IMANI GAUDIN
Founding Artistic Director
“Dance is the language of movement shared by all living things, a constant dialogue between the body and the world. Music is the heartbeat of the earth which represents the rhythm of life. Our nourishment is created through the art of culinary creativity. The documentation of our history is shown through visual arts, and we tell those historical stories through acting, media arts, and writing. Without art, life does not exist.”
Imani Gaudin is a multidisciplinary choreographer, performance artist, and the founder of gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on providing access to dance education and sustainable arts practices to underserved communities. With a rich educational background and extensive professional experience, Imani’s work is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of dance while fostering cultural exchange, accessibility, and empowerment through the performing arts.
Imani began her formal dance education at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), where she was awarded a Certificate of Artistry in Dance. Her journey continued at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, where she graduated with honors, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. During her time at Purchase, Imani also studied abroad at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, Academie Voor Theater en Dans, further expanding her artistic vision and technical proficiency.
Throughout her career, Imani has trained at several prestigious institutions, including The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Dance Theater of Harlem, b12 in Berlin, and Orsolina28 in Italy. This diverse training background has shaped her unique artistic voice, which blends various dance techniques, styles, and performance art forms. Imani is proficient in ballet, modern, jazz, improvisation, floor-work, African dance, and more, reflecting the depth and versatility of her craft.
Imani has had the privilege of performing works by renowned choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Netta Yerushalmy, Nicole Butler, David Harvey, Carmen Rozestraten, Marcella Lewis, Amos Ben-Tal, Rena Butler, Roderick George, Loni Landon, and Akira Yoshida. These experiences have shaped her movement philosophy, deeply rooted in collaboration, innovation, and pushing artistic boundaries. Imani has also collaborated with artists like Alethea Pace, Kayla Farrish, and Micheal Rice, further broadening her creative horizons.
In 2020, Imani founded Gaudanse, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization aimed at providing dance education, performance opportunities, and resources to underserved individuals. Through Gaudanse, Imani has created a collaborative space for artists, educators, and communities to connect through the power of dance. The company made its debut performance in 2021 at the Battery Dance Festival, where Imani premiered her first professional choreographic work. This marked the beginning of her journey as a choreographer and artistic director, and since then, her work has continued to evolve and make an impact in the dance world.
Imani’s choreographic work has been presented at prestigious festivals such as the Battery Dance Festival in 2021 and 2022, and T2 Dance Company’s Versatility Festival in 2022 and 2024. She also created a dance film for One Day Dance Season Four, showcasing her innovative approach to blending dance with film and multimedia. Her most recent work, jakob&imani, was commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, premiering in 2024.
As a movement artist, Imani is currently performing with TRIBE, directed by Shamel Pitts, where she continues to explore the intersection of movement and identity. In addition to her performance career, Imani has been awarded several prestigious residencies, including at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Pepatián Dancing Futures in 2024, and in 2025 she will be a New Dance Alliance LiftOff Residency cohort. These residencies have provided her with the space and resources to further develop her work, focusing on storytelling through movement and highlighting themes of resilience, identity, and cultural exchange.
Imani’s commitment to social change, inclusivity, and empowerment through the arts is a driving force in her work. Whether as a performer, choreographer, or educator, she strives to create meaningful connections between artists and communities, using dance as a tool for transformation and expression.
Artist Statement
As a choreographer, dancer, performance artist, multidisciplinary artist, and mentor, I create interdisciplinary dance productions that build immersive, whimsical worlds—fantasies that provoke thought and transport audiences into new dimensions of imagination. My work challenges traditional performance boundaries, merging dance, performance art, and theatrical elements to create what I call dance-based plays, also known as dance theater.
At the core of my movement language is a practice I have been developing for three years, deeply rooted in the forms I inherited from my upbringing in New Orleans. I pull from Stepping, contemporary dance, pop culture, traditional Japanese kyo-mai, West African dance, New Orleans second line and bounce, and line dance to craft layered, complex environments that explore mindfulness in movement and creation. Each piece I create is site-adaptive, proving that anywhere can become a stage.
I work organically, allowing each piece to take the shape and length it demands. I collaborate with dancers, visual artists, set designers, chefs, and my community—building artistic ecosystems that not only exist for the duration of a performance but linger in the mind long after. Each work I make is part of a larger universe, like different planets orbiting within the same galaxy, connected by a shared history and cultural memory.
My mission is to serve my community. I create spaces where movers and artists can find themselves, using the fantastical landscapes we build together as mirrors and portals for self-discovery. I want audiences to walk away from my work wondering: Where did I just go? How did this transport me? The goal is not just to present dance but to immerse, to transcend, to reshape the viewer’s sense of reality—even if just for a moment.