yung patience ko since dancing nga requires a lot of technique, requires a lot of discipline, at the same time stress-reliever siya kasi physical activity nga siya,” she said.

Espinosa will hold a dance show on March 9 at Sala Ouverture, Via Tripoli 22, Rome, Italy. ABS-CBNnews.com