FIVE YEARS… and counting?

DEFENDING the UAAP crown is no easy task, but the UST Salinggawi (Salinggawi) Dance Troupe seems to have mastered it.

With eight of the 12 UAAP cheerdance championships, Salinggawi has proven that it is a cut above the rest, even as it takes in new members every year.

“We are able to pull off an excellent show because the newbies are trained to be as talented as those who have left,” Salinggawi president Ezekiel Tanjutco told the Varsitarian.

Instead of celebrating right after winning the unprecedented fifth straight title in the UAAP Season 69 Cheerdance competition last Sept. 10, Salinggawi dancers immediately went back to the gym, wore their working clothes, and resumed training.

“We do not rest very much so as not to lose our momentum,” Tanjutco said.

The group also believes that it is better to focus on performing well than to expect to win the title. As a result, the Salinggawi dancers put their heart into every electrifying move and dangerous stunt they execute.

“It is not healthy to anticipate (the title) for we might just get disappointed if we do not win it,” Tanjutco said.

UST’s official dance troupe also recognizes other schools’ improvement, which serves as an inspiration to do better every time.

“We do get threatened by other schools because they are going after us,” Tanjutco said. “But we are always prepared for the competition.”

True to form, Salinggawi got down to business anew, with five-year choreographer Ryan Silva assigning jazz, hip hop, ballet, gymnastics, and folk dance routines in the group’s thrice-a-week training. Salinggawi’s long-time mentor admitted that it takes about a year to gather the materials and to choreograph a unique competition piece, thus he gathers materials this early.

Aside from the UAAP and UST events, the University’s premiere dance troupe takes its class act around the country. They are set to perform the excerpts of their dance concert, “deja vu”, last February, on Nov. 25 in Manaoag, Pangasinan for the Feast of Christ the King.

“This will be our third year in Manaoag,” Silva said.

What lies ahead

But Salinggawi’s feat, no matter how majestic, would remain a tough act to follow due to the changing tastes of the crowd and the judges.

“New and higher standards are set for us being perennial champions and that definitely adds to the pressure,” Tanjutco said.

And with UST hosting next year’s UAAP season, Salinggawi will have the best inspiration to defend their much coveted, if not envied, UAAP cheerdancing title.

“Rest assured that we are aiming to retain the crown no matter how difficult it would be,” Tanjutco said.