TRIBE | Performer
Imani Gaudin is a multidisciplinary dance artist and the founding artistic director of gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding accessible, sustainable, wellness-based arts practices for underserved communities. As a movement artist, Imani is currently a performer with TRIBE under the artistic direction of Shamel Pitts. In 2024, she was commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance to premiere jakob&imani, a durational performance created in collaboration with visual artist Jakob Vitale. In 2025, she premiered nanibu, a multidisciplinary dance-theater work at the Marigny Opera in New Orleans, with support from Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, which was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. That same year, imani&jakob debuted ALL YOU SEE IS COWS IN THE CITY at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, NY, and led gaudanse’s international debut with her work mamihlapinatapai in Paris, France. Imani has held residencies with Baryshnikov Arts, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Pepatian Dancing Futures at BAAD!, and New Dance Alliance. She was named a 2025 Gambit 40 Under 40 Honoree, received the Alonzo King Lines Ballet Homer Avila Scholarship Award, SUNY Purchase’s Bert Terborgh Dance Award for Leadership and Excellence in Dance, and a Delta Sigma Theta Artie-Rising Star Award. Imani trained at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Amsterdam University of the Arts, and The Juilliard School. She has performed works by artists including Ohad Naharin, Netta Yerushalmy, Amos Ben-Tal, Rena Butler, Roderick George, Akira Yoshida, and Kayla Farrish.