Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies uses bharatanatyam and experimental movement to examine the labor of South Asian immigrant women who came to the US after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. Inspired by the oral histories of Indian nurses who immigrated to the US due to labor shortages, choreographer Nadhi Thekkek, and her collaborators explore the heavy and enduring work of brown women and the worlds they traverse between. They ask, who puts a price on this labor? What is the cost of opportunity? Who gets to decide how foreign we are? Through community interviews, historical texts, and poetry, Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies negotiates these questions and examines what it means to belong in America.

Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is an ensemble work of 7 dancers with a live original score by Roopa Mahadevan, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and others. Rogue Gestures is created and produced by Nava Dance Theatre.

Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission, California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, East Bay Community Foundation, and New Music USA.

Sections of this work have been supported by the MAP Fund, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Images by Robbie Sweeny

Event Location: Maryland Hall

Event Date : March 27, 2024

Event Start Time: 7:30 PM

Price: $35-55