Would some astrologers kindly tell us if there are celestial alignments that impel these days to be a season for showcasing dancing alongside singing in this entertainment-loving country?
We previously reported here that seasoned pop rocker Randy Santiago topbills on 12 April the concert EYE CON: The Club Experience, in which he and his guest artists will do some dancing. The more-than-a-dozen lineup is led by Pops Fernandez, Juan Miguel Salvador, Gino Padilla, Nina and Rachel Alejandro. "Clubbing" is the buzz word now for dancing that was used to be known as "disco houses.”
The venue for EYE CON is the Plenary Hall of the humongous Philippine International Convention Center at the CCP Complex in Pasay City. Exactly a week after, on 19 April, another dance concert will be held at the nearby Aliw Theater. This one is "celestially" billed as THE SIGN: ’90s Supershow.
Streetboys will topbill the show put together by Wildcat Queens Productions and Management, Inc., with Kiko Cabarloc as director. The participating members are Maynard Marcellano, Christo Cruz (who used to be known as Christopher), Danilo Barrios, Nicko Manalo (not the actor son of comedian-host Jose Manalo of Eat Bulaga!), Joey Andres, Michael Sesmundo and Spencer Reyes. Reyes will fly in from London, where he has been happily working as a bus driver despite being a nurse by education here in the Philippines.
But the two most famous Streetboys members, Vhong Navarro and Jhong Hilario, will not make it to the "supershow" due to their hectic schedule as hosts of It's Showtime, the ABS-CBN noontime fare that recently began airing grandly on GMA-7.
Marcellano and Cruz turned up and danced impressively in a mini-show held on 9 April at the entertainment atrium of Farmers Plaza mall in Cubao to promote The Sign. A media conference was held right in the venue after the mini-show.
Reyes joined the media huddle on Zoom at about 5 p.m. (10 a.m. in London), saying that he was just on his morning break from his driving job. He assured everyone he would be in Manila a few days before 19 April, so he could rehearse with the guys. These include the supposed Streetboys juniors identified by the producers simply as "Fritz, Gian, Paulo, and Neil."
Dance groups unite
Preceding the Streetboys in existence and popularity are the Universal Motion Dancers, put together by Universal Records to promote the company's albums. The group's most famous member is Wowie de Guzman, who, in 1993, became an actor by teaming up with Judy Ann Santos. (In some media interviews in the ’90s, Santos admitted De Guzman became her first boyfriend.)
Some UMD members will dance at The Sign, except De Guzman, who’s kept busy by running Zumba classes all over Metro Manila. The one confirmed to show up is Marco McKinley, who seems to have lost his mestizo looks. He danced with Streetboys’ Marcellano and Cruz at the mini-show.
There's a dance group that was closely identified with the dynamic pop idol Gary Valenciano: the Manoeuvres. It actually began in 1986 as the Octo Manoeuvres. "Octo" refers to Octo Arts International, the record company headed by music man Orly Ilacad, who eventually got into film production just like his cousin Vic del Rosario Jr.
The brothers Joshua and Jason Zamora, Michael Flores, Jon Supan, Reden Cruz, Jhon Cruz and Rene Sagaran dropped "Octo" from their group’s name in 1989. That was the time Valenciano asked them to be his mainstay back-up dancers in his concerts (though the boys always had their featured production numbers all by themselves in those concerts). The Manoeuvres began to be managed by Manila Genesis Entertainment, the company headed by Valenciano's wife Angeli Pangilinan and sister Gina Martinez (wife of comedian Leo Martinez).
The Sign producers did not specify who among the Manoeuvres will be at the Aliw Theater, aside from Joshua, who joined last month the producers’ live online ticket-selling for the show. Joshua has been married to Sexbomb Girls dancer Jopay Paguia since 2004. They and their two sons toured Finland first week of this month. Husband and wife have also been holding Zumba classes in the Philippines and abroad.
Sexbomb Girls is a ’90s dance group itself that shot to fame via that time’s GMA-7noontime show, Eat Bulaga! It was one of its hosts, Joey de Leon, who gave the all-girl group's name. The Sign producers had no explanation at the media huddle why they did not ask the Sexbomb Girls to be in the Aliw show. It could be that the producers don't want competition for their own all-girl group Wild Cat Queens.
Incidentally, Sexbomb Girls member Rochelle Pangilinan recently recalled to Toni Gonzaga in the latter's YouTube show that Eat Bulaga! producers never explained to them up to now why they were dropped by the noontime show at the peak of their popularity. All she knew there was a misunderstanding between their manager, Joy Cancio, and an Eat Bulaga! executive.
And, oh, Cancio herself was a very good dancer-choreographer as a member of Vicor Dancers in the ’80s.
Pangilinan is married to fellow GMA-7 artist Arthur Solinap, whose showbiz career began as a member of ’90s Abztract dancers, who are among the performers in The Sign. There's an Abztract member who is even more famous than Solinap, and that is his cousin, actor-host Dingdong Dantes. They won’t be in The Sign show, though.
Another dance group joining The Sign is Kidz at Work, which was founded by Eat Bulaga! writer Herman Escueta in the ’90s. Its members were really young boys. Many of the original members are still around and can still dance vibrantly.
Also in the lineup is X People, the toast of many disco houses in the ’90s. They danced, such as in TV shows, to promote dance tunes for various recording labels. Their founder, Noel Generoso, passed away a few years ago. His younger brother, Isaac, who has also danced with the group, will put together a sub-group to participate in The Sign.
Other dance groups slated to perform in the event are the Bigmen, Dyna Turbo, Teensquad, katz22, Black & White, Mastermind and Blain. Kiko Cabarloc is the concert’s director.
Participating sponsors are Wolfgangs, The Red Crab, 1322 Bar and Lounge, Wild Seafood atbp., Erjohn Almark Transit Corp., Wildcat Queens Travel and Tours Ltd., Mak Media, SG Vibes, Farmers Plaza, Tickelo, Wildcat Queens Recording Studio and Wild Knights Band.
Tickets may be purchased by logging on to https://www.tickelo.com/the-sign-90s-supershow. For inquiries and sponsorships, please contact the production at 09660696014 or message them their Facebook page.
Here's a pertinent announcement: Calling all young choreographers! Apply to the WifiBody PH 2024 Choreographers Competition through bit.ly/WifiBody2024Apply. Deadline is on 30 April.
