Cebu dance couple picked to vie in Aussie meet

DANCESPORTS Team Cebu City’s top bets, Wilbert Fajardo Aunzo and Pearl Marie Cañeda, will show their wares abroad when they compete in the 68th Australian DanceSport Championship on Dec. 6-8, 2013 at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

Recently added to the Philippine National Team, Aunzo and Cañeda are currently in deep training at the DTCC Studio at the Cebu City Sports Center with Australian Jeffrey Haddleton as coach.

The two Cebuanos, the undefeated champions in the Junior A Latin and Standard National Rankings of 2007-2008 in Pasig City, are also the nine-time winners in the Philippine Dancesport Championships in the youth category.

Aunzo and Cañeda also placed second in the Open category of the September 2013 Championships and in the all age, open category of the Philippine Dance Championships aside from being the undefeated champions in the Youth A Latin in the Latin National Rankings from 2009 to 2012 in Pasig City.

The pair also finished third in the Amateur Latin Category in the 2013 National Rankings.

Haddleton, a four-time winner of the Australian Dancesport Championships in Melbourne from 1996 to 1999 and a fourth placer in the 1999 World Dancesport Championships, personally selected the two Cebuanos for him to sponsor in the Australian event after seeing Aunzo and Cañeda’s huge improvement the past year.

“Over the last year, I have been gratuitously assisting in the training of many dancers at Dancesport Team Cebu City in the Philippines and earlier this year offered to sponsor one couple to the Australian Championships in Melbourne this December,” said Haddleton in his letter to the Australian Embassy in the Philippines.

“For their determination and incredible improvement in the last twelve months, the couple I have chosen and invited to Australia is Wilbert Fajardo Aunzo and his partner Pearl Marie Cañeda. They are nine (9) times winners of the Philippines Dancesport Championships in the youth category, and in the September Championships 2013, placed 2nd in the all age, open category of the Philippines Dance Championships,” he added.

He also said that because of their extraordinary skills as dancers, Cañeda and Aunzo “have very good chances of contributing to the promotion of the generous work they do in training the children of Dancesport Team Cebu City, Cebu and of Dancesport in Philippines by achieving international success.” /Correspondent Jade S. Violeta