As Artistic Director of gaudanse, Imani Gaudin creates a collaborative space for artists while exploring how new ideas translate into dance and movement. This work forms part of DANCING FUTURES, a residency celebrating its 10th anniversary. Presented by Pepatián in partnership with BAAD!, Dancing Futures provides emerging Bronx-based and/or dance artists of color with valuable resources, performance opportunities, mentorship, and professional documentation to help foster and showcase new dance and performance work. Major support is provided by the Jerome Foundation.
Imani Gaudin studied dance at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where she was awarded a Certificate of Artistry in dance. She then graduated with honors from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY where she studied abroad at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, Academie Voor Theater en Dans. Imani has had the pleasure of performing works by Ohad Naharin, Netta Yerushalmy, Nicole Butler, David Harvey, Carmen Rozestraten, Marcella Lewis, Amos Ben-Tal, Rena Butler, Roderick George, Loni Landon, and Akira Yoshida. She has also worked with, performed, and collaborated with Alethea Pace, Kayla Farrish, and Micheal Rice. Currently, Imani is a movement artist with TRIBE under the direction of Shamel Pitts. In March of 2024 she was a resident at Kaastsbaan Cultural Park, and is also a Baryshnikov Arts Center and Pepatián Dancing Futures 2024 AIR. As the Artistic Director/Founder of Gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, she created a collaborative space for all artists to provide access and education to dance and the arts.
BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) creates, produces, presents, and supports the development of cutting-edge and challenging works in contemporary dance and all creative disciplines that are empowering to women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) communities.
The co-founders, Arthur Avilés and Charles Rice-González, voluntarily built BAAD! for nine years in collaboration with sculptor Cassandra. All of the income raised was invested in the festivals, artist commissions, and infrastructure. In 2007, the team decided to transform from a volunteer led organization to a sustainable arts organization. Their first strategic move was to add non-profit, corporate and arts professionals to its working board of "friends and volunteers" and raise salaries for Charles and Arthur.
Cassandra remained an active volunteer and contributor to shaping the organization in exchange for free studio space at BAAD! until the relocation in 2013. Her brilliant sculpture, "Freedom to Love," which echoes Charles and Arthur dancing in one of Arthur's choreographed pieces, “This Pleasant and Grateful Asylum” is featured in the theater lobby.
gaudanse is a nonprofit dance organization founded by Imani Gaudin in 2020. gaudanse is a collective of artists rooted between New York and New Orleans and is composed of multidisciplinary artists, weaving together elements of dance, performance art, music, film, and visual arts. The grail of gaudanse is to investigate movement languages, aiming to create works that transcend mere aesthetics, addressing poignant and thought-provoking matters. With a commitment to social impact, the collective aspires to stir conversations that resonate on both the micro and macro levels, provoking contemplation on a spectrum from the minutiae of individual experience to the grand tapestry of humanity. gaudanse made its debut performance at Battery Dance Festival in New York in 2021. Since then, they have presented work at Battery Dance Festival in 2022, T2 Dance Company's Versatility Dance Festival in 2022 and 2024, Rockland Dance Festival, and created a dance film for One Day Dance Season Four. gaudanse has had the pleasure in 2024 to have residencies with Baryshnikov Arts Center, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, and Pepatián | Dancing Futures Residency in collaboration with BAAD!.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/imani-gaudin-gaudanse-tickets-1025287661997
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