199 Chambers St
New York, NY
10007
Culture and movement merge with IMGE, the sensational American dance company blending Indian classical, hip hop, and contemporary styles! Founded by the visionary Ishita Mili, IMGE brings a fresh perspective to storytelling, tackling social, cultural, and environmental themes through a global movement vocabulary. Having graced prestigious venues like New Victory Theater and Lincoln Center, and captivating audiences with their sold-out show “(no)man,” IMGE is a force to be reckoned with in the dance world. Featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and L’Officiel, their innovative performances have garnered millions of views on social media.
(no)man is a dance oratory traveling through ideas of home and identity while juxtaposing cross-cultural movement as a reflection of power & privilege. Weaving together their signature hybridized movement, power-packed body language, and a genre-blurring soundscape, IMGE questions who is included and excluded in this borrowed space and time. The show comprises 10 Chapters, each pinpointing a power dynamic between [winning-losing] and [birth-death]. The rich multicultural tapestry weaving through the chapters of (no)man reveals repeating cycles between the past, present, and future to imagine where society has gone and could go in the collective future.
Director & Choreographer: Ishita Mili
Rehearsal Director: Hanna Gosztyla
Performers:
Lex Bolisay
Hanna Gosztyla
Maddie Jacob
Shivani Lamba
Andrei Miasco
Ishita Mili
Sangeetha Santhebennur
Swing: Shreya Rawat
Stage Manager: Subha Samanta
Lighting Designer: Bentley Heydt
Audio Engineer: srijononthebeat
Graphic Designer: Divya Nayar
Music: Yemi Alade, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Deya Dova, Ibeyi, Oliver Koletzki, RRobin, Les Mamans Du Congo, Lord Afrixana, Mr Eazi, Tekno, Mina Rose, srijononthebeat
CAST BIOS
DIRECTOR, PERFORMER
Ishita Mili is a Bengali-American director, choreographer, and iconoclast who unravels her cultural roots to weave together global stories. She is earliest captured dancing at the age of 2, twirling with a yellow blanket in her living room. Ishita soon began formal training in Bharatanatyam (Smt. Sudha Devulapalli) and Indian contemporary fusion (Sukalyann Bhattacharjee). She later joined UFP Dance and spent over a decade in hip hop, house, and popping. She was awarded the Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant from the NJ State Council of the Arts to study Mayurbhanj chhau (Sri Rakesh Sai Babu). After developing an eclectic dance foundation, she ventured into creating as a holistic multidisciplinary artist and founded IMGE. Ishita has taught the IMGE methodology at Princeton, Gonzaga, and Duke University. She was featured in Broadway World, Herald Tribune, PopShift, and Dance Informa as a rising South Asian artist, and won the Artist of Exceptional Merit award from the Asian American Arts Alliance. Ishita is currently a LabWorks Artist ‘24-’25 at New Victory Theater.
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR, PERFORMER
Hanna Gosztyla started her journey at age 10 in NJ with her older sister and was accepted into competitive hip hop college team RDT at 14, becoming their youngest member. Through RDT, she trained under commercial industry professionals and later worked her way up to co-director of RDT alongside IMGE’s Maddie. Hanna has also founded various local dance groups. Her K-pop cover group, Can’t Dance Crew is known for their viral dance videos and even competed in Korea. Hanna currently helps run affordable workshops and intensives with a program called CreativExchange, and she continues her training, taking various classes in NYC. She has been in IMGE since 2018 & is now the company’s rehearsal director.
PERFORMER
Lex Bolisay is an independent choreographer, dancer, actress, model, and singer born and raised in New Jersey. She first started singing and playing instruments and later discovered the dance community in college, delving into hip hop styles, contemporary, and heels. She spent time on numerous teams and is now Associate Director of award-winning team, The Wannabes. Lex joined IMGE in 2021 to expand her movement and depth in storytelling. She is one of the original founders of CreativExchange, a platform providing accessible dance education. Most recently, Lex has been expanding into movement & performance direction for dance short films and music videos for up-and-coming artists. She is passionate about holistic and limitless artistry and wants to inspire other Asian women.
