Cebu’s Marquez, partner Obero named top Para dance couples

Winning hearts on global stage

CEBU, Philippines — Cebuana dance athlete Rhea Marquez and her longtime partner Julius Obero of Ormoc City added glamour to their already glitzy careers after being named as one of the world's top four Para dance couples in 2018 whose partnerships stole hearts of judges and audiences this year.

In its article posted on www.paralympic.org last December 7, the World Para Dance Sport wrote that despite not being a World Championship season, Marquez, who hails from San Isidro, Talisay City, and Obero still had a busy year. Their fame skyrocketed when they graciously danced their way to a double gold at the 2017 Worlds.

"In between winning four gold medals at competitions in Cuijk, Netherlands; and Beigang, Chinese Taipei; Marquez and Obero also competed in their national TV contest “Philipinas Got Talent.” They reached the grand final but came up just short of winning," stated the World Para Dance Sport.

"Still, the reigning combi Latin and freestyle class 2 world champions stole the hearts of many. They performed during the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, before flying out to compete at the Beijing Open the next day – where they won both their events."

Aside from Marquez and Obero, also making it to the elite list were dance couples Nadine Kinczel and Pawel Karpinski of Poland, Hanna Harchakova and Roman Usmanov of Belarus, and Olena Chynka and Oleksandr Onishchenko of Ukraine. (FREEMAN)