Feature: The Champions Behind the MassKara Dance Champions
The sights and sounds last April were exquisitely awesome when the "Showtime Inter-town Edition grand finals of ABS-CBN" aired Bacolod’s Masskara dance
entry. Certain sadness was felt, however, when people prized the three million peso award with highest regard and the helicopter used during the remote coverage of the Bacolod MassKara Dance entry seemed to occupy bigger air and print spaces.
A day after the grand finals, Bacolod MassKara Dancers performed in "Umagang
kay Ganda". With them in a souvenir photo is Iya Valliana with production
manager Nidz Villones and Choreographer for the ABS-CBN Manila studio, Tata
Bantolo.* (contributed photo)
Who did the choreography? Who was behind the technical-production management? Who spent and pushed their way up the coveted "It’s Showtime" crown?
The City of Bacolod recognized them through proclamations and media exposures but missed acknowledging the drenching sweat, dry out throats and exhausted bodies of choreographers Toto Bantolo and Boyet Andrada. Who would be more interested to ask the non-artistic department of the entire presentation, production manager-eventologist Nidz Villones of NRV Productions?
Bacolod MassKara Dan-cers, Nidz Villones, and Tata Bantolo pose with
"Uma-gang Kay Ganda" news caster Alex Santos.* (contri-buted photo)
The usual cliché, "last but not least", Bacolod City will not be beamed worldwide without the inspiring performance of dance battalions from Barangays Alijis, 17, and Cabug, the BacoLaodiat group, the Domingo Lacson NHS, Bacolod City College and the City’s "summer jobbers".
NRV Production founder Nidz Villones wasted no time. The "polychromatic" personality eventologist transformed the negative energy to "Enthusiasm, passion, determination" by touching and manipulating her tablet, she said, "Put this down. Nothing is impossible when Tata Bantolo risked an amount and connected with ABS-CBN to join the Showtime Inter-Town Category."
"What people saw is the Grand Finals and the grand prize. People led us to explain in public the grand prize. Rarely are we asked about the thorns and thistles Tata Bantolo has to tread," she said.
They seem to forget that Tata Bantolo had to passed the needle’s eye few months before the Masskara Dancers were qualified for championship," the eventologist cum educator Nidz Villones explained in words and writing at the same time.
Nidz is short of Nidalyn Rose Villones and facing the press is part of her profession. She is candid, funny, fast paced, fast thinker, a discipline every eventologist must possess. Her NRV Production is into a talent management and consultancy, event planning, wedding coordination and hosting.
She also explained that "The journey to the Showtime Grand Championship was started by Tata Bantolo, a freelance choreographer and a faculty member of Domingo Lacson National High School.
It was "news" that the Inter-Town category involves competition at the ABS-CBN Manila studio and a remote support group staged at the front lawn and wide fountain lagoon area of the Bacolod City Government Center.
Apparently less attention was given to the remote head and choreographer Boyet Andrada. The Tata and Boyet tandem and their non-artistic partner, security officer, welfare development officer, "yaya", order-of-the-house Production Manager Nidz Villones inched their way up and went home with the title SHOWTIME GRAND CHAMPION.*
