UAAP Cheerdance Competition

UAAP Cheerdance Competition

File:Uaap logo.gif
Sport	Cheerleading
Founded	1995
No. of teams	8
Country	Philippines
Most recent champion(s)	2008 UP Pep Squad
TV partner(s)	Studio 23

The annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition (CDC) is held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines

The UAAP Cheerdance Competition is an annual one-day event of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines for cheerleading. It does not count in the tabulation to determine the UAAP Overall Championship.

Studio 23 received the right to televise the UAAP Men's Basketball. Along with it came the coverage rights of the annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition. The hosts of the event usually start with an audience roll call. After each participating university's name is called, the audience from that school chants their most popular cheer along with their official drummers. However, the dancers of their respective pep squads are not yet shown to the audience and televiewers until their performance. The sequence of the roll call are random and solely the discretion of the hosts or producers. The sequence of the performance are determined by drawing of lots prior the competition.

University of Santo Tomas has the most championships (8) followed by University of the Philippines (5), which is the current defending champion. Since 2003, only University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, and Far Eastern University have landed on the top 3 spots.

Cheerdance vs. Cheerleading

The UAAP Cheerdance Competition has set criteria for judging usually composed of choreography, synchronization, level of difficulty, and costume. These criteria are similar to those provided in dance competitions. This makes cheerdance different from cheerleading competitions like the National Cheerleading Championships.

Cheerdance is the fusion of cheering and dancing. It all began when the UP Pep Squad incorporated dance moves during the Jollibee Cheering Competition, thus leading to its inception the following year. The competition requires competing squads to perform a specified number of stunts and dance sequences such as pyramids, tosses, partner stunts, transitions, and dance routines.

In 2008, a new criteria was set. Each item is equivalent to a maximum score. For example, a pyramid has maximum score of 10 points and a toss has 5 point maximum. Points are also awarded for choreography, synchronization, and cheer audibility. This was a move by the host school to avoid any biased judging and for a more liquidated computation of the scores.

The University of Santo Tomas sends their Salinggawi Dance Troupe to compete for cheerdance since their official pep squad comprises a drumline, boosters and male cheerleaders (the UST Yellow Jackets). In 2008, De La Salle University-Manila sent a new squad called the DLSU Animo Squad. It was formed specifically for cheerdance competitions. It is a collaboration of existing groups in DLSU namely, the DLSU Pep Squad, the LSDC Street Dance, and the LSDC Jazz. The University of the Philippines used to send their Filipiniana Dance Troupe in the competition prior to the formation of the current UP Pep Squad.

Criteria and Rules

2008

The competition adopted a semi-American Standard of judging. Each toss, pyramid, choreography, synchronization and team effectiveness could get a maximum of up to 10 points. The total points could not, however, exceed 100 points. These rules were drafted by the team coaches and team captains. This was an attempt by the host school to level the participating schools with each other to avoid biased judging.

The 2008 criteria for judging consist of the following:

• 5points each for dance technique, jumps, tumblings and tosses.
• 10pts each for lifts/stunts, pyramids, degree of difficulty, formation, choreography, synchronization, audibility/clarity and over-all effectiveness.

The maximum total score is still 100 points. The highest and lowest scores are canceled. This will remove the bias of favoring your own school or pulling down the score of the other schools. The average of the seven remaining scores minus the deductions will be the final score. There will be 9 scoring judges (8 school representatives and 1 judge from a recognized cheerleading/dance/gymnastics organization). 2 line judges will determine out of bounds violation. A head judge will act as chairperson and arbitrator of the panel but will not judge any teams' performance.

2007

The 2007 criteria for judging consist of the following:

• Choreography (50 pts)
• Synchronization (30 pts)
• Audience Audibility (10 pts)
• Costume (10 pts)

2005

The 2005 criteria for judging saw immediate changes a few days before the 2005 edition of competition. Instead of the usual system where the highest and lowest scores are removed from the computation of the final scores to remove biases, the judge who represents the school that is participating cannot judge their own school. This system change was in contrast to the reason why they used the usual system after the 2001 edition of the competition. With 2005 system, a judge may favor his school by pulling down the scores of the other schools since the lowest score will not be omitted.

