Kenneth Gærlan's final dance

Me and Yeyette have never lost a close friend before. That is why Kenneth's passing last February 5 wasn't just a mere shock; it really felt like the wind was knocked out of us when Señor Guillermo Gómez told us of the sad news.

Yeyette and Kenneth at Señor Gómez's residence in Macati during the maestro de flamenco's 73rd birthday last 13 September 2009.

Kenneth Gærlan (1977-2015) was a dancer all his life. He started learning flamenco at the age of seven under the tutelage of the country's foremost maestro de flamenco, Señor Gómez. Kenneth also studied other dance forms such as ballet, tango, ballroom, and a host of others, including modern dance. Later on, he became a dance instructor and made a humble name for himself within Metro Manila's dancing circuit, especially among flamenco enthusiasts. He is one of only few dancers who had learned a huge bulk of Señor Gómez's repertoire of more than 200 dances. He was faithful to the "old school" of flamenco, shunning the lure of the confusing and rather modernistic compás style. In fact, Kenneth was already being groomed by Señor Gómez to be one of his replacement flamenco teachers when the veteran maestro retires. That is why his death, in my opinion, was a stunning blow to flamenco in Filipinas.

Kenneth was also fond of organizing parties for our flamenco circle of friends, including annual surprise birthday parties for Señor Gómez (I often joke that they were no longer a surprise since everyone was already anticipating it). The last party he had organized was another annual ritual: a Christmas party for Señor Gómez's flamenco clique which happened at the residence of Mary Anne Almonte in Sun Valley Subdivision, Parañaque City just two months ago (14 December 2014) and was attended by flamenco luminaries such as Cecile de Joya and Maggie de la Riva — all of whom were close to Kenneth. Little did we know that the simple affair was to be his last public performance. Here is a video clip of his dancing "Mosaíco" with Mary Anne...

La Familia Viajera and their flamenco friends at Mary Anne Almonte's residence after the party. Kenneth is standing at far right.

The last time he was with us was last January 17 in Rockwell, Macati. There was no hint at all that he was leaving us for good. He was his usual jolly self and looked very healthy. Humorously, on that chilly Saturday noon, he was personally serving me, Señor Gómez and his granddaughters, and Krystal our lunch as if we were royalty material. And while we were enjoying our lunch, we were chatting about our favorite topic: history, genealogy of old Filipino families, Filipino Identity, and, of course, his expertise — Filipino films. Kenneth's distinctive passion to and keen criticism on Filipino movies are simply remarkable. The brief articles he had written about recent movies he saw are enough for us friends of his to either watch them with gusto or forget them altogether. Makes me wonder why his not in the showbiz press industry. Sayang. In all honesty, there was HUGE potential for him to become one of our country's leading movie critics. He was virtually a walking Wikipedia of the local silver screen. It pains me now that I failed to deliver to him my promise — that I will create for him a blog where he can dance around with his thoughts on Filipino cinema (I was already planning to launch it this month).

And speaking of dance, well, that's another aspect of your his which we his friends are most familiar with. When it comes to flamenco, he is like Sancho Panza to Señor Gómez's Quijote. That is why his flamenco performances are always a sight to behold. In some weird way, he did inspire me to keep on pursuing flamenco even if flamenco pursues distancing itself from me (a brutal truth that he doesn't want to accept, hehe). Anyway, Krystal and Señor Gómez's granddaughters will continue the fire burning. They now have you in their hearts as added inspiration.

¡Te echaremos de menos, nuestro amigo Kenneth! Thank you so much for loving our family! Thank you so much for everything you've taught to our daughter Krystal.

Since Señor Gómez cannot dance full-time due to his age, Kenneth usually took his place. Here he is attending to Krystal (wearing the late Marién Gómez's "falda"), Señor Gómez's grandaughters Anne and Ysa, and Japanese student  Mariko Usami (hidden behind Anne) while the maestro de flamenco (seated) closely supervises the class (at Joya Lofts and Towers in Macati late last year).

Thank you for being a concerned and caring godfather to Mómay. Salamat rin sa lahát ng regalo, sa mg̃a payo mo sa amin ni Yeyette, sa pagcacaibigan. Sayang at hindí na matútuloy yung balac mo na ipasiál camíng familia at manoód ng película. You are a true friend. Our family feel so wretched and empty now that you're gone. The only compensation is the thought that you are now at peace with God, dancing for Him, to all the angels and the saints, with Ate Mayén...

And lastly, thank you for giving us the honor of dancing at our wedding reception last 2013. We will always cherish that precious moment!

At our wedding reception at Jardín de San Pedro last 13 September 2013. Left to right: good ol' Kenneth Gærlan, former beauty titlist and commercial model Maridel Coching (daughter of Francisco Coching, National Artist for Visual Arts), Señor Guillermo Gómez, painter Valerie Devulder (daughter of Maridel), indie actress Jam Pérez and her uncle Edwin Pérez.

Kenneth and Jam in a memorable and heavily applauded flamenco dance number.

¡Hasta la vista, Step Up Guy! ¡Te echaremos de menos! ¡Mahál na mahál ca namin!