Pinky Puno overcomes pain to pursue her passion

Stories of people who battled the odds to reach their goals never fail to inspire and motivate other people. One woman whose story motivates me the most is ballroom dancer Michaela “Pinky” Puno who is determined to keep on dancing in ballroom dance competitions all over the USA despite three painful surgeries: total replacement of the left hip, surgery for a torn shoulder rotator cuff, and replacement of the right knee. 

Pinky Puno is a mother of seven and grandmother of 14.  She has been a dancer since she was seven years old, when her mother enrolled her in a ballet class.   Her fascination with ballet continued till after she got married in 1968 to Ronaldo Puno so she decided to teach the dance in her own studio, the New Manila Ballet Studio, built for her by her father Felipe Mendoza, one of the country’s foremost architects.  Her studio flourished with aspiring ballet students for 21 years until the family decided to move to Virginia in 1987.

The D in Pinky Puno’s DNA stands for dance as neither marriage nor seven pregnancies deterred her from pursuing her passion for dance.  In the USA, she took an active role at her children’s schools  — teaching, directing, conceptualizing dance musicals in their school programs. 

In 2000, the ballroom dance virus hit her hard and there was no turning back. She relates, “I was watching The Ohio Star Ball on PBS TV and was mesmerized watching two bodies moving as one. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! I said to myself: I would love to do that! I decided to take ballroom dancing seriously!”

To this day, surgeries notwithstanding, she continues to compete to hone her dance techniques with her teachers Slava Sergiev in the ProAm category and Ryan Jago in the Senior/Amateur category. Because of her professionalism, her dedication to endless practices and pursuit of excellence, she continues to shine in both the International Latin and American Smooth categories.   She competes in nine dances: cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, jive, slow waltz, tango, toxtrot,  and Viennese waltz.

The only Filipino dancer in Ballroom Blitz, Pinky never ceases to astound me. Sometime in 2014, a friend called from Europe saying that a lifestyle channel featured a Filipina, Michaela “Pinky” Puno, in a six-episode series on competitive ballroom dancing. The show Ballroom Blitz, produced by Linda Pope, Simon Fuller, and Michael Herwick, aired in July in Europe, Russia, and parts of Asia, and on Nov. 26, in the USA on TLC (The Learning Channel).  Ballroom Blitz featured Pro-Am couples or teachers with their ballroom dance students.  “This was the first of its kind because it showed what ballroom dance competitions are really like — the preparation, the anticipation, the drama.” says Pinky.

Winning dancing trio: Pinky Puno, Slava Sergiev, and Ryan Jago with their gold medals.

 She drew the attention of a program consultant for TLC who was looking for Pro-Am dancers with “a story to tell” about their ballroom dance life.  She was asked to fill up a long application form for Ballroom Blitz and later on had a lengthy interview over Skype for them to see how she spoke and danced. After making her pitch, she was chosen to be part of the series and be one of three ladies featured in the Virginia State competition.  A production crew followed her for three days — in her Virginia home for interviews and footage of family photos, her costumes, and lifestyle, at the Avant Garde dance studio (where she is part owner) — for practice and the Virginia State competition from the start till the awarding of winners.

“I was never given a set of interview questions before the takes.  Nothing was scripted.  They wanted everything spontaneous,” she shares. She was quite anxious about what footages they would show and worried that just like other reality shows, they would put a different slant to her story. No preview was given. They were only going to see it for the first time along with thousands of other viewers on the actual release day. Thankfully, her fears were unfounded. 

 Asked how she felt about the entire Ballroom Blitz experience, Pinky said it was a great honor to have been chosen.  “Being followed around for three days was a little intimidating, exhausting, but fun and absolutely memorable!” When viewers put on their DVR machines to record her episode last Nov. 26 on USA’s TLC, the TV screen said: “Spunky Filipino refuses to let pain derail her.”  The description could not have been more appropriate.

How does she keep healthy and fit for competitions ?

 “At my age, I am very conscious about the importance of warming up,” she begins to explain. “I see some of the senior ladies I dance against step into the competition floor completely cold. Whether it is just practicing at the studio or being in a competition, I spend at least 45 minutes just warming up every part of my body. The thought of injury makes me nervous. And just like any other athlete, because dance is as strenuous as any sport, the best way to prevent injury is to be completely warmed up. I practice at least three hours five times a week with very few breaks in between. Sometimes, I will rehearse in detail only one dance per session, other times I will practice all nine dances. I try to keep building my stamina all the time.”

She adds, “I take vitamin supplements in the morning and at night, drink lots of water to keep hydrated during my practices and throughout the competition. Lack of sleep is my biggest enemy and depletes me of energy, so I always make sure that I have at least eight hours of sleep before a competition or before intense practices. To maintain my weight of 104 pounds, I eat healthy — lots of fruits, vegetables, and seafood. Once in a while, I will indulge in meat, but that is not my preferred diet. Another important thing I try to adopt is a positive attitude before and after a competition. This keeps my mind healthy so that I don’t feel discouraged. When there is a winner, there will be a loser. There will always be someone better than you. You just need to clear your mind, go back to the drawing board, and continue on with your journey in dance. There is continuous growth for your body and your brain, with or without a trophy. ”