Animo Squad, Debate, and Exams

Hey readers.
I apologize for being away for such a long time. I have been very busy with school, dance training, and friends. Here's a nice big update on what's been cooking.

The past 2 weeks, Animo* Squad, De La Salle University's official CheerDance Competition entry in the UAAP, has been practicing hard for a show during the Animo Rally (previously known as the Pep Rally). We have been hard at work putting together a team that has never danced together before. Our dance coaches, Coach Mycs Villoso and Sir Peter Alcedo, together with our gymnastics and liftings coaches respectively, Coach John and Coach Gardes, did an amazing job.

For the past week alone, we were clocking up 3-5 hours of dance daily, and 1-2 hours of conditioning training for dance and/or gymnastics. It has been really hectic, since we don't often get a full team at any given practice. The polishing of the dances was really stressful, as we began to see and try to fix certain mistakes in choreography, or timing of lifts. Tiring, but hella fun. :)

July 4th comes, and we were still not sure if we were going to dance or not. Luckily for us, we did a complete run-through, and Sir Peter was sufficiently impressed with our performance that he decided we were ready to show De La Salle that we are here to represent the school in the UAAP. Before the show, we did some blockings at the Amphitheater (where we will perform) before heading to the Conservatory for a talk with Brother Bernie.

Brother B is the creator of the Animo Squad. He had the idea to get the CAO groups (La Salle Dance Companies - Street and - Jazz) to work together with the DLSU Pep Squad and represent the school in the UAAP CheerDance Competition. Anyway, he has been hearing that there have been some unhappy incidences in the Animo Squad, so he sat down and gave us a really encouraging talk (for me, at least). There was a memo also that was passed around which, if not exactly ordered, then encouraged the members to 'prioritize the UAAP competition above the other performances and/or other extra-curricular activities in the school. Must have been hard for the members of LSDC and DLSU Pep. :(

We danced. It was going to rain, but it stopped, and right after we finished, it poured. A sign perhaps..?

The dance went very well, and we wowed Brother B. In fact, he was sufficiently amazed that he told our coaches how 'great' we were. LOL. That's 2 weeks of practices, sir. Imagine if we have 2 months. :)

Other than preparing for the show last Friday, I also had to study for a Spanish exam, and to debate (part of the debate team training). I have not gotten the debate results because I am in the Sports Complex during my free time, but I did, however, get my Spanish test results. It's pretty good in my opinion. I got a 96. :D

I might have to put on hold debate until next term. We only have 2 months to prepare for a national competition (CheerDance Competition is in the first week of September), and I think the National Debate tourney is also in September. Might have to put it on hold until next term. Shouldn't be a big problem if I did.

I have a month-ish to prepare for two speech deliveries for Speech Communication class, and another couple of days to study for my Theology 2 exam. I'll probably be pretty busy, but I'll update as much as I can. :)

Go Animo! :D

* Animo = spirit, like in the context of 'school spirit'/'fighting spirit'

Jay~