Ultimate Filipino beach babe Rachel Lobangco can still turn heads and stop traffic.
She first caught our eyes when she modelled for a for a Filipino beverage ad in the ‘90s.
This bronze-skinned girl raised the summer temperature to a record high as she frolicked under the sun clad in an immaculately white flowing dress, much to the delight of co-star Bert "Tawa" Marcelo and the APO Hiking Society.
And two decades later, Rachel Lobangco showed why many Filipinos still consider her as the ultimate beach babe when she turned up the heat at the Filipino Dance Club of Dubai (FDCD) as a special guest during its 45th graduation ball at the Radisson SAS Hotel last week.
Charming
Tall, voluptuous and charming, Lobangco immediately turned heads when she walked into the ballroom dressed in a simple off-shoulder, figure-accentuating, gold silk gown.
The two costume changes for her swing-and-fire dance numbers showed off to perfection her gold-dusted, deeply tanned and well-sculpted body.
A model, talented actress (she has appeared in more than 75 films), singer and dancer, her swing number with Lee Olvido, a professional dance instructor and FDCD vice-president, left the audience gasping for more.
Ironically, although Lobangco loves dancing, she is not so much into ballroom dancing. "I only got to practice with Lee for an hour," she confessed. "But being a professional that he is, I managed to follow his lead effortlessly."
The fire dance was no less enthralling and was a show stopper sans the usual twirling "fire balls" (for safety reasons) and the music, which fizzled out not once but twice. Ever the trooper, Lobangco was unfazed and continued dancing much to the cheers of the audience.
Playing with fire
Fire dancing involves a lot of rhythmic gymnastics requiring agility and presence of mind lest the dancer get singed in the process. And Lobangco is no exception as she showed her burn marks.
This despite having "plunged into the fire" five years ago, a host of improvisations and hours of performances and teaching the dance in Boracay (Philippines's prime beach resort destination) where she is based most of the time.
Rachel's next move is to dabble in photography which will enable her to further express her creativity apart from her present involvement in magazine designing.
And where does she get all this energy, with a whistle bait figure to boot?
"I work out a lot, especially doing arm exercises, treadmill, and biking for an hour daily. Of course, those energetic dance sessions are a surefire way to maintain the shape," she said.