PERFORMER
Maddie Jacob is a Jersey native who started dancing at the early age of 3 in contemporary, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, and flamenco. At 13, Maddie was accepted into a competitive pre-professional ballet program at The Rock School, training in ballet and pointe. Maddie later met her mentor, Kenny “Clutch” Thomas and trained in hip-hop foundational styles like locking, popping, house, and krump. In college, she joined Raps Dance Troupe (RDT) and served as co-director from 2019-2022. Maddie joined IMGE in 2022 to challenge herself by exploring foreign techniques. Maddie launched her teaching journey through biweekly hip hop classes at The Hive Dance Studio, intensives, and private lessons. She also co-leads the NJ/NY dance outlet known as CreativExchange. Maddie strives to be a constantly evolving dancer in all her endeavors while curating relationships to help others overcome their dance struggles.
PERFORMER
Shivani Lamba grew up in southern California and has been dancing across styles for over 10 years. She began her training and performance journey in Kathak under Smt. Anjani Ambegaokar (Orange County). She soon expanded her training to include contemporary, modern, and street styles – earning a minor in Dance and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, competing on california hip-hop dance teams Groove Against the Machine and 220 and completing a pre-professional training program at Broadway Dance Center (NYC). Shivani has been a company performer on IMGE for the last 2 years. Through IMGE, Shivani has performed in Broadway Bares and Indowarehouse concerts, featured on Vogue and Vanity Fair, assisted a university residencies, and more. She also teaches IMGE collab workshops with Sang and hosts pop-up workshops in NYC.
PERFORMER
Andrei Miasco is a dancer/choreographer born and raised in New Jersey. His dance journey started with breaking at the age of 4. Soon after, he was introduced to battling and freestyling, which has had a large impact on his style today. In 2012, Andrei joined the NJ dance community, adding choreography and stage performance to his arsenal. Since then, he has been a part of competitive hip-hop dance teams such as The Wannabes and Project D. Andrei joined IMGE in 2016, during their first-ever performance as a collective. He was drawn to IMGE’s physical storytelling and real impact on people. Through the years, Andrei has performed on stages such as New Victory Theatre, Alvin Ailey, Red Bull Stadium, and more. Andrei can’t remember a time when dance wasn’t his primary mode of expression.
PERFORMER
Sangeetha Santhebennur is a 1st gen Indian-American performing artist and multichannel instructor based in NJ/NYC. Her vessels of creativity are rooted in dance, singing, modeling, choreography, and instruction. She has toured the country performing in theater (Cirque du Soleil, HAIR at Asolo Rep, Karate Kid at Stages St. Louis) and commercial campaigns (MAC, Apple, JVN, EOS, NYTimes, NYFW). She was a lead dancer for Broadway Bares Pleasure Park and recording artist Raveena (Hollywood Bowl). She has been in IMGE since 2018. Her personal aesthetic uses elements of hip hop, Indian classical/folk, flow, and fitness. Sang is a fitness coach ([solidcore]) and has taught dance classes across NJ, NYC, Bay Area, and the IMGE Methodology at Princeton. She is represented by Lakey Wolff and Co. and WeSpeak Model Management. Sang is a versatile shapeshifter, adding her multi-hyphenate nuances to every room she lights up.
SWING
Shreya Rawat is a dancer, model, and educator based in NYC. Born and raised in New Delhi, Shreya’s journey into the performing arts began at the age of 6 as a humble attempt by her mother to channel her hyperactive energy. She rigorously trained at the DanceworX Academy under (inter)national faculty and later moved to the US to pursue her passion. She earned a BFA with a concentration in modern dance from Point Park University, Pittsburgh and performed in works by Camille A. Brown, Keisha Lalama, and Crystal Fraizer, while under the mentorship of Garfield Lemonius. Now in NYC, Shreya is represented by Bloc Agency with credits including Madonna, Frankie Grande, Rutshelle, Alex Mali, KAYNE The Lovechild, ADA association, Broadway Bares, ORNGE LIVE IV, and NYFW. For Shreya, the ability to express and create is a divine gift that drives her journey to discover the deeper meaning behind it all.
The IMGE Dance residency at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), which 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