Art 2 Art

This is a TV/radio show hosted by Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, identified as Ballerina ng Bayan (Ballerina of the Country). I think it is a most apt title for an outstanding Filipina who has danced solo on many theater stages all over the world.

Produced by the Manila Broadcasting Company, the show airs every Sunday, from 3:30 to 4 PM on radio via DZRH, on cable television via RHTV, and on Cignal TV and Ch. 3 on Cablelink. It also has online livestreaming and may be viewed via the Facebook account of DZRH News Television.

Within half an hour, the show features conversations on art and culture with an invited guest from an art genre.

When I got the invitation to guest the show recently, I was ecstatic—not because I  would appear on TV, but because I would personally chat with the Ballerina ng Bayan, whom I have watched only from the balcony of a theatre, and therefore as small as my thumb. 

  

On the TV set, there she was, as big as life. She is real, down-to-earth, and a natural.

She asked about the many sides of my love for children’s iterature—where I get my ideas from, who my books’ characters are, and how I weave stories. For 30 minutes, I forgot I was before the cameras and enjoyed the rare encounter with a global celebrity, whose discipline and form as a ballerina are impeccable.

Well, the set was familiar territory—my milieu for more than two decades, shooting talents, products, and celebrities. The only difference was, the computers did all the work. The cameras stayed put, and therefore, stage hands running around were missing. 

  

You’ve come a long way, baby, I said to myself. I meant that to refer to my age, which grace has allowed to come this far—emboldening me to still write my next books, and talk with the likes of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Art 2 Art