Dancing to the beats of Francisco Balagtas

by Nickie Wang

That might sound contemporary and innovative yet a little unexciting since we all knew Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar as the great poet with a laurel on his head, famous for his work Florante at Laura, which is now a staple in the high school curriculum.

So how are you going to enjoy a story in an archaic language written by a 19th century man? Simple, replace the words with modern and elaborate movements, like turning a long narrative into a beautiful dance number complete with live orchestra for musical accompaniment.