Dance Forum M.B. (previously Dance Forum) is a non-profit organization which continues the work of choreographer Myra Beltran. When in 1989 when Ms. Beltran performed at the outdoor installation, “Labyrinth” of visual artist Roberto Villanueva at the grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and after collaborations with artists of different disciplines, Ms. Beltran staged her first full solo concert “Women Waiting” in 1994. In 1995, she was give a grant by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Dance Forum M.B. was formed.

Dance Forum M.B. proudly opened its studio as a studio-theatre in 1997. For ten years, it premiered two new productions a year, presenting the work of other choreographers in the process and collaborating with other artists. The vision of its founder, Myra Beltran, was to create a community – a fluid network of dancers working independently and supporting each other’s growth. The idea was to respects dancer’s physicality and individuality and enable them to bring their bodies’ intelligence into the work within a liberative space, and hope that they eventually find their own choreographic voice. From this vision, there indeed formed an independent contemporary dance community in the Philippines.

As a group, Dance Forum M.B. artists participated in international arts festivals such as Global Dance 2002 of World Dance Alliance and Exposition’O Contemporary Dance Fiesta in Singapore 2003. It received an Aliw Award for Best Dance Group in 2001.

A member of Contemporary Dance Network Manila, Dance Forum M.B. has generously hosted most of the network’s yearly “Contemporary Dance Map” series, being the space that brings artists together.

“Dance Forum, which is sustained by Myra’s personally formed values, will continue to be a space for dance making, for exploring ideas and bodies, and for giving form to artistic energies. The new studio continues to hold out on the independent artist’s steadfast commitment to dance, her enduring patience in seeing this so-called ephemeral form of art eventually earn the extremely needed recognition, as it will always inform our nation’s socio-cultural, and even political life. And because of this unwavering, and perhaps quixotic vision, Dance Forum will continue to be part of our country’s choreographic landscape.”
– Ruth Jordana Luna Pison, “On Dance Forum’s new studio and Nutcracker Swit”, GMA News online, http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/290554/lifestyle/reviews/dance-review-on-dance-forum-s-new-studio-and-nutcracker-swit, 16 Jan 2013, accessed: April 17, 2013

“All I know is at the end of the evening, I brought home a memory: Inside the theatre, I was perspiring from the heat generated by the lights and the warm bodies, but what I usually find uncomfortable, was strangely part of the pleasure. The movement and music humming in my gut, I forced back my tears. I was experiencing the aesthetic in dance for the first time. ”
– Issy Orlina Reyes, March 17, 1999

 

CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Dance, Historical Essays, Contemporary Dance

https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/6/45/7/

Entry, CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Myra Beltran

https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/6/51/2415/

Entry, CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Dance Forum

https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/6/51/2442/