Kessel Dance & Fitness Manila Opening
September 22, 2008
5th Level, The Learning Center, Walter Mart Makati.
Anna Marie Periquet, chairman of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Asia-Pacific ( YEG-AP ); and the chairman of the Philippines Council of Women Entrepreneurs for Asia-Pacific has been keeping a secret for a year now. Today, it is no longer a secret.
Not known to many, this multi-faceted business, government and civic leader takes time off from her busy schedule by indulging in her number one passion – dance.
Anna is a DanceSport athlete, and a Philippine and International DanceSport Champion in the Latin American Dance Discipline. Together with one of the Philippine’s top Latin competitors, dance partner Larry Iguidez, Jr., they have been consistently receiving accolades from various local and international competitions in the past year.
Bringing pride to the Philippines, Larry and Anna recently bagged the Gold Medal for Latin 3-Dance and Silver Medal for 4-Dance in the 2008 International Millennium Open to the World Competition held in Singapore last April 28, 2008. They bested dance sport athletes from Europe, Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Upon their return to the Philippines, they performed an honor dance for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and His Eminence Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales.
Larry and Anna were champion for 2F Latin in the 2008 DanceSport Council of the Philippines (DSCPI ) First Ranking and Competition; champion for 2F Latin in the 2007 DSCPI Nationals; champion for 2F Latin in the 2007 Invitational Sapphire Ball; and Silver Medalist for the 2F Latin Event in the 2007 International DanceSport Federation Open to the World Competition.
Anna began formal training in Latin Discipline under World and Philippine DanceSport champion Edna Ledesma in October 2006, and World DanceSport champions Paul Harris from UK, and Luca Fani from Italy. Paul Harris is best known as the choreographer of the Harry Potter films.
At the age of 3, Anna began formal classical ballet training under Totoy Oteyza and Inday Gaston Mañosa of Harirarya Dance Company. She performed in various ballet productions of the Company and became a member of the corps de ballet at the age of 14. She also took classical ballet workshops with the San Francisco Ballet School and with the American Ballet Academy in Geneva, Switzerland.
True to her advocacy on entrepreneurship, this former Lead Advocate of Go Negosyo is turning her passion for dance and dancesport by establishing her latest business venture, Kessel Dance & Fitness Manila this coming September 22, 2008 at the 5th Level, The Learning Center, Walter Mart Makati.
“Kessel Dance & Fitness Manila will not only develop dancers but will highlight the importance of dance to one’s health and wellness,” Anna narrates.
“We make classes available to suit all levels, all ages. We will also be regularly hosting master classes and workshops in various dance disciplines with guest foreign dance masters, coaches and international champions. The accurate instruction of our classes is our major priority. Thus, our roster of teachers is skilfully trained, competent, and accredited with their respective dance, fitness and sports national and international organizations,” Anna adds.
Kessel Dance & Fitness Manila offers a wide array of dance and fitness classes such as Aero-bix; Beginners Ballroom (Latin American and Modern Standard DanceSport Disciplines, Argentine Tango, Tango); Body Works (Stretching and General Conditioning); Cardio Hip-hop; Cheer Dance; Classical Ballet for children (classes apply the training of The Royal Academy of Dancing of London, or RAD syllabus, under the tutelage of RAD-Registered ballet teachers); Kiddie Jazz; Latin Aero; Luigi Jazz; New Wave Hip-Hop; Retro Groove Aero; Social Dance (Salsa, Bachata, Regge, Swing); Theatre Courses (based on the principles of the Stanislavski’s System for dance routines); and Yoga (Dynamic Flow, Hatha Yoga).
Kessel Dance & Fitness Manila also offers services such as studio hire, open floor for dance practice, casting and audition workshops, private dance lessons, corporate in-house dance and fitness programs, and dance choreography for productions.
After extensive dancesport trainings and practices in the morning, Anna runs off to her office and transforms herself into the business suit clad entrepreneur the private sector has come to know. Concurrently, she is president of Anna Marie Home Collection (Philippines), Inc., owner of brand name Anna Marie Home; and president of the Aurelio Periquet Jr. Foundation. She is a member of the boards of Insurance of the Philippine Islands Co., Inc., Metro Cebu Public Savings Bank, and Lupel Marketing Corporation (makers of UNI Writing Instruments).
Anna was appointed by former President Fidel V. Ramos as Youth Sector Representative in the 10th Congress of the House of Representatives. She is the author of Republic Act 8525, or the “Adopt-a-School Act of 1998” which seeks to provide for access to quality education.
Following her stint in Congress, she was appointed by former President Joseph Estrada as Private Sector Representative to the Board of Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation (SBGFC) in 1998. She was re-appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001, where she currently holds the position. Most recently, Anna was selected to be a Private Sector Member for Performing Arts ( Dance ) under the Presidential Task Force for Education and Tourism.
A recipient of several awards and citations from various organizations, Anna was recently cited in the coffee table book “When She Takes The Lead: Women Who Have Shaped Philippine Society” in 2008; awarded the Award of Distinguished Women in Service in 2007; and was cited as the "100 Most Successful Women in the Philippines" in celebration of the Women’s Centennial Year in 2006.
Pirouetting from the boardroom to the ballroom, Anna takes a bow.
