‘Nursing These Wounds’ by KULARTS to premiere in October

KULARTS presents the world premiere of “Nursing These Wounds” at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. CONTRIBUTED

SAN FRANCISCO – Dance collective KULARTS on several days in October will present the world premiere of “Nursing These Wounds,” a site-specific, immersive dance performance choreographed by SF Artistic Legacy Awardee Alleluia Panis, investigating the impact of colonization on Filipino health and caregiving through the lens of Filipino nurses’ history.

“Nursing These Wounds” explores the experiences of Filipino nurses with Westernized medical education and how subsequent migrations laid the groundwork for the continuing global export of Filipino labor. Shaped by the United States medical field, the migration created a fissure between traditional forms of knowledge and Filipino concepts of well-being.

“Pilipinx nurses are highly respected by the community. We see them as heroes, and as a result it is often difficult to speak about the challenges of their own lives,” explains Panis.

Through surveys, interviews and facilitated gatherings, Panis and the creative team engaged Filipino nurses to share their own unique stories, including the different generational understandings of the profession, what they do for enjoyment, immigration, and the perceptions of their communities at home and abroad.

Additionally, Panis and her dancers draw from their own connections to nurses in their own families. Panis’ sister-in-law is a working nurse in San Diego and her cousin is recently retired from a hospital in the Boston area, and several of the dancers have nurses in their families, including siblings, mothers and grandmothers.

Panis adds: “I want to bring out the Pilipinx nurses’ narrative as a complex human experience.”

The project expands on her ongoing development of a community-based ritual and ceremonial language that allows diasporic Filipinos to create a space for belonging, “informed by rigorous traditional shamanistic practice but within the language and context of the Bay Area’s Pilipinx American community.”

Founded in 1985, Kulintang Arts, Inc., now known popularly as KULARTS, is the premier presenter of contemporary and tribal Pilipino arts in the United States.

Performance details

Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, October 21, 22, 28, and 29; Matinee performances are 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, October 22, 23, 29 and 30

Location: Brava Theater (2781 24th St., San Francisco CA, 94110); Cost/Tickets/Registration $20-$30;https://bit.ly/ntwbrava;

More information: https://www.kularts-sf.org/nursing-these-wounds.