Coinciding with the school's 51st Foundation Day celebration and spearheaded by the Don Bosco

CROWD FAVORITES. The students of Don Bosco Manila received a loud round of applause from their fellow Bosconians when they got the third spot.

College Student Council, the biggest and the most anticipated event of the Bosconians and the all the students alike kicked off and marked itself as the best inter-school dance competition ever. 

Hosted by the very beautiful Cindy Kurleto and equally-talented Francheska of RX 93.1, the most prestigious inter-school competition gathered the best student-dancers from 14 different colleges and universities to compete for the most coveted title of being a 'JIG champ.' 

According to Fr. Eli Cruz, SDB, rector of Don Bosco Technical College, “JIG has always been a high-quality and high-energy competition.” With all the ideas and innovations incorporated, there's no denying that this will become a tradition in the years to come. Still according to him, “This year has its own characteristic because of the added segments. Even the participating schools are getting better and better each year and we're so glad because of that.” 

“I have been a host in so many dance competitions in and around Metro Manila but let me tell you that here in Don Bosco, they have the best interschool dance competition ever. This is the most enjoyable because the best talents were gathered here,” says Francheska. 

The competing schools performed in random order and the names of the performing school were not revealed during the competition so that there will be no prejudgments.

GEOGRAPHICAL CHOREOGRAPHY

The finals night became a venue where the students showcased their own moves and style without barriers and boundaries. The finals night kicked off with the performance of the Don Bosco Dance Troupe. After an introduction that gave a brief history of the event and the criteria for judging, the showdown of the best movers in each respective school took place. 

First in line was the commendable grace of the dancers from Ateneo de Manila-CADS. It was then followed by an inspiring performance from the movers of Colegio de Sta. Rosa. Not to be outsmarted by the first two performers, the students from DLSU-main showed off what they have. Angelicum College didn't falter by their awesome performance. Being crowd favorites, the students from Don Bosco Manila also did their best blocks. It was then followed by a breathtaking performance from UP Street. Everybody was intrigued by the performance of the students from the College of the Holy Spirit while Rizal Technological University gathered nods of approval from the audience. Sighs of exhilaration were heard as the performers from Asia Pacific College took the center stage. Another crowd favorite, the ladies of Miriam College drew loud applause from the audience and their peers. St. Paul Manila was not ready to give up the fight as they belted their best dance moves for the scrutiny of the judges. 

As the ladies of St. Scholastica's College  took the stage, nobody could utter a word. Aside from the laudable costume design, their steps made a lot of difference compared to the rest. Lastly, the students of Assumption College captured the attention of the audience with their grace.   

After the performances, the newest addition to Jig– the CAMPUS FASHIONISTA segment took place. JIG Campus Fashionistas invaded the catwalk wearing college styled apparels sponsored by Levi's. After seeing the eye-popping dudes, mostly Bosconians and duddettes from other schools, the announcement of winners succeeded. 

SURVIVAL OF THE JIG-GEST

After all the tedious days and nights of practicing their dance steps and balancing their time, the most awaited moment of the participants came. Awarded by renowned dancing queen Regine Tolentino, the top five winners were revealed. The uniqueness of the students from UP Diliman-Street made them win the first place. Miriam College bagged the second place award while Don Bosco Manila belted out the third place plum. St. Scholastica's College went home with the fourth place under its belt while DLSU-Main got the fifth place award.  

“We are very thankful for this award,” shares JM de Jesus, president of (UP Street Dance Club) and a fifth year student taking up Sports Science. “We have been joining the competition for about four years already but this is the first time that we made it to the top,” he adds. Still according to him, they really focused on practicing and improving their craft because the competition is really competitive. Despite the fact that they weren't able to block the day before the competition date due to conflicting schedules, their faith and determination – aside from their innate talent – made them win. 

For JC– and speaking in behalf of the rest of the group– he thinks, “We won because we just do everything for God. We dedicate all our efforts to Him. We always try to excel in all aspects of our lives to bring all glory to God.” They are preparing for their fourth annual concert, which will be held in UP Theater on March 13 wherein 50 percent of their income will be donated to their chosen organization, the 'House of Refuge' under Bread of Life, Gospel 77.  “I think the difficulties we've gone through includes balancing our time between studies and outside activities. Aside from that, nothing else,” he ends. 

On the other hand, Rena Dominguez and Sheryl Roxas, members of Miriam College's Creative Comm Arts Talent Team (CATT-street) and both senior students share, “We're happy and overwhelmed because our sacrifices paid off.” Although the preparation was less than a month, Rena says, “It [the preparation] was very difficult especially in balancing out time between academics and extra-curricular activities.” Sheryl also reveals that since most of the members are senior students, they have to juggle their time in doing all their school works. “We just have to learn the proper time management in order to sneak in time for our practice sessions.”

Miriam College just started joining the dance competition last year. They won second place and this year, they also got the same spot. Both students say that they want to incorporate so many changes but since they are all graduating students, they will start training the next batch. “All they needed to do was to have the heart for dancing and especially since they just have started.” 

But not all participants are geared for competition. According to Shiela Lucile Lim from St. Paul College-Manila, “We really don't expect to win because we're here to have fun and for the exposure of the institutional group of our school. ”

THE FUSION OF FASHION,  DANCE and MUSIC

No student could survive the hardships of academic life without the fusion of these three words – music, fashion and dance. Identifying these very influential facets, event organizer and one of the pioneers of JIG Martin Ong says, “We decided to come up with this because we want the students to understand that there is more to life than being involved in academics.” The eight glorious years of JIG has already proven this fact because of its evolution into a more daring, exciting and interesting event. 

“This is the best Jig that we have ever had so far. I'm so happy that all the hardships we've experience for the last five months because of the preparations paid off,” says Harold Jison, president of the student council and project head.  

Aside from the difficulties they have experienced in communicating with the school and the scheduling of meetings, one of the major problems they had was the cancellation of the elimination round, which was supposed to be held last December. If there's any improvement that they want to push through, Harold says, “This will be with regards to the performing artists and the program especially in the elimination round.” 

Being the event organizer, Martin also enthuses, “I have ideas and concepts already on how to make it more interesting.”  Speaking in behalf of the organizers, Martin gushes, “I think the show really speaks for itself. Our idea of making 'Jig' as the biggest inter school dance competition is becoming a reality. And with all the innovations we've incorporated, I think it also redefines the meaning of campus lifestyle,” he ends. 

After the tumultuous fusion of dance and  fashion, the was night capped off by the performances of some the most popular artists today like Jimmy Bondoc with Essence Band, Akafellas and Arnee Hidalgo.