With this year’s Remix ‘14: Count 1’s theme dedicated to the people who are differently abled, Team Elite—the first dance crew to win Championship awards in all categories in the previous Remix dance competition—has once again bagged all Championship titles last year.
“Last year [in] ‘Remix ‘13: Labor of Love’, we made history. First time na maging champion ng Team Elite, [bagging] three titles, [also] a first-ever sa Remix,” shared Co-Captain, sophomore Export Management (EM) student Aennon Tabungar. Team Elite All-Stars and Team Elite Varsity won as champions in the All-Star and Rookie category, respectively. Team Elite 2.0 won as 2nd runner-up also under the Rookie category, and the People’s Choice special award.
“Every year, LSDC (La Salle Dance Company) tries to change the game—the divisions, number of members, and [the] theme [of the] competition,” Tabungar said. “This year, we bagged [those] two titles [again],” he added.
Team Elite 2.0, the all-female group from the Export Management Society (EMS), competed in the Org-Based category, went against 13 dance crews, and received Php20,000 as their cash prize while their male counterpart, Team Elite, competed in the Open category, went against six other teams, and received Php 10,000.
Sophomore Multimedia Arts student and team member Kenneth Enriquez said that “preparation was supposedly two months”, but was trimmed down to a month as their coach Rocky Bagalacsa changed the piece for Team Elite.
“[Coach] said we’re not there to compete, we’re just there to give a message,” explained sophomore Production Design student and team member Inca Ignacio, whom the team dedicated their performance for, as she was not able to join them due to a broken arm from doing a backhand at gymnastics. She continued on saying that even before the accident, what motivated her was the message they were going to give out in their choreography.
“After ng performance namin, parang panalo na talaga kami—matuwa lang yung parents namin, family namin, [at] si coach; makita lang namin siya pagbaba ng stage na umiiyak. Bonus na lang talaga na manalo pa kami,” added Enriquez.
According to their team Captain, junior Fashion Design and Merchandising student JP Ponla, he is very proud of his team and thankful to have members that are cooperative and [who take] initiative in everything that they do. “The fact that we won, the entire group’s hard work paid off! It’s such a huge blessing.”
“Siguro it’s all about passion for dancing. Kasi, ‘yun nga, Team Elite kasi, we all have one thing in common which is the love for dancing. And siguro that’s the thing that brought us together to become what we are now,” said sophomore EM student and team member Jansen Esguerra, in conjunction to Ponla’s statement.
Founded by Benildean alumnus Eric Ejercito, Team Elite has been competing and is a consistent placer in Remix since the competition was established in 2009. Mostly composed of dancers from the College with one member from De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU-M), the underground dance group started competing internationally in 2011 and now ventures into producing dance events such as workshops, concerts, and local competitions.
“We’re trying to grow as individuals, to be better. Not only to be better dancers but to be better people. So we’re trying to strive and aim for something higher. ‘Yung binigay sa’ming legacy, we’re trying to fulfill it. [Even if] we’re aiming to compete outside rather than sa Remix lang, we’re trying to prove ourselves pa,” Tabungar shared, “God has better plans”.
Remix is an annual inter-Lasallian group dance competition hosted by DLSU-M’s official dance group, LSDC.
