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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Melencio's fire keeps jiving, dancing, winning in dancesports

Melencio's fire keeps jiving, dancing, winning in dancesports

Published Mar 3, 2023 02:02 am
Judith Anne Melencio and Jumil Edera Bacalso

Veteran international dance athlete Judith Anne Melencio never stops jiving and winning.

At 32, Melencio of San Rafael, Bulacan remains as an active dance competitor throughout the years and keeps inspiring the youth to excel more in international dancesports at any given time and place against foreign counterparts.

She has been in the dance floor since 1998, actively competing locally and globally via Latin and Standard categories as a national athlete under the DanceSports Council of the Philippines Inc. (DSCPI) — the country’s highest governing dancesports body.

Her journey as a national dance athlete and certified instructor is accelerating anew after a break in starting a family and further delays from the pandemic having promised to be more competitive to achieving her dreams of further success and glory for the Philippines in the field of dance sports.

She recently ruled the 2022 Penang Open Championships last September 10 and captured the crown in Danspiration Open Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last September 11, before snaring the Amateur Latin crown in the 10th Singapore Open Dancesports Championships last November 5.

Melencio together with partner Jumil Edera Bacalso will be rocking the global dance floor when they compete in the Amateur Open Latin of 2023 Asia Open Dance Tour - Asian Open Dance Championships in Tokyo on February 26 against 30 competitive couples.

“I have been in the dance sports competitions since when I was six or seven. I really love this sports. And aside from competing, I also teach aspiring dance athletes in different fields — basics and advance.” Melencio said.

“But I still compete internationally, which I love most. I love winning not only for myself but also for our country,” she added. “It’s not just expressing our inner self when we dance, it also shows the proper perfect movement, the grace and how competitive you are.”

She and Bacalso are also set to dance in the 2023 World Grand Prix Open in Taipei, Taiwan on April 9, before throwing their hat on the dance floor of the 2023 Blackpool Dance Festival on May 20 to June 2, 2023 at the Winter Gardens Church Street Blackpool in London.

The eldest among the family of dancers was also a champion in Singapore Millennium International Open DanceSports Championships in both junior Open Standard and Latin categories in August 2004.

Melencio has proven herself at the local and global stages winning the Juvenile Latin and Standard titles from 1998 to 2000 in the Philippines and the 2002 junior Latin and Standard crowns in the World Superstars Dance Festival in Tokyo, Japan.

Melencio has many achievements throughout her career including her ninth place finish among hundreds participants in the 2nd International Sports Games “Children of Asia” Sports Dancing Event Junior 1 Latin American Discipline in Yakutsk, Russia in 2000.

Besides winning, Melencio has trained and produced a lot of competitive dancing pairs since 2007 when she was 17 up to now including rising star amateur level younger sister Judilyn Melencio and Benny Co.

“It’s a great feeling to share your knowledge in dancesports as well but I still compete and win,” she said.

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