2004

The 2004 criteria for judging consist of the following:

• Choreography (40 pts)
• Synchronization (25 pts)
• Audience Audibility (10 pts)
• Costume (5 pts)
• Nestlé Non-Stop Cheer (20 pts)

2002

The 2002 criteria for judging consist of the following:

• Choreography (40 pts)
• Creativity and Degree of Difficulty (25 pts)
• Transition and Coordination, Audibility/Volume of Cheer (10 pts)
• Costume (5 pts)
• Nestlé Non-Stop Cheer (20 pts)

Participants

	School	Cheerdance Team
File:Adulogo.jpg	Adamson University (AdU)	Adamson Pep Squad
File:ATENEO-SEAL.gif	Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)	Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion
File:DLSU-Manila Seal.png	De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU)	DLSU Animo Squad
File:FEUSealNew.gif	Far Eastern University (FEU)	FEU Cheering Squad
File:National University Philippines logo.gif	National University (NU)	NU Pep Squad
File:University of the East Official Seal.jpg	University of the East (UE)	UE Pep Squad
File:USTLogo.jpg	University of Santo Tomas (UST)	UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe
File:Unibersidad ng Pilipinas.png	University of the Philippines, Diliman (UP)	UP Pep Squad

Competition results

Year	Champion	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
1995	UST	DLSU	?	?	?	?	?	?
1996	UST	DLSU	UP	?	?	?	?	?
1997	UST	UP	DLSU	?	?	?	?	?
1998(a)	FEU	DLSU	UP	?	?	?	?	-
1999	UP	UST	FEU	?	?	?	?	?
2000	UP	UST	FEU	?	?	?	?	?
2001	UP 81.22	AdU 77.11	UST 76.32	?	?	?	?	?
2002	UST 87.38	UE 84.88	UP 84.00	FEU 80.70	ADMU 78.60	AdU 78.60	DLSU 71.50	NU 64.50
2003	UST 89.50	UP 88.16	FEU 88.00	ADMU 83.16	UE 78.50	AdU 72.60	DLSU 69.60	NU 61.80
2004	UST 93.61	UP 90.56	FEU 87.09	ADMU 85.79	DLSU 84.97	AdU 84.76	UE 79.52	NU 68.44
2005	UST 90.98	UP 90.76	FEU 88.72	DLSU 76.37	UE 76.15	AdU 76.09	ADMU 69.33	NU 64.48
2006(b)	UST 94.96	FEU 93.20	UP 91.70	AdU ?	ADMU ?	UE ?	NU ?	-
2007	UP 92.66	UST 92.16	FEU 91.66	ADMU 90.63	AdU 90.62	UE 90.55	DLSU 89.54	NU 84.23
2008	UP 93.30	UST 85.27	FEU 83.96	ADMU 83.81	AdU 81.04	UE 72.69	DLSU 70.07	NU 68.36

Consecutive Wins

School	Total	Years
University of Santo Tomas	3	1995-1997
University of the Philippines	3	1999-2001
University of Santo Tomas	5	2002-2006
University of the Philippines	2	2007-2008

UP - UST rivalry

File:UP-L1.png

UP

File:USTLogo.jpg

UST

Being the only teams in the UAAP to defend their cheerdance titles and actually winning the competition where all UAAP-member schools are present to compete, University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas were caught in a rivalry through its official cheerdance teams: UP Pep Squad and UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe.

Head to Head Status

UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe had the most number of wins, with eight (8) championships as opposed to five (5) of the UP Pep Squad. UST SDT holds the most consecutive victories at 5, which they achieved from 2002 to 2006. UP on the other hand has a slightly higher average score since 2001, with 89.045 compared to 88.7725 of UST. The largest point differential between the two teams is 8.03 by UP in 2008, followed by 4.90 also by UP in 2001. Although UST had the most victories, their leads were smaller. UST's largest lead over UP was 3.26 in 2006, when UP finished 3rd. In their head-to-head status, the battle for supremacy has always been about grace, smoothness of execution, synchronization, and minimal errors (UST) against creativity, innovation, athleticism, and level of difficulty (UP).

On an interesting note, both UP and UST broke their rival's streak after landing on the third spot. In 1999, UP won the title after being placed in third in 1998. UST was able to regain the title in 2002 after being a third placer in 2001. UP again took the championship title in 2007 after finishing third in 2006.

Chronology of Events

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe won the first three years of competition from 1995 to 1997. They did not join the competition in 1998(a). The rivalry between the two squads began in 1999 when UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe returned to reclaim the title after their year of absence. However, they only finished second behind UP Pep Squad. In 2001, UP Pep Squad matched the record of UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe's three consecutive wins. In 2002, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe regained the title while UP Pep Squad finished third. The next three years had UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe in first place and UP Pep Squad as runner-up. In 2006, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe received their eighth title with five consecutive victories; UP Pep Squad finished third. UP Pep Squad regained the title in 2007 and defended it in 2008 with the highest score gap between the Champion and 1st runner-up in UAAP Cheering/Cheerdancing history.

