Primx

Primx is a weaving of Bomba Jazz, indigenous dances of the Philippines, Kundiman, Plena, and many other interconnecting indigenous practices within the global south grappling with the persistency of colonialism. Primx is a collaboration between Anito "Ani" Gavino, Malaya Ulan ( Ani /MalayaWorks ), a mother-daughter Filipina intergenerational artistic partnership, and Marcel Santiago Marcelino, a Bomba cultural bearer to curate a celebratory movement performance simulating a family reunion between our cultures.
We created Primx, an archival investigative process that dissects the effects of Spanish colonization and U.S. imperialism through the lens of Philippine and Boricua cultural timelines. Through our interexchange of traditional dance, music, song, and corporeal storytelling, we find the parallels that connect our archipelagic histories. The title Primx is the Spanish gender-neutral form for 'cousin' (prima/primo/primx/prime) and is used to emphasize that while our islands are on opposite faces of this earth, we are interconnected, 'not through blood but through blood memories.' The piece interweaves Kundiman, Plena, Kuratsa, Tinikling, Bomba, Kokobale, Kali, and Dunham-inspired movements as modalities for telling our stories.

Host or Publisher BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance