SAHC: Terpsichorean Preoccupation

Watching Glee reminded me of what our barkada was into from high school to college - dancing! Aside from love of boys and men, we enjoyed listening and dancing to the hits of the 80's then. We were pretty much a product of media. And during that time, dance groups were so 'in'. lead dancers and choreographers were celebrities, too. there was geleen eugenio of WEA, raffy chan of Dyna, miles obra.

Record companies would launch dance music through these dance groups. Each record label would have one or more dance groups in their stable. They would come up with some dance step and launch it together with the song. and they would be performing the dance in all the variety shows of the era (student canteen, eat bulaga) and the celebrity-led shows like Superstar (Nora Aunor), VIP (vilma in person), Loveliness (Alma Moreno), etc. Mind you, dance groups were also segmented. you had those groups appealing to the dancing, primarily gay audience like WEA, OctoArts, Vicor. then there were those with such super sexy female lead dancers (Dance Promo 89). And the all-male boy dance groups (Octo Maneuvers, Knapsacks, The Tigers). It seemed like everyone liked dancing.



And we were as much into the dance scene as most everybody. The most rabid among us would be Chiqui. He would really study the dance and copy it to the last sashay. During our free time, we would be taught by Chiqui and Gerry. Another good dancer was Serg. Nathan and I would also follow. Nandy would be the least flexible among us. hihihi

One highlight of our high school life was when our idols, the WEA dancers performed in our auditorium for a show! We were so happy to watch them dance live! And Chiqui even got to dance onstage with them!

Back then, we would already be so high just being able to complete a dance and perform, but only to ourselves.

Eventually, the trend died a natural death. but none too soon, i think. it has lived its purpose. to bring dancer-wannabes like us to express ourselves, our sexuality in a non-threatening way.