ILOILO CITY – There is strong indication that an international dance festival will finally be hosted by this city and the province of Iloilo next year. “We want to continue our commitment to Iloilo,” said Marichu Tellano, deputy executive director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Tellano was referring to the Philippine International Dance Festival which Iloilo was supposed to host in 2020 but it was cancelled due to lockdowns and travel restrictions that followed the declaration of Covid-19 pandemic in the same year. Around 200 foreign participants from Asia, Europe and Oceania were supposed to fly to Iloilo in what was an attempt to assemble the world’s biggest unity dance and possibly earn a place in Guinness World Records. It seemed people behind this idea are well determined to push through with the unity dance. “We have unfinished business ,” Tellano told Manila Bulletin. Tellano and NCCA’s Committee on Dance chairperson Dr. Shirley Halili-Cruz had just wrapped up the Dance Xchange: Live in Visayas. In partnership with the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI), the NCCA gathered 15 dance groups from the Visayas to perform live in Leganes town, Iloilo province. Tellano said the Leganes event served as a test for Iloilo in its bid to play host to the proposed hosting of foreign dance groups next year. “I believe Iloilo is ready. We were ready in 2020. We are ready for next year,” said Maria Luisa ‘Marissa’ Segovia, IDFI treasurer. Segovia, who’s also the chairperson of the Regional Culture, Heritage and the Arts Committee (RCHAC) of the Western Visayas Development Council, said hosting international arts and cultural events could be of great help for the local economy that is bouncing back from the pandemic.