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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline DECEMBER 27, 2024 | The Indian Eye 22

CUNY Dance Initiative and IMGE

Dance to present (no)man

(no)man, directed and choreographed by Ishita Mili, to be performed on Friday & Saturday,

February 14-15, 2025 at 7:30pm BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center

OUR BUREAU
New York, NY

he CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expan-
sive program providing New York City cho-
Treographers and dance companies with cre-
ative residencies on CUNY campuses, announces
IMGE Dance’s (no)man on February 14 and 15,
2025 at 7:30pm at the BMCC Tribeca Performing
Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY,
10007. General admission tickets are $40 and stu-
dent tickets are $30.
Culture and movement merge with IMGE, an
American dance company blending Indian classi-
cal dance, hip hop, and contemporary styles. Led
by Ishita Mili, IMGE brings a fresh perspective to
storytelling, tackling social, cultural, and environ-
mental themes through a global movement vocab-
ulary. IMGE has performed at NYC venues, in-
cluding New Victory Theater and Lincoln Center,
and their online videos have garnered millions of
views on social media.
(no)man springs from a series of questions as
to who is included -- and who is excluded -- across cies for NYC choreographers and dance companies Asian American Arts Alliance, received a Folks Arts
space and time. Weaving together dynamic body each year. In the past 10 years, CDI has granted 247 Apprentice grant under the NJ State Council of the
language, percussive footwork, and a soundscape residencies to emerging and established choreog- Arts, and was a guest choreographer at Princeton
that pulls from 11 different languages, from Ben- raphers, providing invaluable resources to artists, University. Ishita most recently was selected into the
gali to Yoruba, IMGE examines relationships while enhancing CUNY students’ education and LabWorks Cohort (’24-’25) at New Victory Theater.
between [power-loss] and [birth-death] to reveal cultural experiences. IMGE and Ishita have reached inter/national
repeating cycles between the past, present, and fu- The CUNY Dance Initiative receives major stages from Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors, Bat-
ture. This expanded version of (no)man, which had support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and tery Dance Festival, Seattle International Dance
a sold-out run at The Tank in April 2023, includes Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support Festival, to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. They’ve
revised sections with new music and additional is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller designed numerous commercial campaigns and
production elements. Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Cul- experiences with clients like NBCuniversal, In-
(no)man is directed and choreographed by ture program, and the Harkness Foundation for doWarehouse, Sona Restaurants, and fashion/
Ishita Mili, with lighting design by Bentley Heydt Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg lifestyle brands. They have also worked in musical
& Brad Trenaman, and audio engineering by sri- Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny. theater including Broadway Bares and Asolo Rep’s
jononthebeat. It is performed by a cast of seven edu/danceinitiative “Hair.” IMGE was featured in Vogue and Vanity
dancers: Lex Bolisay, Hanna Gosztyla, Maddie IMGE Dance (”image”) is an American dance Fair and amassed a loyal global fan base with mil-
Jacob, Shivani Lamba, Andrei Miasco, Ishita Mili, company that unravels traditional forms from In- lions of views on their short film “Time Travellers.”
and Sangeetha Santhebennur. dian and American classical, folk, street styles, and www.imgedance.com
IMGE Dance’s residency at BMCC Tribeca contemporary to reinvent how movement connects BMCC Tribeca PAC is Downtown Manhattan’s
Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance our experiences. Their work navigates themes of premier presenter of the arts, reaching audiences
Initiative (CDI), which marks a decade of support- belonging and home, multiplicity in identities, and from the college community, downtown residen-
ing the NYC dance field in 2024. The program was mythic explanations of reality to make audiences tial and business communities, local schools, fami-
developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon think more about how they interact with the world. lies, and audiences of all ages. BMCC Tribeca PAC
Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which IMGE was founded in 2017 by Artistic Director strives to present a broad global perspective through
cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable Ishita Mili, and has attracted a roster of niche art- the presentation of high-quality artistic work in mu-
rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance ists with unique identities from the New York City sic, theatre, dance, film and visual arts. BMCC Tri-
sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on metro area. beca PAC is located on the Borough of Manhattan
four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal Ishita created the IMGE methodology by weav- Community College campus, 199 Chambers Street
launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key ing her eclectic foundation in Mayurbhanj chhau, (between Greenwich Avenue & West Street) and is
player in New York City’s performing arts ecosys- house, bharatanatyam, old-way vogue, and more convenient to the 2/3, A/C/E and R subway lines and
tem, leading a consortium of 13 CUNY colleges diasporic forms and has taught all over the world. the New Jersey Path Train. For more information
and three arts organizations to host 20+ residen- She was awarded Artist of Exceptional Merit by the please visit our website, www.tribecapac.org.

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