gaudanse presents imani & jakob present: all you see is cows in the city, a surreal, site-responsive performance exploring rebellion, ecology, and urban decay. Tickets are available at the door for a suggested donation of $25 for general admission and $15 for seniors and those under 18. For more information, please visit here.

In this new work, NYC-based art duo imani & jakob (imani, a dancer from New Orleans, and jakob, a visual artist from the Bronx) imagine a world where cows reclaim the city—not as livestock, but as agents of revolt. Inspired by graffiti artist Skeme’s phrase “all you see is crime in the city,” the duo subverts that line to ask what it means when nature fights back.

Through dance, painting, and sound, all you see is cows in the city becomes a metaphor for systemic collapse and ecological grief. It examines humanity’s relationship to the land, to animals, and to one another—particularly how inhabitants of nature and underserved communities alike are the first and most deeply impacted by environmental degradation as a result of urban development.

Set in the Round Barn at Churchtown Dairy, the performance becomes an act of reclamation: of space, of breath, of balance. What does it mean to see cows in the city? Maybe it’s a warning. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe it’s already happening.

Created for Churchtown Dairy and Performed by imani & jakob; Sound Mix by imani & jakob.

The Round Barn Dance Series @ Churchtown Dairy 2025 is made possible, in part, with the generous support of Lisa and Thomas Blumenthal, Beatrice Bogorad, Mark and Deborah D’Arcy, David H. Hughes Jr., Barbara Kilpatrick and Charles L. Bardes, Cesar Murillo/Emergent Global Investments, Karen and Steve Schutzer, and Hudson Hall @ The Historic Hudson Opera House.

Imani Gaudin is a choreographer, multidisciplinary performance artist, and the founder of gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting accessibility and sustainable practices for underserved communities of artists. She received a Certificate of Artistry in dance and was awarded the Rose Jackson Moye Award from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). She then graduated with honors from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, where she studied abroad at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. Imani has trained at esteemed institutions, including The Juilliard School and The Ailey School, and has performed works by notable choreographers such as Ohad Naharin and Alethea Pace. As a movement artist with TRIBE under the direction of Shamel Pitts, she continues to push artistic boundaries. Imani was recently commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance to premiere her work in collaboration with visual artist Jakob Vitale, jakob & imani.

Jakob Vitale a New York and Los Angeles-based artist, seeks to educate and evoke change in society (or at least increase the possibilities of such), as art has the incredible power of impacting people, especially artwork seeking change/acknowledgement/reform/or response to topics such as war, unrest, social and political conflicts. Within his artistic discipline, Jakob has fully propelled himself into this goal, putting aside simple and aesthetically pleasing imagery for complex scenes, allegories, and narrations on urban environments of New York City and Los Angeles. Born in Bronx, New York in 1999, Jakob absorbed the environment and experience of urban life of the East coast. Later spending 3 years, beginning in 2015, in the affluent urban society of Santa Monica, California, ultimately returning to New York to study Painting and Drawing at Purchase College, School of Art and Design (BFA, 2021), Jakob instills the troubling matters of varying urban experiences (of the United States) into his artwork. Jakob was recently commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance to premiere his work in collaboration with choreographer Imani Gaudin, jakob & imani.

gaudanse (Gaudanse, Inc.), is an interdisciplinary dance production organization. This collective of multidisciplinary movement artist, founded by Imani Gaudin in June of 2020, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is rooted between New York, NY and New Orleans, LA. Weaving together elements of dance, performance art, music, film, culinary arts, and visual arts, gaudanse builds immersive, whimsical worlds of fantasies that provoke thought and transport audiences into new dimensions of imagination. Through accessible programs, mentorship, workshops, and performances, the collective is committed to propelling the artistic growth of early career creators.

gaudanse acknowledges and honors that we live and function on the land of the Munsee Lenape, Canarsie, Wappinger, Houma, and Choctaw peoples.

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