SHE has rightfully earned the title “Dance Princess of the Philippines.” In fact, Maja Salvador fires up a storm on the dance floor every Sunday in ABS-CBN’s ASAP, where most of her numbers usually end up trending on social media. Choreographers and dancers alike scramble to work with her as she is, in the words of choreographer to the stars (and a celebrity in her own right) Georcelle Dapat of The G-Force, “one of the top dancers in the country.”
From Dance Princess, Maja could easily evolve to become the Dancing Queen. And I’m not just talking about Maja being queen in the terpsichorean sense. For Maja dances through life with such ease and grace. Maja started out as a teen actress. Her early roles were always that of the best friend or the third party of a more popular love team. Parang backup dancer. But like an excellent dancer, she dutifully followed the steps provided to her by Star Magic and her home studio, ABS-CBN, and from the back, she was then pushed to the frontlines of the business and given meatier roles in film and on TV.
Now, Maja is considered a reliable leading lady with a number of top-rating soaps on her resume, and a number of awards to boot.
Like a versatile dancer who can perform the soft, fluid moves of ballet to hard-hitting hip-hop, Maja can easily shift genres. She has proved her mettle in light romantic comedies to heavy drama. She has also ventured into recording that brought her a gold record for her debut album (featuring the hit “Dahan-Dahan” and “Buong Gabi,” a song she cowrote).
Maja is also set to do a concert tonight at the Arena in Mall of Asia, titled Majasty, where she promises to give heart-stopping song and dance numbers. Her special guests include Paulo Avelino, Kakai Bautista, Rayver Cruz, Enchong Dee, JC de Vera, Enrique Gil and Piolo Pascual, with the Hotlegs and G-Force dancers. Tickets are available via www.smtickets.com and all SM Tickets outlets.
Asked why she wanted to do a concert in such a big venue like the Arena, Maja answered, “It’s to prove something to myself, na kung kaya ko ba talaga. A lot of people are there to help me and I’ve just been so blessed with so many good projects that I just want to push myself further. That if I can do this, I can achieve even more.”
Of course, with all her achievements, it is inevitable that Maja’s personal life would be under scrutiny by a doubting public. She has faced her own share of rumors and intrigues, the latest of which was her controversial relationship with actor Gerald Anderson, but Maja has learned to sway to the beat and continue to dance through these personal issues. She was accused of many unsavory things but people close to her say that Maja remained happy and cheerful despite the inner struggles she was facing. She just moved to the beat of all these issues with ease and has now emerged a stronger woman ready to fall in love again. Ready to face the world and all its challenges.
After all, meeting her more than 10 years ago when she was just a wide-eyed wannabe, it became very evident to me that Maja was destined to be for bigger things—just like a queen.