DANCING QUEEN.. Umm MAYBE PRINCESS 😋

Not a few will say I transform into someone else when I dance. I guess it doesn’t show how much I love dancing when you see me walking in the corridors of the hospital (unless I try strutting.. Hmmmm), or giving a lecture, or participating in a meeting. But boy, if you just see my muscle tensing everytime I see people dancing, or feel my heart pumping fast when I hear a danceable tune, you’ll know I won’t think twice if you ask me to dance right there and then (Wow Ninang, you can dance!).

I am not great at dancing; certainly, not the professional kind of dancing! But yes, some say I’m good at it. I remember when UP-PGH Department of Pediatrics won first place in ballroom dancing (with Poncy Quirino as choreographer!) in the Philippine Pediatric Society Christmas party a long time ago (I was first year resident). One seeming socialite said (during a victory party) “you dance so.. Hmmm.. Soo..” “Thank you!” I assumed the adjective she was looking for was synonymous to good. She couldn’t find the exact word to describe my dancing (but Thank you!). I discerned, it was not technically good but it has that “X-factor”. And a Highschool classmate of mine might have nailed identifying that factor when I dance. She said “Connie, magaling ka pala sumayaw.. Siguro dahil lagi ka nakangiti!” Haha! I will take that as a complement! And that’s true, I totally enjoy dancing; so much,  I can’t help but smile. The smile makes it all good.

I definitely don’t claim to be a “Dancing queen”. Decades ago, when I attended my mommy’s Highschool reunion, one of her classmates asked me, “Do you also dance like your mom?” My surprised thought was “my mom dances????”. Apparently, my mom was the best dancer when she was in Highschool! She is the dancing queen! Her teachers will get costumes for her (since she cannot afford to buy) just so she can join a major dance performance on stage. Watching my mom do folk dance and ballroom dancing, tell me I should compensate my dancing with more smiles. She dances so gracefully. My dad will ask me (probably comparing me to my mom) why “magalaw ka magsayaw” (di ba dapat gumagalaw nga daddy! Maybe he meant my movement should be more fluid– graceful like my mom’s.) I would like to say “Daddy, you contaminated mommy’s genes na” (two left feet si Tito, Ninang? “Yup!! Dinadaan Sa ngiti! Uyy! Dun ko nakuha ang ngiti!!”).

So why am I talking about dancing. Well I have been dancing a lot lately and despite the body aches and things to do, I still would love to continue dancing (and it’s exercise Ninang! “Mismo”). I guess when we love and enjoy what we do, we make time for it. And even if we’re tired, we give our best at it. If only I can earn from it. Hehe. More smiles please!

Now, are any of my children dancing? Shall I now pass the baton I got from my mom (we love dancing!). Two years ago, my children saw my husband and I dancing in church to the tune of “Gentleman” (performance from volunteers of family life ministry). They were a bit of teasing their dad who was trying hard to dance while hiding behind the smoke effect and someone else (Ninong doesn’t dance? “Only if I beg or force him. “). So we did an assessment of our children. “Ok let’s see if you got daddy’s or mommy’s genes. Let’s see you dance to “gentleman” (tat..tat tat ta ra tat ta rat ta ra tat tat.. tat..tat tat ta ra tat ta rat ta ra tat tat.. )”, we taunted. First child.. tat..tat tat ta ra tat ta rat ta ra tat tat.. “Daddy’s Genes!” Second child..tat..tat tat ta ra tat ta rat ta ra tat tat.. “Daddy’s genes ” (I’m losing hope..) Youngest… tat..tat tat ta ra tat ta rat ta ra tat tat.. “Yahoo! MOMMY’s GENES!!” For my two other kids, we can activate those genes. Half of yours are mine. (Unless they got Lolo’s Ninang! Hmmmmm…).

I can vividly remember the first time I realized my passion for dancing- Grade 1, with the then popular song ‘Awitin mo at isasayaw ko’. I called my cousin Ate Aye and asked her to create dance steps with me. That day is still clear in my head–VST and Co.’s music on a long playing disc, in front of our gate, no one was watching, just me and my ate Aye enjoying dancing and having fun.. “Ah ha ha awitin mo at isasayaw ko.. Oh ho ho”. The same excitement I feel then, I still feel everytime I dance now. And I just realized, Dance indeed transforms me… It makes me that  simple, energetic, enthusiastic, I-just-wanna-dance, 7 year-old child again 😋😋.. well until the music stops, or  my muscles and joints ache. 😁😁 (“Walang iba pang sasarap sa pagtitinginan natin.. Sana ay di na magwakas..)
— Ninang danceable thoughts

Awitin Mo At Isasayaw Ko by VST & Co

Walang iba pang sasarap
Sa pagtitinginan natin
Sana ay di na magwakas
Itong awit ng pag-ibig

Awit natin
Ay wag na wag mong kalimutan
Pangako ko naman
Na lagi kang pakikinggan
Magpakailanman

[REFRAIN]
Ang isang pag-ibig
Ay parang lansangan
Na pang dalawahan
Kaya’t sa ating awit,
Tayo ay magbigayan

[CHORUS]
Ah-ha-ha, awitin mo
At isasayaw ko, oh-ho-ho
Ah-ha-ha, awitin mo
At isasayaw ko
ah-ha-ha-ha-haaa
“Let them praise his name with dancing

and make music to him with tambourine and harp.” (Psalms 149:3)