• THERESA MAE DULMAN
This year’s MassKara Festival street and arena dance competitions will feature a three-category showdown, featuring the elementary, high school, and barangay divisions, at the new venue — front of SM City Bacolod — on Oct. 17 and 18.
Arena and Street Dance Competition chairperson Bhadz Defensor Jr. said Oct. 5 that this year’s festival marks the return of all three divisions after several years of hiatus for the school category.
The elementary category will feature seven contingents: Sum-Ag Elementary School, Education & Training Center School-II, Handumanan Elementary School-I, Vista Alegre Elementary School, Mandalagan Elementary School, Vista Alegre-Granada Relocation Elementary School, and Montevista Elementary School.
The high school category will be contested by Abkasa National High School, Jovito Sayson National High School, Bacolod City National High School, and Progreso Village National High School.
The school competition will be held on Oct. 17.
The showdown of the barangays, set on Oct. 18, will feature contingents from Bata, Alangilan, 10, Handumanan, 13, 6, Taculing, and Mandalagan.
Defensor said the contingents are free to compose their own music for the arena competition, based on the festival’s theme, while a synchronized music will be provided for the streetdance showdown.
Meanwhile, May Castro, public relations manager of SM Bacolod, assured that they are prepared, rain or shine, as the host venue.
“The Gugma Foundation and the city do not take this lightly. We have had several meetings, oculars, and each agency has been pulling their weight to make sure that this would be an event to remember,” she said in a press conference Oct. 5. | TMD
