THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME

Bienvenido N. Santos

RESOLUTION:

RISING ACTION:
When a group of Philippine dancers arrived in Chicago, Fil wanted to invite them
to their apartment to have some quality time with them. Fil arrived at the hotel and he
would smile to the dancers that happened to look his way. He gave these young
dancers the smile and his leaned words, but then he wished Tony had been with him.
Suddenly, Fil felt as if he was in the center of a group where he was not welcome that’s
why he wanted to leave, but then he seemed caught up in a position and in the tangle of
moving bodies that merged and broke in a fluid strangle hold. Everybody was talking,
mostly in English.
CLIMAX:
Fil meets the dancers at the hotel and when he got there and saw all the
dancers, he forgot what he wanted to say and lost all train of thought. So, when he
finally managed to gather up all the confidence, he had left to invite them to his house,
they refuse his invitation and would just move away realizing that they are not interested
in his humble offer; he no longer insists to ask. As if by common consent, they had
decided to avoid him and ignore his presence. After watching the concert of the
dancers, Fil returns home, takes a nap, weary from his travel and disappointment.
FALLING ACTION:
Fil begins to dream while taking a nap on the sofa at home. In his dream, Tony is
insisting on the way how to keep afloat while Fil tells the shame of the rejection of
dancers to his invitation. Fil woke up alone, gasping for air by quarter past five and
remembered that the show would begin at eight. Since Tony cannot accompany him to
the theater, Fil brings his what he called sound mirror to make recordings of the singing
and the dances.
RESOLUTION:
Tony was yelling from his room, telling Fil to turn off his recorder while Fil was
listening. Tony refused to tell him what the doctors had to say when he inquired. He
then asked about the dancers, to which Fil replied that they're really attractive, young,
and graceful. He heard Tony sigh, but when he looked down at the tape recorder he
was holding, he discovered that the spools were spinning, and he realized he had
clicked the delete button. There was nothing but a screaming piece of the finale with
drums and the tolling of the bell when he tried to play it back. It was already morning
when he looked outside.