A Bustling Philippine Contemporary Dance Scene

Myra Beltran Pushes Independent Dance in Manila Into Action

Aug 21, 2008

Independent dance artists in the Philippines can make a sizable ripple in a humongous pond, but perhaps it is more important to keep the smaller ripples going, too.

Eleven years had passed since Philippina contemporary dancer and choreographer Myra Beltran struck out on her own with Dance Forum, a venue for contemporary dance artists and collaborations with artists from other disciplines independent from institutions. Perhaps Myra is not the first to attempt a career as a dance artist putting on regular performances without the benefit of a dance company or a regular institutional sponsor, but she is definitely the only one who really persevered and has ten active years of performances to show for it.

Dance Forum was formed literally in her backyard. What was once an outdoor home studio became a modest performance space that has been active for the past decade. Although Myra is usually the only artist who is constantly associated with Dance Forum all these ten years, it is called a "forum" because Myra opens herself to collaborations with other artists.

She has worked with visual artists, musicians and other dancers, in works commissioned by embassies and other non-government agencies, or in her own personal projects. She has also performed in different spaces through the years, and choreographed for other dance companies and groups, but always returns to her main dance space on West Ave, where she stages her regular seasons. Over the years, she has amassed a regular audience, who continuously come see her new works.

Other Independent Dance Artists Joining the Fray

There has been an influx of activity in the last few years as like-minded independent groups began to surface. Aside from collaborations with these new groups, such as Airdance, Green Papaya Art Projects, Chameleon Dance Theater, UP Dance Company and Dancing Wounded, Myra has spearheaded two major dance events for the independent scene, the Contemporary Dance Map, which holds performances in each group's studios for a week, and the WiFi Body Independent Contemporary Dance Festival.

It is called WiFi because the dance could be taken out of the conventional performance space, unplugged from the theater, as it were, and taken anywhere, wherever there is an audience. Even if the WiFi Body festival is held in the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Main Theater is not used in the usual manner – the main curtain is down, a smaller space is defined in the center of the stage and bleachers are built around the space to accommodate the audience. Additionally, dance spaces are created all over the building: in the conference room in the deep recesses of the center, in the lobby of the Main Theater, outside the building for site specific performances.

Continuing the Indie Tradition

Although the three WiFi Body festivals that have been staged so far have been successes, with the third festival in June 2008 being the most attended and most celebrated yet, it was after the second festival, on the year she celebrated her tenth year anniversary, that Myra realized an alienation from her identity as an artist. She had been so busy with the festivals that she had neglected the seasons in her own Dance Forum space, not putting on as many performances as she was used to. It is something she immediately planned to rectify; Myra quickly emphasized to her co-independents to continue creating and staging dance in their studios, to continue the established tradition of independent dance.

Some months after the 2007 WiFi Body Festival, Myra put on Signature, a show on a much smaller scale than the concluded festival, but with as much heart. Here, Myra herself performed to another choreographer's images, in Jethro Pioquinto's Kaibang Rosas. Also in the program were her own Frida en el Espejo, Paul Morales' Cadena de Amor and the three winners of the first New Choreographers Competition, which was held during that year's WiFi Body festival, grand prize winner Ava Maureen Villanueva and her In Side, second placer Herbert Alvarez and his Lamentations, which was performed by Elena Laniog, and Nina Hayuma Habulan's Supplication, performed by John Philip Martir, which won the audience prize. In a more intimate, yet more public setting, the winning pieces finally shook off their competition feel and embraced their existence as actual performances.

At present, Philippine independent contemporary dance artists are working towards the establishment of a network that will allow more such independent performances in the future.

The copyright of the article A Bustling Philippine Contemporary Dance Scene in Contemporary Dance is owned by Joelle Jacinto. Permission to republish A Bustling Philippine Contemporary Dance Scene in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.