Dancing is not my forte but I remember when I was a little girl, I wanted to learn ballet. Hanggang dream lang pala, haha!
Now that I have a daughter who has interest in dancing , I started looking for a ballet school that has good credentials.
It’s very timely because Halili-Cruz School of Ballet and TAG Media invited Bloggers for their first Bloggers Conference held at their main studio in Quezon Ave. last July 18.
Members of Media and Bloggers with Teacher Ana and Teacher Grace
photo credits: HCSB FB page
The Halili-Cruz School of Ballet (HCSB) has been considered as one of the best ballet schools in the Philippines. It has been awarded as the “Most Outstanding Ballet School in Asia” from 2000 to the present.
Teacher Anna and Teacher Grace hosted the event. They shared that HCSB was established by Shirley Halili-Cruz in 1985 to share her love and passion for dance. The school was born out of her conviction that in every child lies a bud of artistic sense that may blossom into a great and exquisite artistry. HCSB opened with 46 students but is now a talents galore with a almost a thousand promising dance aspirants.
The Artistic Team
(Ms. Shirley, Teacher Grace and Teacher Anna)
Then the very graceful dancers of Quezon City Ballet performed an amazing dance production. Rylee is so serious watching them.
The Quezon City Ballet is the official performing group of the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet.
After that, my daughter and other kids had an impromptu ballet class together with Baby Ballet 2 Ballerinas of HCSB! They are so cute! ^_^
They were also taught some Ballet exercises!
Cuteness Galore right?
Well, as Teacher Anna said we should start them young! ^_^
photo grabbed from HCSB FB page
Teacher Anna also invited Mommies to learn some ballet dancing. Of course I am excited. Pagkakataon ko na ito matuto ng ballet kahit konting steps lang! Thank God walang nagvideo sa amin. hihi!
We are very grateful to be part of this event! We had so much fun!
My future Ballerina! ^_^
She’s excited to learn ballet!
Thank you HCSB for the voucher, we have 1 month free class, yipee!
Now let me tell you more about Halili-Cruz School of Ballet:
The HCSB main studio is housed in an imposing 2 storey edifice. It has 5 spacious studios (4 of which are fully air-conditioned) equipped with ideal barres, resilient wooden floors, full length mirrors, audio systems, dressing rooms, rest and shower rooms, waiting areas, ample parking space and canteen. It also has a dance shop that carries all dance items and a costume room.
In order to provide an appropriate and comprehensive program, Shirley Halili-Cruz, the school’s director and founder authored a 2 level Tiny Tots Syllabus, 5 level Baby Ballet Syllabus and a 12 level Classical Ballet Syllabus based on the Filipino physique, innate artistic ability and culture. The syllabi cover the different levels of ballet which the HCSB offers all year round. Aside from the syllabi authored by Shirley, the school enhances its program by letting its faculty and students attend different local and international dance workshops, festivals and competitions.
The school has developed a systematic promotion procedure that can check the progress of the students through semi-annual evaluation in both theoretical and practical aspects of the discipline. Aside from ballet, the school also offers other dance courses such as: Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical and Contemporary. It also holds 3 grand recitals a year aside from other invitational shows, festivals, competitions and outreach performances. The regular activities previously mentioned are opportunities for students to display their talents which help them develop self confidence. To date, the school has had numerous productions, all of which elicited critical acclaim.
The school is staffed by competent teachers who are all one with the Director in the vision to equip students with tools and rudiments of the art and to uphold excellence in dance training. The teachers are all personally trained by Shirley for more the 20yrs, and are all outstanding graduates of the school. They are also soloists of the Quezon City Ballet (Halili-Cruz Dance Company), the performing group of the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet.
18th ASIA PACIFIC DANCE COMPETTION
The Asia Pacific Dance Competition is organized by the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing (CSTD). It has been a key annual event in the CSTD international dance calendar for the past 18 years and is the most prestigious Pan-Asian festival for all genres of dance. Only those who were internationally accredited by the CSTD are qualified to join. It is attended by several thousand dance students and teachers from across the Asia Pacific region namely: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Macau and Australia.
Past competitions were hosted by Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines. This year, the competition will take place at the Sands Casino Theater in Macau on August 18 – 21, 2016.
For the past 18 years, the Philippines has been represented by the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet (HCSB). So far, the school has been a consistent winner, bagging the First Prizes and the much coveted Aggregate Award (over-all champion) for getting the highest marks in their entries.
Proof of 30 years of Excellence!
This year, HCSB will be bringing 75 dancers personally trained by the HCSB teachers and will be presenting 40 entries originally choreographed by the HCSB choreographers.
To date the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet has garnered more than 300 national and international awards and prizes, among them are:
- Hall of Fame, Aliw Award as Best Classical Dance Company in the Philippines
- 8- time Ani ng Dangal Awardee for its international achievements
- People’s Choice as the Most Outstanding Performing Group
- Grand Prize Winner in the Asia Pacific Dance Competition in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines
- Grand Prize Winner in the 21st Century International Dance and Arts Festival and Competition in Genting Highlands, Malaysia
- First Prize in the Dance Excellence in Los Angeles, California, USA
- Global Excellence Award in Bangkok, Thailand
- Best Performance in classical and contemporary dance in the Bauhinia Cup International Dance Competition in Hongkong
- Global Pinoy Award
Business Address:
Main Studio
1227 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City Philippines 1100
Branches:
St. Pedro Poveda College, Quezon City
Miriam College, Quezon City
St. Mary’s College, Quezon City
Ayala Alabang Country Club, Muntinlupa
For more details, visit their website and social networking sites:
Instagram: @halilicruzballet
Email Address: [email protected]
