The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY campuses, announces IMGE Dance’s (no)man at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Culture and movement merge with IMGE, an American dance company blending Indian classical dance, hip hop, and contemporary styles. Led by Ishita Mili, IMGE brings a fresh perspective to storytelling, tackling social, cultural, and environmental themes through a global movement vocabulary. IMGE has performed at NYC venues, including 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 space and time. Weaving together dynamic body language, percussive footwork, and a soundscape that pulls from 11 different languages, from Bengali to Yoruba, IMGE examines relationships between [power-loss] and [birth-death] to reveal repeating cycles between the past, present, and future. This expanded version of (no)man, which had a sold-out run at The Tank in April 2023, includes revised sections with new music and additional production elements.

(no)man is directed and choreographed by Ishita Mili, with lighting design by Bentley Heydt & Brad Trenaman, and audio engineering by srijononthebeat. It is performed by a cast of seven dancers: Lex Bolisay, Hanna Gosztyla, Maddie Jacob, Shivani Lamba, Andrei Miasco, Ishita Mili, and Sangeetha Santhebennur.

IMGE Dance’s residency at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), which marks a decade of supporting the NYC dance field in 2024. The program was developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key player in New York City’s performing arts ecosystem, leading a consortium of 13 CUNY colleges and three arts organizations to host 20+ residencies for NYC choreographers and dance companies each year. In the past 10 years, CDI has granted 247 residencies to emerging and established choreographers, providing invaluable resources to artists, while enhancing CUNY students’ education and cultural experiences. The CUNY Dance Initiative’s 10th Year Impact Report can be seen at https://www1.cuny.edu/sites/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2024/01/cdi_impact_report.pdf.

The CUNY Dance Initiative receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative

IMGE Dance (”image”) is an American dance company that unravels traditional forms from Indian and American classical, folk, street styles, and contemporary to reinvent how movement connects our experiences. Their work navigates themes of belonging and home, multiplicity in identities, and mythic explanations of reality to make audiences think more about how they interact with the world. IMGE was founded in 2017 by Artistic Director Ishita Mili, and has attracted a roster of niche artists with unique identities from the New York City metro area.

Ishita created the IMGE methodology by weaving her eclectic foundation in Mayurbhanj chhau, house, bharatanatyam, old-way vogue, and more diasporic forms and has taught all over the world. She was awarded Artist of Exceptional Merit by the Asian American Arts Alliance, received a Folks Arts Apprentice grant under the NJ State Council of the Arts, and was a guest choreographer at Princeton University. Ishita most recently was selected into the LabWorks Cohort (’24-’25) at New Victory Theater.

IMGE and Ishita have reached inter/national stages from Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors, Battery Dance Festival, Seattle International Dance Festival, to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. They’ve designed numerous commercial campaigns and experiences with clients like NBCuniversal, IndoWarehouse, Sona Restaurants, and fashion/lifestyle brands. They have also worked in musical theater including Broadway Bares and Asolo Rep’s “Hair.” IMGE was featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair and amassed a loyal global fan base with millions of views on their short film “Time Travellers.” www.imgedance.com

General admission tickets are $40 and student tickets are $30. Tickets can be purchased online at https://tribecapac.org/event/imge-dance-company or by calling (212) 220-1460.

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