By Angel Joyce C. Basa

Far Eastern University (FEU) Street Alliance returned to the podium with a first runners up finish in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Street Dance Competition held earlier today, May 29, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Morayta-based dance crew garnered a total of 89.17 points with their matador-themed routine.

The University of Santo Tomas Prime claimed their back-to-back championship title with a score of 90.50 points, while the University of the Philippines Street Dance Club concluded with the second runners up title at 86.33 points.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, team captain Matrix Katindig shared the team’s mindset coming from a discouraging finish last season.

“Ang naging mindset namin all throughout the process of this UAAP Street Dance Competition [ay] kahit hindi po kami manalo this year, okay lang as long as maibawi po namin ‘yung nangyari po sa’min last year. So hindi po namin ine-expect na mag-podium [finish] kami pero for us, parang bonus nalang ‘yon kasi ang gusto lang po talaga namin [ay] mabigyan po ng magandang piyesa at magandang run and at the same time makita po ng mga audience po namin, especially the FEU community, kung sino po ang FEU Street Alliance (Our mindset all throughout the process of this UAAP Street Dance Competition is to bounce back for what happened to us last year even if we don't win. So we didn't expect to have a podium finish but for us, this is just a bonus because we want to give a good piece and run, and at the same time, we want to show the audience, especially the FEU community, who FEU Street Alliance is),” he said.

Co-captain Christian Sinsay also recounted the struggle they faced with the limited practice time of only three weeks.

“Sobrang tough kasi ng journey namin, so given na three weeks lang ‘yung [preparation] namin pero nakapag-podium pa rin kami so sobrang grateful kami kasi given the journey and lahat ng mga challenges namin, talagang masaya kami sa naging output namin (We had a very tough journey given that we only had three weeks to prepare so we are very grateful because given all that, we are very happy with the output we produced),” he stated.

Last Season 85, the FEU Street Alliance ended the competition without a podium finish as they placed sixth with their OPM-inspired performance.

(Photo by Karch Rafael/FEU Advocate)