PIÑA is an interdisciplinary dance work that explores constructions of diasporic identity and how the body carries history and ancestry in a globalizing world. Inspired by Artistic Director Ralph Escamillan’s experience as a first-generation Canadian-born Filipino, this work considers the parallels between the physicality of this experience, and piña—a traditional and celebrated Philippine fiber made from pineapple leaves. The delicate yet resilient textile parallels the fragility and strength of contemporary diasporic people, and by investigating the many facets of this culturally embedded textile, an anthropological journey through the body is created. Incorporating traditional folk dance, history, music and costume, the political, economic and social dimensions of contemporary diaspora revealed.