Filipinos sweep Asia-Pacific dance competition

Filipino talent once again emerged on top in the international scene as the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet (HCSB) dancers bagged for the first time all the seven major perpetual awards to capture the grand slam at the recent 9th Asia-Pacific Dance competition in Singapore.

Led by its artistic director Shirley Halili-Cruz, the HCSB dancers snatched 22 gold trophies, seven silver trophies, three bronze trophies, and eight medals after a grueling high-level dance competition participated in by 550 dancers from 26 dance schools and companies worldwide.

The HCSB's 54 young competitors outshined others from China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand in the two-day tough dance tilt that included classical ballet, neoclassical, modern and jazz, contemporary dance, tap dance, national and folk dance, Demi character, and freestyle with age categories performed by Under 8, Under 10, Under 13, Under 16-Semi Professional, and Open-Professional dancers.

"Our success in Singapore does not come overnight and in a silver platter. We believe it is the result of the dedication, hardwork, creativity, and talent of the HCSB team to provide students with quality ballet education," Cruz said.

During the contest, hundreds of foreigners cheered for the Filipinos. They were impressed by their excellent performance and beautiful, artistic rendition.