Here’s how our favorite university pep squads will rock the Mall of Asia Arena in the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance Competition this December 1.
In a short break from all the action, our favorite university pep squads will gather once more on Sunday, December 1 for another round of the UAAP Cheerdance Competition at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
As with previous iterations, a unique variety of inspirations are in store for this year’s CDC festivities. Some will attempt to hit home through Filipino pop culture, while others will attempt to go out of this world in a bid to win over the audience and judges’ hearts to secure the prized UAAP Cheerdance trophy.
With days away from the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance Competition, here’s what each university pep squad has revealed about their respective themes for Sunday’s festivities.
Ateneo Blue Eagles
First up this year will be the Ateneo Blue Eagles, who will raise the curtains with a “storytelling” on the creation of the universe. Team captain Dani Capistrano bared how this theme resonated with the pep squad, who started off as a small group before gaining more and more members over time.
“We started with a small number of members until we were able to gather more recruits and more members to become a bigger team,” Capistrano explained during the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance press conference held at the MOA Arena.
“It’s also a reminder for us athletes that we too are limitless and we can reach for.”
The Blue Eagles finished 8th in last year’s CDC after drawing inspiration from the NFL’s annual Super Bowl halftime show.
UE Pep Squad
With the universe established, we go on a trip down memory lane with the UE Pep Squad. From being inspired by popular 90’s anime, the Recto-based squad will now draw inspiration from the SexBomb Girls, one of the Philippines’ most iconic girl groups in the 2000s.
Given the SexBomb Girls’ cultural influence, all eyes will now be on UE to have the perfect tribute through the stunts and dances they will try to pull off this Sunday.
“SexBomb is a pop culture icon. And everyone knows it, kahit ‘yung mga malillit na bata…And abangan niyo sa December 1 ‘yung 25 na tao, kung paano sila [how they will pull off the routines],” UE Pep Squad captain Mary Joy Oacan said.
UE Pep Squad finished sixth in last year’s CDC with the 90’s anime-inspired routines. Now, can their SexBomb-infused performance help them improve on that finish?
UST Salinggawi
The nostalgia-filled trip continues with UST Salinggawi, who will go for a Batang 90’s-inspired theme instead of foreign influences they had in past CDC iterations. Now, ‘Gawi looks to secure a third-straight podium finish by simply going back home for inspiration.
“So for the past three years, Salingawi has used a theme which is something foreign. Like the Latin dance [Season 84], Lady Gaga [Season 85], and BLACKPINK [Season 86], all of those were more foreign. For this year, we opted to do something which is very close to our roots as Filipinos, so specifically, we wanted to portray and give the nostalgic feeling as to how it feels to be young and free as a kid,” explained UST head coach Mark Chaiwalla.
Adamson Pep Squad
In a continuation of their “Trolls”-inspired routine in Season 86, the Adamson Pep Squad (and the audience) will be vibing to some iconic karaoke hits for the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance Competition.
“Last year, we focused on singing, and now, we want to show [the] varied treasures, and heartfelt culture of the Philippines,” Adamson Pep squad head coach Jam de Leon explained.
Given this, Adamson is set to close out a series of Filipino pop culture-inspired performances on Sunday. After all, it’s hard not to deny the prominence of karaoke in local culture, right?
UP Pep Squad
While UP refused to disclose their UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance theme, head coach Kim Parra had this to say: “People can expect na kahit gaano kalamig ‘yung MOA Arena, papainitin namin.”
Now, this should be an interesting one given the element of surprise.
NU Pep Squad
Thanks to their supporters, the NU Pep Squad has been inspired to go all-out with an outer space theme for the Season 87 Cheerdance Competition following an Elvis Presley-inspired routine in the Season 86 CDC.
“We took into account ‘yung mga suggestions ng supporters ng NU Pep Squad. Kasi sinasabi nila na out of this world ‘yung ginagawa namin every time na we go out for cheerdance competitions,” NU Pep Squad coach Gab Bajacan said.
“So might as well i-push na namin ‘yung out of this world so outer space ‘yung theme ngayon, pupunta po tayo sa Mars. Ganon pong level, so kung mainit [sa UP], malamig [sa FEU], tayo po nasa Mars,” Bajacan added in jest referring to his competitors’ respective inspirations.
NU will gun once more for a record eighth championship in the Season 87 CDC. Should their “out of this world” perofmance live up to the hype, the storied pep squad will be joining UP Pep Squad and the Salinggawi as the three winningest programs in UAAP Cheerdance Competition history.
La Salle Animo Squad
With a visual preview of their theme, Animo Squad will be drawing inspiration from the game of chess for Season 87. Simply put, it’s a clear change of direction from last year’s Latin Pop-inspired routine that landed them in seventh place.
“Our theme is more than just a theme. We wanted to add a statement about everything not being black and white, and we wanted to portray a statement showing the final move, like the checkmate,” said Animo Squad representative Isabelle Vera Cruz.
“So we want to show our queen’s move. So for the upcoming competition this December 1, we’re going to be the queens, the kings and we’re gonna show our final move.”
FEU Cheering Squad
Defending champs FEU Cheering Squad is set to close out the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance Competition with a performance inspired by the Disney movie “Frozen”. Much like their Super Mario theme in Season 86, a Frozen-inspired routine will likely be another nostalgia trip for the many audiences who will tune in to this year’s CDC festivities.
“This year, first time namin na Disney ang theme. So we’ve decided to gawin ‘yung Frozen na movie as our theme this year. So pagkatapos ng compet may trangkaso tayo kasi mainit [sa UP] tas malamig samin,” FEUCS head coach Randell San Gregorio, partly in jest.
With an icy performance set to cap off the Season 87 CDC, will the FEUCS score back-to-back titles after it’s all said and done on Sunday?
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.