WITH a new mentor on board, is the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe (SDT) finally on the road to redemption?
Ramon Pagaduan IV has taken over his former squad, seeking to carry the dance troupe back to the top. The SDT missed the Top 3 in each of the last three seasons, a grave disappointment for a team that won the UAAP cheerdance title eight times.
So the pressure is on the new choreographer, who replaced Ryan Silva, the SDT’s mentor for 10 years. Silva’s contract has expired.
“We were badly in need of a new choreographer, as training would be difficult without one,” said club president Dan Dimaculangan, who described Pagaduan as “versatile” and a “disciplinarian.”
But chemistry should not be a problem, he said, given that Pagaduan is also known to “reach out” to his wards.
Pagaduan, whose recent coaching stints were with all-girls schools, is mostly focused on “cheerleading and skills, but is not setting aside other elements of cheerdancing like stunts and dance.”
“Times have changed, even the game has changed. Synchronization and choreography have had little bearing [to some judges],” Pagaduan said. “Everything has been geared toward cheerleading and skills.”
But both SDT and Pagaduan find the transition period most challenging for them so far.
“Mr. Pagaduan came in toward the middle of the semester. It was hard for us to adjust, given the limited time we had in conceptualizing our piece,” Dimaculangan said.
Pagaduan acknowledged the situation.
“I have just recently started training them (SDT). It would be unfair if everyone would immediately set high expectations on us,” Pagaduan said in a Facebook statement upon SDT’s announcement that he was taking over last July.
Pagaduan declined to talk about the cheerdance routine and described it only as “enjoyable.”
And if there’s one common denominator to success that’s linking SDT and Pagaduan, it would be regarding winning as a “bonus.”
“We are after impeccable delivery of our routine. If we will be able to accomplish that, we will already feel fulfilled. The title will just be a bonus,” Dimaculangan said.
SDT is working double-time to keep up with the increasing level of competition, holding training sessions every night, Mondays through Saturdays.
Though bagging a ninth cheerdance title is “not in the hands of SDT,” Dimaculangan swears that this year’s team is “stronger than the previous ones.”
Competition is set at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sept. 22.
