Lucy Torres-Gomez admits to stage fright every time she’s in front of an audience; but like magic, once she steps on the dance floor, she sheds off all inhibitions and takes on to dancing like a fish in the ocean. Her weekly metamorphosis from the shy Lucy to the “dancing queen” of her program Shall We Dance on the newly-reinvigorated TV5 is creating waves other networks are trying hard to beat.
For someone whose interest in dancing started only after she watched a Flamenco dance concert not too long ago, she has swayed to almost all dance genres on her program but admits that she has yet to try hip-hop dancing. “I don’t think I’ll ever try doing it (hip-hop) because I know my limitations,” Lucy admits.
Initially, Lucy had reservations on the re-formatted dance program which started as a strictly ballroom dance contest some three years ago. According to Perci Intalan, ABC’s head for Creatives and Production, the idea to include other dance genres in this season stemmed from the fact that “it was not just the ballroom dance enthusiasts who were watching us but all who enjoyed dance. That’s why for this season, we wanted to showcase a bigger variety of dances,” Perci explains.
The competition from other networks, Perci adds, has also “made it more challenging.” And this expanded dance panorama has been getting favorable reviews from audiences and dance aficionados alike. Viewers are exposed to new dances like contemporary, jazz, etc., and according to Perci, “they realize that even a dance like hip-hop has techniques that need to be followed just to do it right.”
It turned out that Lucy’s initial apprehension about the reformatted Shall We Dance was fleeting since the dance program steadily gained grounds among viewers both on and off the set. Inside the studio in Novaliches, visitors are greeted by a spanking new dance floor and the shriek and shrill of the audience composed mainly of the youth crowd.
“They have become regular taping habitués rooting for their favorite pair,” explains Perci.
The dance competition started with nine pairs each consisting of a celebrity and a professional dancer. Among the celebrities are Gab Valenciano, Mickey Perz, Jopay of Sexbomb, Sheree, Danilo Barrios and Aldred Gatchalian. Each pair is scored and ranked and their scores are added to their scores in the first dance-off to get to Level Two. One pair gets eliminated each week until two pairs are left. But there is a twist to the final showdown as a third pair, which has been previously eliminated, becomes the wildcard.
Douglas Nierras, who is one of the four judges, observes that “the competition has become very tough. Sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish the celebrity from the professional dancer because they are as good.”
In fact, they are so good that the judges, which also include Edna Ledesma, Jay Masta and Regine Tolentino, are stricter in their criteria and have set a higher ceiling for the competition. “The more we become strict, the more they become better,” notices Douglas. The different dance genres are jazz, contemporary, ballroom, hip-hop and interpretative. Most of the contestants rated the last to be the hardest.
On the production side, Perci reveals that it is more demanding to mount this new season of Shall We Dance. “It is difficult in terms of finding the choreographer, the song, the costume, among others.” And pointing to the fabulous new set, “it (show) is also more expensive because of this,” Perci adds.
For this new season, Lucy has two-equally dashing co-hosts, Jon Avila and Victor Basa. Lucy admits that between hosting and dancing, she opts for the latter. “Dancing is a lot of fun.” She would have danced the flamenco but never had the time to pin the pretty flower on her hair for two years now because of her busy job as a host. In fact, it was really the flores de flamenca (flamenco flower), a big red rose to be exact, adorning the hair of one of the Flamenco dancers that captivated her so much that when Lucy found out that it was part of the costume, she readily signed up as a Flamenco student.
Initially, she was in it for the exercise. But eventually, she learned to love the dance which she finds “very liberating.” Lucy has uncovered a different and untapped facet in her life which she now revels in as she admitted that she is not into acting, more so singing. “I can’t do videoke. My toes curl when I hear myself sing,” Lucy intimates with a chuckle. So up to now, Lucy still cannot fathom why she and a friend won a singing contest when they were in grade 6.
If there’s one person who welcomes this new phase in Lucy’s life, it is husband Richard Gomez.
“He does not want me to live a sedentary life so he approved the idea of me enrolling in a dance class,” Lucy reveals. But Lucy got more than just the flower on her hair. She has also earned her stripes as the “dancing queen” hosting the country’s premier dance program on TV.