Ben Madilynn
January 26, 2025 | 12:00am
— ABS-CBN and Nathan Studios’ newest dance survival reality show “Time to Dance” is Gela Atayde’s “passion project.”
A dance show has always been a dream project of hers, but when “Time to Dance” was first pitched to her, she said it was actually the idea of Star Magic, through its head, director Lauren Dyogi.
“It was really him who believed in me in the first place. And of course, with the help of my mom (Sylvia Sanchez) who conceptualized all of these,” shared Gela at a presscon. “It was really a collaboration of different productions.”
Film and concert production outfit, Nathan Studios, is headed by Sylvia.
Photo from ABS-CBN
Aside from that, Gela’s mom would notice her heart and passion for dance. As she elaborated, “Not just dance itself but also the community. This is also somehow an advocacy project for me. I think it’s because being a teen, being part of the community, I see the ins and outs and what really happens. Yung mga kulang and mga sobra.
“And with ‘Time to Dance,’ I wanted to do this because I wanted
to be able to help those who want to explore dancing, who want to learn more about dance and not just that, to also inspire.”
Gela, who’s been dubbed at ABS-CBN as the “New Gen Dance Champ,” also noted how her teammates who “weren’t financially stable enough” couldn’t fly with them to compete in international dance tilts.
For Gela Atayde, ‘Time to Dance’ is more than just a show — it’s a platform to inspire the dance community.
Such realization hit her and led her to help them through the show. “I wanna be able to help because I’m privileged enough to.”
She was thankful that she was given the opportunity to do so. “It was really formed because of the heart and passion that direk Lauren and my mom saw in me.”
“Time to Dance” is hosted by Gela with Robi Domingo. It features 17 dance hopefuls who will undergo rigorous training and evaluations.
Director of World of Dance Philippines Vimi Rivera is also part of “Time to Dance” as one of its dance council members. The program airs every Saturday, 8:30 p.m. on A2Z, Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, MYX, iWantTFC, and TFC.
Gela with Robi on the set of the dance competition co-produced by ABS-CBN and Nathan Studios.
On what to expect from the show, Robi said that viewers can see “Gela’s passion and all the different kinds of personalities” who are part of the show.
“What she said was right, we only get to see the end result. Naging champion ang ganitong grupo, naging champion ‘to, isang individual. But we never see the journey that much. At grabe yung paghihirap ng mga dancers na hinaharap nila,” he said.
He believed that the program is “very timely” because it has been a while since ABS-CBN had produced a purely dance talent competition. The last one was “World of Dance Philippines,” according to Robi.
“The last dance segment (also) was ‘Girl on Fire’ on ‘It’s Showtime’ which had a great appeal (to the viewers). So I think and I feel that ‘Time to Dance’ will also (make) a strong impression. Ang mapapanood natin dito ay iba’t ibang mga tao na iba’t iba yung mga problema, iba’t ibang edad. Their goal in life is to dance and it’s not too late (to pursue that) because of this program.”
