Street kids to represent PHL in Switzerland dance contest

Two Filipino teenagers living in an orphanage are set to represent the country in a prestigious dance competition in Switzerland this January.
Edward Sumera and Benedict Sabularse were among the 78 teenage dancers chosen from 338 candidates from 36 countries to participate in the Prix de Lausanne, to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from January 29 to February 5.
Sumera and Sabularse, as well as Daniel Vallejos, who is also living in an orphanage, recently qualified for and won medals and special awards in the Asian Grand Prix (AGP) International Ballet Competition, held last August in Hong Kong.
Daniel Vallejos, Edmar Sumera and Benedict Sabularse - street kids from Tuloy Foundation - are carving a name in the international world of ballet. Photo courtesy of PAL
Sumera placed second and won a summer school scholarship for Elmhurst School for Dance in the United Kingdom, while Sabularse placed fourth and won the Fonteyn Prize, named after late English ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias.
The three boys entered Tuloy Foundation three years ago after they were turned over by their estranged parents to indigent relatives.
Through the support of patrons and a sponsorship blog maintained by Bubut de los Santos of Tuloy Foundation, the boys were able to train for AGP 2016.
Cherish Garcia, directress of Academy One Music and Dance Center, said the boys had potential "to be great ballet dancers." "They have the right physical traits and mental alertness of a ballet dancer,” she said.
Garcia trained the boys for free from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., six days a week for months to help them qualify and win in AGP.
The Royal Academy of Dance-affiliated ballet school continues to train them in preparation for Prix de Lausanne.
Sabularse said he is determined to make ballet his professional career and through it, inspire other Tuloy residents.
"Kahit nahihirapan po kami, kahit lagi kaming puyat at pagod, hindi po namin iniisip yun, kasi iniisip namin yung mga pinagdaanan naming hirap nung wala pa po kami sa (Tuloy) Foundation," he shared.
"Kailangan din po naming isipin yung future namin. Iniisip din po namin na makatulong kami sa kapwa sa pamamamgitan ng pagturo ng ballet sa ibang taga Tuloy paglaki namin," Sabularse, for his part, said. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more