REMEDIAL DANCE LESSONS

Especially for Balikbayans! Very Very Very Grateful to Telly Almeda Lopez Lavy, for thinking it was necessary and for organizing it and for offering her mother's house! Thank you to Tita Aida, for clearing her sala, even putting mirrors against one wall, and for preparing a delicious merienda for us: genuine lumpiang ubod (with the sauce already inside!), pancit palabok, and mocha cake, plus lots of cold water, soda, and dalandan juice! This was our first dance lesson, aircon pa, so us balikbees would have a gradual reintroduction to Manila heat!

BIG BIG thank you to Ponjaps for taking the time, and for her great patience, to come and teach us the steps to AWITIN MO.

I have to say, we learned that in no time, and we were greatly relieved, BUT, the worst was yet to come.

Another BIG BIG thank you to choreographer Batche Tan, who then stepped in to teach us the hip hop steps to "We're all in this Together." Now this needed more concentration, and more memorization, and more repetition, but Batche is an EXCELLENT teacher (although way too polite, he kept addressing us with "po" until we absolutely forbade it, at which point he began to address us as "mga children".)

I never saw a more dedicated group of girls seriously wanting to learn the steps in order to catch up with the Manila girls and not ruin the show with our mistakes: Telly, Annabelle Luzurriaga Bautista, Stella de los Reyes Clark, Isa Cruz Gorres, Emilie Ochoa Petrocelli, Ina Calalang Ayala, Celeste Cordero Quimio, Isabel Lacson, Sandy Harper Franklin, Mailou San Gabriel, Bubut Enano Chen, plus hardworking local girl Tina Periquet Galicia, who came to "remedial" to get a refresher on the steps to make up for her missed practices!

Speaking of dance coaches, must thank the following: if I kept them within my line of vision, even on the periphery, I could keep up with the steps: Rosette Gana, Margot Legarda, Isa Cruz (yes, balikbee, but she mastered the steps quickly and well). Thanks to Emilie Ochoa, whom I followed in, so as not to miss an entrance, and my "balikbayan" dance line co-residents, together we kept our confidence up, and egged each other on: Ruby Tomacruz, Sandy, Lala, Alma Consing, Maripi J and of course, our balikbee dancing star Isabel Lacson! Also, our cheering squad from the sidelines led by Anna Liza Melencio, Nana Eusebio, and Jing Muyargas. And our "professional" dance coach from the wings, who not only called out the steps but danced along with us: Doctora Cricri!

Maraming salamat -- thanks to all of you, we really were "All in this together"!