Popular Cheers

UP's popular cheer is "U-nibersidad ng Pilipinas" while UST's is "Go USTe". Usually held in Araneta Coliseum, the UP crowd clap hands over their head while chanting their cheer. On the other hand, UST crowd waves their yellow hotdog balloons or using the right hand pointing finger in circular motion while cheering.

Sponsors

Major Sponsor	Competition Name	Year(s)
Jollibee	Jollibee Chi-Cheer Kayo Contest	1995-1997
Nestlé Ice Cream	Nestlé Non-Stop Cheerdance Competition	1998-2005
Samsung	Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition	2007-2008

Some Records in the Competition

1. The greatest point difference between the champion and 1st runner-up ever recorded in a competition is 8.03% by the UP Pep Squad against the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe in 2008.
2. The smallest point difference between the champion and 1st runner-up ever recorded in a competition is 0.22% by the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe against the UP Pep Squad in 2005.
3. The 2008 Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition is the most attended UAAP event with a record-breaking 23,443 paying audience.

Firsts in the competition.

1. Dance Moves - In 1998, the UP Pep Squad incorporated dance moves in their cheering routine thus leading to the eventual formation of the Cheerdance Competition.
2. Pants as Official Uniforms - In 1998, the UP Pep Squad used pants for both boys and girls as their cheerdance uniform.
3. Sports Moves - In 2000, the UP Pep Squad incorporated sports moves (Taebo) in their cheering routine. Later on emulated by rival squads even until today.
4. Canned Music - In 2000, the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe used canned music, an alternate to traditional drums and snares, in their cheerdance routine.
5. Unified Theme - In 2002, the Ateneo Blue Babble Batallion and the UE Pep Squad were the first to incorporate a unified theme all throughout the routine.
6. Sound Effects - In 2002, the Ateneo Blue Babble Batallion, De La Salle Cheering Squad and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe used special effects or sound compliments.
7. Shorts as Official Uniforms - In 2003, the UP Pep Squad used shorts for both boys and girls as their cheerdance uniform.
8. Change of Uniforms- In 2004, the UP Pep Squad used 2 different costumes in one routine. One for the school cheer, the other for the Nestle cheer. This was emulated by the UE Pep Squad the following year, and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe in 2007 (removing their skirts to reveal a less restrictive costume, similar to what the UP Pep Squad did in 2006).
9. Transitions of Routines - Both UP Pep Squad and UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe replaced jogging with marching steps in between transitions of their respective routines.
10. All Star Routine - In 2008, A Samsung All-Star routine was presented before the announcement of the winners. The All-Star Team, called the Dream Team, was composed of 3 members from each of the participating universities in the said competition.
11. Samsung Stunner - In 2008, the sponsor of the competition awarded the 'Samsung Stunner' to Frances Fleta of the UP Pep Squad.

Campaign Slogans/Theme

Ateneo de Manila University

1. Wild Wild West Theme (2002) - The squad sported a cowboy look.

De La Salle University

1. Futuristic Theme (2008)

Far Eastern University

1. Blazing Tamaraws (2008) Fire Theme

University of the East

1. Extreme Sports (2002) - The squad incorporated extreme games in their routine.

University of the Philippines

1. Back 2 Back (2000) for their bid to defend their title. They used plain maroon for the front and plain green for the back of their uniform. The following year, 2001, UST used white for front and black for the back of their uniform.
2. UP's Back (2003) in a failed attempt to regain the championship.
3. UP Rocks (2007) with Gothic rock-themed costumes and music, the squad never aimed to win the championship as their goal was only to 'have fun' after their attempt to not join the 2006 edition of the competition. But consequently, this lead to their eventual victory.
4. Tribo UP: Sugod (2008) for their defending routine theme with tribal music, cheers, costume, and movement.

University of Santo Tomas

1. The Real Champions are Back (2002) for their bid to regain the title.
2. Back 2 Back (2003) for their bid to have a back-to-back title.
3. Balik sa Naka-GAWI-an: Three-Peat for UST (2004) for their bid to have another three-peat.
4. Roar 4 More (2005) for their bid to have an unprecedented and controversial four-peat.
5. Jive for Five (2006) for their bid to have an unprecedented five-peat.
6. Tuloy ang Naka-GAWI-an: UST, This SIXTH It! (2007) coined by UST alumnus John Lapus for their bid to snatch a double grand-slam.
7. Bawi Gawi! (2008) in a failed attempt to regain the championship.

