Nanay (Tagalog for mother) is a site-specific interactive dance performance honoring Nanays (mothers) and Lolas (grandmothers) as integral to Filipino migration histories. Premiering during the Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2021, Nanay will unapologetically exhibit a mapping of our ancestral memories through an embodied storytelling performance merged with poetry, soundscape, and installation art.
Nanay is an interactive performance open to everyone of all ages and backgrounds. The audience may participate in a journal writing activity facilitated by the performers to inscribe memories shared with our matriarchs. This event will occur at the Bartram's Garden Community Boathouse area on Sept 17,18,19, from 7-8:10 PM.
Poetry used in the performance will also be available in a book form, De(scribing), written by immigrant mother, Ani Gavino, and first-generation Filipina-American daughter, Malaya Ulan. De(scribing) is supported by Velocity Fund and Leeway Art for Social Change Grant.
Ani/MalayaWorks Dance is a collective of Filipina/x movement artists working to empower the Filipino-American voice by imprinting our stories into the ether of American contemporary performance art. In the Tagalog language, Ani translates to harvest and Malaya translates to being in a state of liberation. Thus, our mission is to harvest and resurrect stories of our ancestors and celebrate the ever-evolving Filipino identity as a path to our personal liberation.
