Marian Rivera: From ‘teleserye’ princess to dance diva

MARIAN Rivera should make her moves more difficult to surprise viewers.

We keep urging show-biz stars to stop resting on their laurels and periodically “surprise” viewers with new facets to their evolving screen personas. So, we were glad when we heard that, after a spate of teleseryes, Marian Rivera was coming up— with a weekly dance show!

The novel format shift was welcome, because Marian’s dancing ability hadn’t been exclusively showcased before. And it was doubly welcome, because dance programs have been scarce on the local TV screen.

Among the few exceptions is TV5’s “Celebrity Dance Battle,” but it isn’t all that great as a dance showcase, because some of its stellar contestants take the easy way out, and just “move” instead of really tripping the light fantastic.

So, before we watched Marian’s new dance program on GMA 7 last June 21, we hoped that she would set the bar much higher for herself and her guest dancers.

Big, striking

How did the new show actually pan out? The premiere telecast impressed us with its big, striking and multilevel set, Marian’s beauty, sexiness and enthusiastic moves, and the presence of some special guests, like former TV dance divas Vilma Santos and Maricel Soriano.

However, on point of actual “degree of difficulty” in dancing, the numbers featured in the initial telecast left something to be desired.

We have to remember that some past dance programs hosted by the beautiful and gifted likes of Charlene Gonzales and Dayanara Torres set a high standard that subsequent productions shouldn’t ignore, because some veteran viewers remember them— and new and less hardworking talents and shows will suffer in comparison to them.

If Marian’s new show really wants to impress viewers, she and her program’s staffers should watch footage from Charlene and Dayanara’s programs, to realize what dancing on TV should really be about.

Diverting enough

At the moment, Marian’s show is diverting enough, but it’s more on the “nice” level of Lucy Torres-Gomez’s past dance program. Like Lucy, Marian is exceptionally lovely, but is a relatively “cool” rather than “hot” performer, so the excitement level of her dance numbers, thus far have been less than genuinely exciting.

Yes, Marian is less “sedate” than Lucy, but she can still make her moves more difficult, to truly surprise and delight viewers.

As for her stellar guests last June 21, Maricel’s dance numbers didn’t come off well enough because she obviously wasn’t in top physical form, so her moves had to be simplified to the point of looking rather blah.

In addition, the veteran star came off as too nervous and giddy when Marian interviewed her, like she was trying to come across in as effervescent and ditzy a manner as she did when she was much younger.

It really is time for Maricel to move on and find her new persona as a mature performer, because she still has enough that’s new and “improved” to please televiewers.

As for Vilma’s guest dance number, it came off better because she still has a pert and naturally youthful projection as a performer. But the number was too short and not “produced” enough in terms of costuming and such— so, it wasn’t the memorably scintillating, nostalgic showcase it should have been.