I've read the article and watched the videos. And it was inspiring. I've never heard of this group 'til now, am not sure if my parent's would know 'bout them either. But wow! can they still dance!
I bet any group dream of longevity or having some sort of legacy. That would be nice wouldn't it? But heck I would just like to be able to still get up and dance even when am graying and wrinkly.
Here's them then:
and here's them performing together again after 27yrs!! last sunday at SOP!
(I lifted this articleoff from The Philippine Allstars Multiply blog page - thanks)
Penthouse 7, the Reunion … how it happened
http://www.ticketworld.com.ph/events/default.asp?event_name=Penthouse%207:%20Grand%20Reunion
Way back in the 60s, when GMA-7 had only 2 studios (and probably only 2 cameras), and Cable TV was just a far-fetched dream, a dance show that literally brought its home audience to their feet was born -- Dancetime With Chito, hosted by the late Chito Feliciano, became every household’s favorite Sunday evening show. It was the first show of its kind, a dance show featuring Latin Dances and audience participation portions through Instructional dancing and guess the Celebrity Shadow .
After Chito Feliciano’s tragic passing, Bibit Duavit, Archie Lacson, and Freddie Garcia conceptualized a dance party show to fill in Dancetime With Chito’s timeslot. over a game of golf. Not long after, Penthouse 7 was launched and quickly became The Dance Show to watch every week. Hosted by Archie Lacson, different female co-hosts, and with dancers from the Latin and Modern Groups, Penthouse 7 became the Philippines’ dance party on air from 1974 till 1981.
Penthouse 7 started off as a 1-hour show on GMA-7 (Where You Belong) every Sunday evening. Hosted by Archie Lacson and different female co-hosts, the show was made up of the Latin Group: Tito Garcia, Rudi de Leon, Nini Morato, Susan Payawal, Rosie Garchitorena and several “sukis”; Art Zamora, the “Zoom Zoom” Onrubia sisters, Jun Zamora, Angie Pineda and the “Modern Group”: Ronnie Henares, Raul Monasterio, Jojo Abella, Mike Monserrat, Benny Ramos, Helen Garchitorena, Anna Garcia, Irma Lacap and Joannie Feliciano. Dance steps like the Robot, the Bump, the Jacksons, and many more were popularized and taught during the Instructional portion.
With the entry of the “Disco Fever” in 1975, came a new batch of Modern Group dancers; Ida Ramos, Sandy Hontiveros, and Marlyn Feliciano, who were asked to guest for several shows due to the absence of some of the regular Modern Group dancers, introduced the LA Walk and the New York Hustle. Eventually, they became part of the Penthouse 7 family.
Penthouse 7 was hot, it introduced the first MTVs, inspired the Recording Companies to create their own dance groups to get their latest albums airplay … it rated so high, the station had to increase the time slot to 1 ½ hours, which meant more numbers were needed to fill the time. New dancers were added to the family; Poncy Quirino, Gina Valenciano, RayAn Fuentes and Pipo Liboro were recruited. The Swing, Pop-Locking, Locking, The Rock, Errol Flynn, and hundreds of Dance Steps were introduced in what can probably be considered the Golden Era of Dance.
Penthouse 7 will be remembered for setting trends, new fashion, introducing the latest dances and music, launching new artists and personalities, and keeping everybody up late on Sunday evenings (We have been told that ours was the only show most parents allowed their kids to stay up for before a school day)
Throughout the 27 years after Penthouse 7, Archie and several members of the original cast have continued to perform on stage, television, and various events, mostly upon the request of our fans here and in different parts of the world. This leads us to believe that there is still a clamor for the kind of dancing that Dancetime With Chito and Penthouse 7 brought to their audience, which hasn’t been duplicated by any other dance show to date. Less than a year ago, an email circulated by Archie got us all back together. A posting on YouTube of the Penthouse 7 Opening Credits was posted by a fan. Emails started circulating, phonecalls and text messages were non-stop … meetings were set, rehearsals scheduled, pictorials arranged … and here we are, back together again though a few years older, a few pounds heavier, but still very much alive and kicking.
We have pulled all our resources together, poured in all our blood, sweat, and tears, and hope to God that we bring as much fun to our audience as we have had putting this all together.
Ticket Prices:
P2575.00
P2060.00
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