Season's greetings to all...

"Dance is perhaps the oldest of the arts, reflecting man's age-old need to communicate joy or grief, by using the most immediate instrument at his disposal - his body."

In any Filipino gathering, dancing tops the entertainment category. With Dubai's cosmopolitan environment, i.e. abundance of discos and pubs, who needs a Saturday - or shall we say a Thursday Night Fever, when one can dance the night away at any given time of the week.

But partying, means money outlay, and this has been a restricting factor in the Filipinos' zest for the good life, as we are basically here to earn, and not to irrationally splurge our hard earned-money.

However, the year 1995 marked a turning point in the Dubai-based Filipino expatriates' social calendar. It was in this year that Mrs Gladys Reyes, the diminutive yet highly dynamic newly appointed OWWA Welfare Officer in Dubai, looked not only after the needs of the Filipinos, but also provided them with a wholesome new entertainment ... in the form of ballroom dancing.

It was Ma'am Glady's love and flair for dancing, that somehow brought us together and it was this mutual interest that brought about the conception of a dance program suitable to the social needs of the Filipino overseas workers living in Dubai.

This programme came to be called "Dance Clinic", after proper deliberations between the OWWA officials, namely, then Labour Attache Mr Jaime Jimenez, then Welfare Officer Mrs Gladys Reyes, Center Coordinator Mr Hector B Cruz, Jr; and those who frequented the OWWA centre at Riqqa St., namely, Hani Reodique, Lilian Romero, and myself.

The priority of the core group was to scout for instructors, and the recruitment process resulted in the creation of a team of instructors made up of: Rene Bunao, Hani Reodique, Raymond Abad, Dick Orense, Lilian Romero and Gladys Reyes.

Other volunteer dance instructors that were soon discovered were: Marife Mayor and Cresencia "Manay" Recuenco who were at their best in Swing and Tango respectively. Manay also doubled as a "male" partner and was very much at home with cha-cha, likewise Milanie Neptuno who joined shortly afterwards.