Two days before they must start working, the four girls must rehearse their dances. Locarno was different, here they really have to work as cultural dancers. They were satisfied. The start to gain back their lost dignity and self-respect slowly and surely began to form within themselves.
"Here in Locarno we really could taste our labour! I hope!" Thelma said to the three girls.
"I am happy. I really could send money to my parents every month. We have nothing to worry here. Our apartment was free, and we have an allowance for our food. My whole salary I can send it to the Philippines." Lorna said.
"We really could do it. One year that is 12 times 300 US Dollars. Three thousand six hundred dollars! My mother could pay back the bank!" Carla also dreamed that after one year the problem of the family would disappear.
"What do you think? Can I find here a boyfriend or a sugar daddy?" Luisa asked her group.
The three did not answered Luisa. They ignored her. Luisa understood the pouting and frowning and the swirling of their eyes, but she just laughed. Luisa always enjoyed teasing her group.
The first night they must perform, Paula was more nervous than the four girls, but Carla, Thelma, Lorna, and Luisa were more concentrated to the audience that were present. All well-dressed and rich-looking people.
"Look at our audience!" Luisa said.
"Wow, and they looked so decent!" Thelma also commented.
"Do not concentrate to the audience, concentrate to the dance. We have to do our best!" Carla said.
"We have to do our best, so that we will not be squashed!" Luisa told her group.
"Please, we must not worry. How many times we already danced the Tinikling, Pandanggo sa Ilaw, Cariniosa and the Igorot Dance?" Carla said. "We must not be nervous, we are Dancers!"
When the emcee called the four Filipinas, and when they showed on the stage, loud applause was heard, just clapping of hands, no degrading sounds from men like in Cyprus. Then everybody was quiet as they were enchanted to the soft and graceful swaying of the girl's bodies and hands synchronizing to the music for the dance Pandanggo sa Ilaw. How the four Filipinas balanced the glass on top on their heads, and on their hands was indeed can be seen, that they have the qualities to represent their country Philippines thru cultural dances. But suddenly, the silence of the audience was broken by a big thud of body, Lorna slid and the glass on top of her head and on her hand flew up the air. A fire started to build up on Lorna's dress when the candle inside one of the glass landed on her dress, that she jumped up and down to put it out. The emcee helped Lorna while the three continued their dancing as liked nothing had happened, or maybe in their thoughts, nothing serious happened, so the show must go on! When the fire on Lorna's dress was put out, then the audience were relieved, and the burst of laughter filled the air at the same time clapping their hands for Lorna who vowed before she left the stage to return to their dressing room.
When the three girls left in the stage finished the dance number; as they entered their dressing room, they quickly asked Lorna.
"Are you okay? What happened to you? Why you fall down?"
"I am okay. I slide!" Lorna said to the girls.
"We knew you slide!" Luisa finds it funny after all, she laughed.
"Can you still dance?" Carla asked Lorna.
"I only have bump on my head, the rest nothing, so yes, I can still dance! Only the dress for Pandanggo was partly burned, it has a hole! " Lorna answered.
"You cannot dance the Igorot Dance; you cannot balance the staple of pots on top of your head because there's a little mountain on your head!" Luisa really finds it very funny as she continued laughing and teasing Lorna.
"You have a reserve dress, isn't it?" Carla ignored Luisa.
"Yes!" Lorna answered who also laughed with Luisa.
Lorna did not dance the Igorot Dance but sing a vocal song of the Igorot while the three of her group danced. Lorna had a beautiful voice, and she can sing. They also received a loud applause from the audience, and it boosted the spirits of the girls. The last dance they must perform was the Tinikling. Tinikling, an art of dancing between two poles of bamboos clapped to each other, first slowly then fast and faster.
While the four Filipinas danced the Tinikling, the audience hold their breath as how Luisa and Thelma gracefully danced while Lorna and Carla were the one clapping the two bamboo poles but then suddenly the left foot of Luisa was caught in between the two bamboo poles and she cried very loud with pain. Luckily, the dance was ending so when the music was fading out, the four girls vowed and left the stage while the audience were laughing and clapping their hands, they thought that what happened to Luisa was a part of their performance. A success night for the girls.
Inside the dressing room while they were changing clothes Luisa was angry to Lorna.
"My left foot was very painful, you did it expressly!" Luisa angrily said to Lorna.
"I did it expressly?" Lorna was surprised why Luisa blamed her to what had happened. "You are the one who made mistake with the moves of your feet in dancing, not me?"
"Yes, you did it expressly because I had said about the little mountain on top of your head!" Luisa pouting said.
"Oh, well it already started to disappear from my head, the little mountain, look at your feet maybe the little mountain transferred there?" and Lorna laughed returning to Luisa the joke Luisa earlier did to her.
Luisa looked at her left foot and indeed a little reddish bump was formed.
"Look, the little mountain really transferred to her foot!" Lorna said and laughed more. The two, Carla and Thelma seen it and they laughed too. Luisa first mimicked what Lorna said and then later laughed too. The first time that the group laughed together.
The four Filipinas really enjoyed their life in Locarno. They earned honestly their money thru decent work. In a week, they have one day free, and they spend it by discovering the city. First Paula accompanied them to a pilgrimage site that overlooking the city, where known that Virgin Mary had appeared, the Santuario della Madonna del Sasso. They had seen the 13th century Castello Visconteo, they visited Museo Civico that housed Roman antiquities and mostly, they spent their time just strolling around the Piazza Grande.
"It's really nice here in Locarno. I envy Paula, she resides her and have business!" Luisa said to the three girls while sitting in a bank by Piazza Grande.
"Yes, I also like this place. Paula said that when we arrived here, the International Film Festival was just finished. If we came earlier, we'd seen many actors and actresses." Thelma said.
"If I will have a chance to live here in Locarno, I will be very happy!" Carla said.
"Me too, but Paula said if we have no more work here, we have to go, we could not stay." Lorna said to the other girls that if they do not have work anymore, they could not stay longer.
"Maybe if we could find a man that would marry us! Then we could stay!" Luisa said as she thought that marrying a local could give them a possibility to stay in Locarno.
As time went by, the girl realized that they had stayed in Locarno for almost one year already, when Paula told them one day the reality they do not like to know or hear.
"One month more and your contract of one year will be over!" Paula said to them.
The four girls did not answered Paula. They hated to know that soon they must leave Locarno.
"Next week you all must leave Locarno!" Paula continued.
"Next week? But we still have one month?" Luisa protested to Paula that they have one month more to work in Locarno.
"You will be fully paid, you do not have to work anymore, but you really have to leave this apartment, because another group is coming and they will stay in here. Also because the contract is already finished, you all really have to leave Locarno!" Paula told the girls that they will be fully paid but they really must vacate the apartment and leave Locarno.
"Where will we go? Our contract was three years!" Carla asked Paula.
"Yes, we spent one year in Cyprus, one year here in Locarno, we still have one year to go!" Thelma said.
Paula looked at the girls. She too, do not know what she will answer to the questions the group were asking. ****to be continued****Remedios Dorio