MANILA, Philippines – The UAAP is bringing a festive start to the last month of 2024 as the Season 87 Cheerdance Competition (CDC) fires away at the Mall of Asia Arena, starting at 2:30 pm on Sunday, December 1.
Sandwiched between the heated Final Four wars of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, the annual CDC provides — as UAAP treasurer Bo Perasol put it — a “respite” for sports fans before the first half of the UAAP calendar comes to a spectacular close before the holidays.
Leading the eight-team charge is the defending champion FEU Cheering Squad, which has revealed its theme centered around the massive hit film series “Frozen” of Disney in a bid for CDC title No. 5.
“As far as defending [the title] is concerned, we’re not really focused on that. Our focus is to hit the routine. That’s the only premise,” said FEU head coach Randell San Gregorio in Filipino in the pre-competition press conference on Wednesday, November 27.
“If we win, thank you. If not, it’s okay too, as long as the run that the team worked on these past six to eight months is executed completely. Of course, we only do this once a year. There’s no bounce-back like other sports with their next games. Our next game is next year.”
Nipping as always at the heels of Morayta’s best cheer group is the NU Pep Squad, determined this year to send its loyal fans on an intergalactic journey with an “NUniverse” outer space theme and return to Earth with a first place-tying eighth CDC title to add to its legendary collection.
“For us with the NU Pep Squad, we still stay with our program and our system. We still believe in its effectivity,” head coach Gabriel Bajacan said in Filipino.
“Through the years, NU has still had great performances. We believe our program is capable of winning championships in the future and this Season 87.”
The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, aiming to win the ever-elusive ninth title after a bronze finish in Season 86, reloads for the new year with a “Batang 90s” (90s Kids) nostalgia ride, while last year’s fourth-placer Adamson Pep Squad goes down a somewhat similar path with a “Karaoke Medley” theme.
The UP Pep Squad — another eight-time champion long seeking a record ninth crown — opted to stay shrouded in mystery when asked for its theme, but hinted that it would “heat up the cold MOA Arena” with its performance.
UE, meanwhile, essentially combined UST’s Batang 90s flair with Adamson’s festive karaoke mood as its Pep Squad goes for a Sexbomb theme, harkening back to a Filipino golden age of novelty television and music — which includes the girl group’s popular “The Spaghetti Song.”
The La Salle Animo Squad, already in game-face mode in the press conference with black and white hair, revealed its theme to center around chess themes, repeatedly referring to game terms like “the final move” and “checkmate.”
Lastly, the Ateneo Blue Eagles — ever hopeful to break out of a bottom-two streak now at 10 straight CDCs — said that it would attempt to tell a “story of the universe” and “be limitless” through its performance.
As the last few years have proven, though there are title favorites, no squad is a sure lock to win the coveted CDC championship. All that is left now is watch the fun and feel the thrill unfold. – Rappler.com
