By: Glo R. Abaeo
Email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com
Once upon a time, before dancing was considered public entertainment, it
was mostly done once in a blue moon when people can spare a few precious minutes
from the usual murk of intensive labor or round-the-clock house chores. Either
that or dancing can only be seen in the abodes of the rich during parties. But
that was a long, long time ago. Dancing these days are as normal as other
everyday chores or activities.
What is not very common though is a group known in the city calling
themselves BBColiders. Not that it is unusual if we see groups performing
(through invitations) at parties, gatherings, and even festivals. But when you
look closely at them you will know why. This group is composed mostly of ladies
“gently matured by time”. And time has done no damage when it comes to their
dancing routines.
Their ages range from “mommy with matured children” to “young and new
grannies” to “granny to matured grandkids” to really “grannies in all sense of
the world”. The wonder of it all is when they gather to do a routine, they all
prance around the ballrooms and dance floors in their younger physical ages.
They are not grandmas anymore. The music shoots out, the dancefloors lights up and they are young once more.
Like most everything, there is always a story behind the creation of
BBColiders, that is to mean Baguio-Benguet Country Linedancers shortened to one word. They were once invited by Freda Zarate to attend a rodeo show in La Trinidad organized by the Los Caballeros, and they were to dance for the first time. This was in 2005 and the rodeo was part of the provincial festival called Adivay One of the ladies invited by Wallace Woolery was a retired registered nurse from Fresno, California by the name of Julia Pucay. Under a tent on the rough, unpaved ground of the “Swamp” area of the Benguet State University, Ms. Pucay led the ladies with the gentlemen of the Los Caballeros into linedancing with the hollering of country music at the background.
So started a itch that needs to be scratched. To this day the scratching
has not stopped. From that fateful day under the tent at the BSU Swamp area, a group was born. Ms. Pucay became the mentor to about 10 lovely ladies that started gathering every Friday to learn the basics of country linedancing, eventually the basics became more and more advanced. At present the home of the BBColiders is located at the barangay hall of barangay Central Guisad where they practice honing their craft. So who says people in their advanced ages cannot enjoy?
The secret of the groups staying power and “longevity” lie in the fact
that they love what they do and always have time for it. They believe in
entertainment “without pressures”, “without fees”, “without having to raise
funds” and the only purpose is to relax and set aside the jobs and
responsibilities for awhile. They have to clear the issue on “no fund raising”
though. They do not perform to make money for themselves or for others but when occasion calls that they help out, they bang each others doors, don their outfits and dance their contribution to the event. In fact they are ever so supportive of each other’s activity or events that they gather in a jiffy to
dance at a member’s party or their friends. The 10 original members are those that stayed true, others come and go as they will, and they have a lot of them too. Everybody they say are invited, they do not discriminate against younger members and inspite encourage it. All one needs to do is have the passion to dance and learn the routines, have a set or two of cowboy boots and hat and jeans and rugged shirts.
It is a feat to see these ladies etched in the memories of those they
have entertained. So Far they have performed at the Benguet Capitol for the
benguet day celebration, at the La Trinidad Municiapl Hall during the Balikbayan night celeb. Weddings saw them dance at the Supreme Hotel and other private venues. They were part of the BSU Foundation Day fund raising campaign. They also danced their way to the Sablan turn-over ceremony as well as in Itogon, Benguet. They awed the crowd of SM through the invitation of the Philippine Information Agency during Christmas gift-giving, at the Baguio Athletic Bowl in the occasion of the panagbenga festival Pony Boy’s day. They get invited yearly to the annual rodeo in Wangal reuniting with the Los Caballeros. The list go on, as long as the years they keep behind those young jiggling, dancing bodies. And they do not have plans yet of slowing down.
The members of the BBColiders include Ms. Julia Pucay, so far the oldest
of them and the mentor to all, Ms. Elsie Diaz, Ms. Myrna Sison, Ms. Esther
Fianza, Ms. Juanita Linda Cawed, Ms. Angelita sabado, Ms. Evelyn Masaway, Ms. Ofelia Mondiguing, Ms. Freda Zarate, Ms. Edith Aragon and Ms. Teresa Guron. The latter years saw the joining in of Ms. Brenda Satur, Ms. Juliet ventenilla, Ms. Cora Cuanso, Ms. Constancia Tadias and others.
The Local Government Unit of Bauko now has online presence after the successful launch of the municipality’s official website. Information and related services of the municipality can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.lgubauko.gov.ph.
