Parents joined the 16 young singers and dancers in the rendition of the finale song and dance. (Photos by Raffy Beltran/TFC-International Shooters Org.)Belting songs to their heart content and dancing to the rhythm of their repertoire, 16 Filipino children between the age of five to 14 performed at the Al Jazeera International School Auditorium in Dammam last Thursday at the “Sing & Move To The Beat 3” recital, organized by the Filpop Center for Performing Arts. These young performers – 14 girls and two boys – are being trained in both singing and dancing. Their recital in these two performing arts last week is the culmination of months, and even years, of tutelage under the umbrella of the Filpop Center for the Performing Arts and the watchful eyes of Dr. Ronnie Molina, Filpop founder and CEO, and Analiza Catanus, Sing & Move Head Dance Coach and choreographer of the event. Though the 16 young talents have gone through the rudiments of training in singing and dancing, the preparation and perfection of the recital event was looked upon as the final yardstick, so to speak, to showcase if indeed they are worthy to be called stage performers, as their parents wish them to be. “We spent back-breaking nights, until the wee hours, to assemble what are needed to make this recital an affair to remember,” Catanus said, thanking the Filipino community at the end of the show for patronizing the event. “It was all a community affair – parents sharing their time, talents and resources, schools lending a helping hand, and other community groups volunteering their talents; we all made the recital a success,” she said. And so when the curtain was raised, with a bouncy dance number by Alissa Andrea Liangco and Lovely Salas, a roar of applause from the audience reverberated. Photographers from the International Shutters Organization, including Raffy Beltran of TFC – the Filipino Channel, took their vantage position to record the event. It was an occasion for the Filipino community here in the Eastern Province in demonstrating their love for music, the stage, and revealing their raw talents. Nostalgia seeped in within the crowd when the young talents sang the old favorites and danced to the beat of all-time Filipino favorite songs, like “Bongga Ka Day” popularized by song diva Sampaguita and “Bonggahan”, sung and danced, respectively, by John Frederick Tunac and his sister Joanne Tunac. The love for American music, which has become part of the Filipino culture, rekindled a nostalgic mood among the senior citizens in the crowd when the Broadway mainstay songs like “Mc Arthur's Park”, “New York New York”, ‘Hey! Big Spender”, “I Enjoyed Being a Girl”, and “Cabaret” (popurized by Liza Minnelli) were sung and danced, respectively, by Dalisay Samatra, Nicole Cabigting, Aprille Pizarro, Bouchaie Pagtalunan, and Joanne Tunac. Gella Perez, probably the youngest among the recitalists, awed the crowd with her song and dance renditions of “Teenage Dream” and “Party in USA”. The show was made even livelier by showbiz impresario Jaypee Vega, who not only hosted the show with finesse and led in the singing of the Philippine national anthem, but also made impression that Filipinos are indeed multi-talented when it comes to performing arts and the entertainment business. Kimverlie Molina, daughter of Dr. Molina and herself a product of the Filpop Center for Performing, was called upon to give her advice to the young talents. “Keep on perfecting those talents, you already have them,” she told the young recitalists. Kimverlie won the overall grand championship of the ABS-CBN TFC Pop Star Middle East Singing Competition held in Dubai in 2006. She also participated in the 13th Annual World Championships of Performing Arts held in Los Angeles, California between July 11-19, 2009, where she won several awards. A panel of judges, composed of teacher Flor Garcia, Mary Jane P. Tupas, Jaypee Vega, Kimverlie Molina and Rene Manlulu, made assessments of the overall performance of the 16 young performers. The 16 young performers were Ryan Labiano, Kacelyn Serrano, Aprille Pizarro, Danica Vencer, Michaela Casingal, Kimberly Serrano, Dalisay Samatra, Nicole Cabigting, Charisse Bejasa, Bouchaie Pagtalunan, Eunice Aritao, Gella Perez, Krizia Gutierrez, Dianne Grepo, John Frederick Tunac, and Joanne Tunac. The Filpop Center for Performing Arts was established some 12 years ago by Dr. Ronnie Molina. “We have gone through 11 recitals already, graduating many of our children who have polished and acquired their respective talents in the performing arts, and tonight's event is the third sing and dance recital. We now have to look back and assess the future of the center,” Dr. Molina said, addressing parents and community leaders at the end of the show. The Filpop Center has trained about 300 Filipino children and has been transformed into an active group of about 80 Filipino families in the Eastern Province working together to support the club. A new set of officers and advisers has recently been formed. The Filpop Center now has a new president, Noli Bejasa, who is determined to lend more support to parents who desire to incorporate their children into the realm of performing arts.
