"Singularity of purpose breaks out in singular steps in dance." A woman does just that in a small, marginal space on West Avenue with her Dance Forum. Its three imaginary walls open to a backyard. A row of small shops keeps noise and pollution out. You have to be a dance habitue to know this "secret" corner in Quezon City. It has spawned fresh and forceful initiatives in the choreographic art.

After working closely with Enrico Labayen until his departure for San Francisco, where he won the Isadora Duncan choreographic award, Myra Beltran continued experimenting. She also kept Labayen loyalists and freelancers busy with serious works ignored by escapist balletomanes.

She had had enough of ballet with ...., and had to find her true form. Now confined to her open box, she has discovered space in its multifaceted directions, volumes and immediacy.

Beltran's works ranging from solos to quartets, have found scope in choreography and content. Even her redundancies have poetic ends. Often she also recites verses with disarming honesty, as in her story of a "Star Maiden." A feminist but not the virago kind, she explores the beliefs and fears of women with constant daring.

In 2000, Beltran did "Unbearable Lightness," "Daughters of Necessity" and for Philippine Ballet Theatre "Bachianas Brasilieras No.1." Like her dreamlike, Hopkins-inspired work, she again dwelt on the relational strength of women. The extended solo "Lightness" bared the interstices of her feelings with articulate and concentrated eloquence. "Daughters" captured a Lorca-like bonding in echoed actions. The same minimalist layering, with Neruda's thoughts, emphasized shared intuitive strengths in "Bachianas." Women in black clustered and scattered to embody empathy, courage and even vulnerability."

"Myra is not concerned with success but sensitivity..."