Shake Body Body Dancer

The last three weeks I’ve been busy participating in among the campiest of corporate Filipino traditions: the variety show. In our company, this is otherwise known as SCiP on Dancing, a dance-off between various corporate units. The winning team gets a shiny cup, bragging rights, and the unfortunate task of hosting next year’s event.

Where I work, it is not only a matter of serious business, but a chance to initiate company noobs to the unwritten clause in the employment contract – that everyone must perform at least once in a corporate activity. It didn’t take much for me to say yes, because I knew if I didn’t do it now I would still end up doing something like it in the future. I gave all necessary disclaimers to HR because I have the coordination of a stick of bamboo. I can sway to the left and right, and even then it still looks clumsy. Upon hearing the theme as being “Dance Icons and ours being Shakira, I crossed my fingers, gave a little prayer to Kuya Jess and hoped that I didn’t end up falling flat on my face, injuring my workmates, or make HR regret their choice of dancer.

Thank goodness for our choreographer who had the foresight to assign me to the segment of the dance which required the least amount of dance ability: the tango. While I had to do some booty shaking (again something I had not planned to do beyond the confines of my room and the company of a belly dancing video) for the chorus, I was lucky enough to have a very competent (ooh another corporate word) dance partner. All he had to do was push me around really.

It honestly took me close to ten years to pick up the steps and do it with some confidence. It wasn’t until three days before the event that I was able to go through the dance in sync with the music. It was great in the sense that I got to know at least 20 other people who worked for the company (there’s always a kind of bond when people go through something together), achieved the unwritten clause in my employment contract, and learned this one thing: It’s never too late to learn how to dance.