by Dane Christian Morena, Eunice Dianne Algar, and Mark Vincent Mercene
On the night of September 19, people filled the General Paciano Rizal Park to witness this year’s Bailamos Dance Contest: Make Your Move, one of the features in the week-long annual celebration of the 18th Bañamos Festival.
The unity dance for Bailamos 2019 showcasing the ten finalists –King of Buck, South Style Flava, Hybrid Buck, Next Attraction, Squammies, Street Kings, NGDC Vengeance, Nazty Boys, G7, and Scammaz.
Ten teams qualified to compete for the championship title, namely: King of Buck, South Style Flava, Hybrid Buck, Next Attraction, Squammies, Street Kings, NGDC Vengeance, Nazty Boys, G7, and Scammaz.
Jayson Lagrada, a municipal youth development officer; Jocelyn Ann Luna, an adviser of UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company, and Pinch Araneta served as members of the panel of judges for Bailamos Dance Contest. The participants were evaluated based on the following criteria – overall choreography, synchronization, originality, and audience impact.
Three teams dominated the dance floor and owned the major awards of the competition. Nazty Boys came second and received a cash prize of Php 10,000.00; Scammaz placed first and obtained PhP 15,000.00 in cash and was also hailed as dancer of the year. Topping all of them, is G7 who went home with the championship and a reward of Php 20,000.00.
Lemuel Millena, a member of G7, said that unity and faith to the Lord paved way for their award-winning performance.
“Ang Bailamos ay for modern na sayaw for group of friends, mga magkaka mag-anak, magka-klase, na nagsasama, nagbuo para magkaisa na magbigay ng entertainment sa people of Los Baños to celebrate Bañamos 2019,” explained Jonathan Natividad, the officer-in-charge of Los Baños Tourism, emphasizing the objective of the program.
The name of the event, Bailamos, is a Spanish word which means “let’s dance”.