Squad's Trademarks

Adamson Pep Squad

1. Carousel Toss - Introduced in 2006, the carousel toss is considered as the Adamson Pep Squad's signature toss and perhaps the most difficult toss in the history of the competition.

University of the East Pep Squad

1. Umbrella Props - Introduced in 2002, the UE Pep Squad awed the judges and audiences with their umbrella props spelling out their alma matter's name.

University of Santo Tomas Salinggawi Dance Troupe

1. The Zigzag Pyramid. They introduced this pyramid since the beginning of the competition in 1995. This pyramid varies in number of person involved, height, and style.
2. Pirouette or Fouette. These ballet moves were introduced in 2003. The dance troupe performs it before the last minute of their routine. In 2003, all dancers did pirouette in a succession.
3. Opening Words. Their music starts with distinctive opening words: "Attencion!" (2003); "Attention, attention..." (2005); "Are you ready to...?" (2006); "Let's Get It On!" (2007); "Ladies and Gentlemen" (2008).
4. Consecutive Winning Representation. They incorporated 2 Full-Twirl Tosses in their 2003 UAAP-CDC routine to represent their bid for a back-to-back title, 3-Man Propeller Toss in their 2004 for their bid to get a 3-peat title, 4-Man Shuffle Toss in 2005 for their bid to get fourth straight title and Superman Walk in 2006 to bid for their fifth consecutive win.
5. Inspired Costume. The dance troupe used costumes patterned to Hollywood animated movies: Happy Feet (2006) and Bee Movie (2007).
6. Fast Two-Level Pyramid Formation. They were able to build a pyramid with a low degree of difficulty on the first count. The formation started with the base then all the way up only to the second level- in just one count. However, they take time preparing before actually "launching" a pyramid.

University of the Philippines Pep Squad

1. All Male Stunts/Pyramids. All of their male cheerleaders perform a stunt of pyramid in the middle of their routine.
2. Specific Sport and Dance in a routine. The squad incorporated a particular sport as part of their routine: Taebo (2000), Synchronized Swimming and Arnis (2001), Jump Rope and Tap Dance (2002), SportsAero and Mindanao Folk Dance (2003), Basic Cheerleading (2004), Yoga and Samba (2005), Western-style Cheering (2006).
3. Unified Theme. In 2007, they used a unified theme in their routine. Gothic (Rock) (2007) and Ethnic (Filipino Tribe) (2008).
4. Pompoms spell U.P. For the second straight year, they left their pompoms on the floor and spelled "U.P." since 2007.
5. Difficulty of stunts. They have been known to create new stunts and pyramids in every competition, sometimes difficulty far beyond its rivals. In 2008, they incorporated Kick double full twist toss, 4 full twist toss, X-out toss, and 4 tic-toc stunt.

Rules and Criteria for Judging

1. The panel of judges is composed of representatives from each participating university, representatives (usually three) from the major sponsor, and a technical judge. Although the 2007 edition was sponsored by Samsung Mobile, there was no representation from them.
2. From 1998 to 2005, all teams were required to perform a special Nestlé Cheer. This cheer was included in the criteria for judging and comprised 20% of their scores. It was judged exclusively by the representatives of Nestlé except in 2005, where each of the school representatives also gave a score.
3. In 2005, a judge was not allowed to give a score for the school he represents.
4. The highest and lowest scores garnered by each team are omitted and the remaining scores are averaged. This rule was removed in 2005 but restored the following year.
5. The year 2005 saw critical changes in the rules for judging. For the first time, school representatives were not allowed to give scores for their own school, causing the omitting of highest score unnecessary and not applied. But a judge may give low scores since it will not affect his school and since for 2005, the lowest score will not be omitted. This will greatly affect the average scores of the other schools.
6. The criteria usually include choreography, synchronization, costume, audience participation, and overall impact.
7. The rules usually require teams to perform a number of tosses, jumps, lifts, and pyramids (usually three, with one being a 3-high). Teams which are not able to execute the minimum required number of pyramids receive point deductions. Additional pyramids are not credited but can be grounds for deductions.

Footnotes

• Template:Fnb - In 1998, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe did not join the competition
• Template:Fnb - De La Salle University was suspended in 2006 and was not allowed to join the competition.

See also

• NCAA Philippines Cheerdance Competition
• UBelt.com Cheerdancing Photo Gallery