Anito Gavino

Anito Gavino is a Filipinx multidisciplinary artist and choreographer from Panay Island in the Philippines. Born in Manila and raised in Iloilo, Gavino studied journalism at the University of the Philippines Visayas before earning an MFA in dance from Hollins University. Her practice spans choreography, movement research, dance film, and community-engaged performance, connecting Africanist, Caribbean, jazz, and Indigenous Philippine dance traditions.

Gavino's early career included performances with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Latin Ballet of Virginia, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, and Ananya Dance Theater. In 2014, she founded Ani/MalayaWorks, a project-based collective structured as a mother-daughter choreographic process centered on ancestral memory, dance, and community engagement. This work became the foundation for her evolving artistic practice as a movement scholar and cultural worker.

Among her significant works is *The Alchemy of Bantaba*, a choreographic creation that weaves together Dunham-informed practice, Afro-Cuban Orisha dance, Filipino Kali, and collaborative inquiry into ancestry. The piece exemplifies Gavino's approach to dance as a site of cultural research and collective knowledge-making. Her dance films have screened at the Dance Studies Association, Muhlenberg's Dance Film Week, and San Francisco's Asian Museum, expanding her practice across media and institutional contexts.