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"Ang Rigodon de Honor ay hango sa mga Pormal na pagtitipon ng mga Presidente sa Pilipinas sa panahon ng pag-iinagura sa pagka-Presidente. kabilang dito ang mga Unang Ginang, mga Diplomatiko at ibang mga Opisyal ng Estado ang karaniwang nagpapartisipa sa mga sayawang katulad nito."

That’s what its Wikipedia entry says about this particular dance. I never thought I’d actually be a part of soimething like this even on a smaller scale until I had to pinch-hit for my Middle Eastern-based brother-in-law for an annual Rigodon De Honor event at St. Scholastica’s College.

I’m not sure if they do this every year but the idea of the whole thing is for participating sixth graders to dance the Rigodon De Hnor with their fathers. If dads are not available, they can be replaced with uncles, grandfathers or any other relative. This year’s event dubbed as the Centennial Rigodon in reference to the school’s 100-year anniversary actiually featured two Rigodon dances, the traditional Rigodon De Honor and the more contemporary Rigodon De Royale.

My 12-year old niece, Gel or Karl (her fiull name is Karl Angeline) as she is known to her classmates is a sixth grader Kulasa. She asked her dad back in October last year to come home for this dance and when he informed her that’s not possible, she was disappointed and initially decided not to participate anymore. For some reason, she later changed her mind and asked me if I can dance the Rigodon with her instead.

Now I don’t really consider myself as a good dancer. Okay, I’m not a dancer at all period. But I’m not gonna break the kid’s heart by turning her down so I relented. For several Saturdays since last November and everyday after office hours for one full week prior to the big dance last Saturday, we practiced. Me and Gel found ourselves doing the faster and more modern Rigodon De Royale number. While there were a lot of fathers, there were also a few uncles, grandfathers and even one cousin that served as the girls’ partners.

Yes, a lot of us couldn’t really dance if our lives depended on it. But our choreographer, Ms. Encar was so patient and motivational (not to mention quite sexy) that by the last week of the practice, the only thing we were worried about were the little things like alignment and timing. Other than that, we were pretty precise with our moves and certainly didn’t embarass ourselves during the actual dance. More than the choreographer, however, it was the very thought of not letting our little girls down that proved to be the ultimate motivation.

What made the dance more special was that we were required to wear formal Filipiniana attire for it, with the girls wearing a specially-designed gown in their own chosen colors and the dads and other elder partners wearing beige barong tagalog and black pants. Biases aside, we all looked magnificent and I for one, felt goose bumps before, during and after our well-applauded number.

As the grade school principal of St. Scho would aptly put it, "The field was transformed into a beautiful garden party for the Sixth Graders, their parents and their teachers. It was a sight to behold to see fathers dancing with their young girls dressed in their best formal attire, to hear our young girls conversing in light and soft tones, and to see parents, sisters and teachers awed by the overnight transformation of these young ladies."

For my part, I had a lot of fun and yes, I did feel like Richard Gere in "Shall We Dance" during this whole unique experience. I also got to know some of the fathers during the practice sessions. Truth is, a part of us wished that it wasn’t over yet during our last day. It felt like we were the ones in school preparing for our graduation.

But more important that all of that is the happiness that it brought to my niece’s face. Gel pestered me hours before every practice, implored us not to be late and called my attention to every misstep. But seeing her very happy that night made everything worth it. Her dad should have been here for this incredible moment but I’m also glad I got to do this myself. It really felt like dancing with the daughter I never had and probably will never have.

You know I always wondered why some people have to pay premium for their children’s education when I myself didn’t do too bad in both private and public schools. Well, it sounds very cliched but the truth is, some school memories are just plain priceless. As perhaps the only school to stage Rigodon cotillions regularly, St. Scho has created a a unique father and daughter (in our case, uncle and niece) bonding activity that makes all those expenses well worth it.

That’s the title of the Russell Crowe film that me and M, my girlfriend recently caught during its last few days. It wasn’t much of a movie worth talking about but the title might as well also sum up what 2006 meant to me. In many ways, it was a typical year for Year of the Dragon types like myself. In true Dragon fashion, I’ve had my share of ups and downs and as in previous years, it was quite a rollercoaster ride again. The story of my life.

But 2006 was also better than the previous ones in many ways. I think I’ve reached the age when nothing is supposed to surprise me anymore but even I was pleasantly surprised to spend a good number of my weekends either out of town or out of the country. I never travelled as much as I had in 2006. For the very first time, I visited provinces like Bohol, Laoag, Vigan and even the relativelty nearby Batangas City. I also saw Mandaue, that little known city beside the better known part of Cebu in a totally different light. Hell, I even became a guest instructor at Ocean Adventure in Subic for a day, teaching sea lions, false killer whales (don’t ask why they’re called as such) and dolphins tricks that they already knew to begin with.

Four times last year, I found myself again in Singapore, even won a few bucks and a few shopped items on the side while unexpectedly representing the country with two other lifestyle journalists in an amazing race type of game during The Great Singapore Sale. Despite the humid weather, I’ve come to love this place for its virtually non-existent traffic, and its orderly laid-back ambiance. There are still people who call this the most boring place in the planet but for at least two to three days, that’s just fine for someone like me who wants to occasionally escape from all the work-related stress that I’m subjected to for the rest of the year.

I also found myself in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for the very first time in 2006. Its charm is not quite the same as Singapore but if nothing else, the unique chocolate factories (Beryl’s for one, really rocks!) made me look forward to coming back here soon.

My work at the bank remained pretty stagnant in 2006 but that’s okay since 2007 is the year I’ll reach my 20th year of service (my, how time flies when you’re uh, swamped with a lot of work hehehe) which means I’m up for retirement, believe it or not. Hopefully, a nice early retirement package will be in the offing for retirables like me this year. If I’m lucky, a promotion might even give me a reason to stay a litlle longer although I’m no longer holding my breath for that.

As for my writing rakets, I’d say 2006 was a banner year for me as well. I’ve never been so busy in my entire writing career and I’m not even doing this full-time. I found myself writing articles on just about every liifestyle-related topic that was thrown my way. I’m even back to writing about music (mostly bands) again and in the process instantly updated my musical literacy just like that.

But the best thing that ever happened to me in years or as far as I can remember also happened in 2006. This was the year I found M, the love of my life who turned out to be a part of my past. Funny thing is, I only got to meet her for the very first time last and in the most unusual of circumstances. M has changed my life in ways that I simply can’t detail enough here. Of all the blessings that I was fortunate enough to receive last year, she is hands down the most precious and the one that I’ll continue to cherish in the years to come.

The bad news is that I’m afraid I’m going to lose her again in a few months. Sadly, our struggling economy continues to force many of us to be apart from the very people who means the world to us. My particular situation with M is no different. I do hope our impending separation is only termporary and as much as the possibility of never seeing her again is already beginning to take its toll on me, I do hope that I can somehow find a way for us to be together again.

All told, I remain hopeful (although partly skeptical given my rollercoaster kind of existence) that 2007 will even be a better year for me. More ups than downs, please.