FALL 2025 SEASON
ALL YOU SEE IS COWS IN THE CITY
September 13, 2025 | 3pm
ALL YOU SEE IS COWS IN THE CITY
A new work performed and created by imani&jakob for The Round Barn Dance Series Conceived and Curated by Richard Colton
A surreal, site-responsive performance exploring rebellion, ecology, and urban decay.
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 habitants 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.
PRESS
nanibu: World Premiere at the Marigny Opera House
Our Founding Artistic Director, Imani Gaudin, on FOX8/WVUE News
Photo by Leighann Kowalskynanibu is a dance-based play merging movement, text, sound, and immersive staging to explore tradition, love, and sacrifice. In the powerful kingdom of Nagaua, where love and peace reign, prosperity comes at a devastating cost. Forced to uphold this legacy, Nanibu must navigate grief, duty, and destiny, ascending the throne forever in mourning. nanibu allows audiences to reimagine what fantasy and mythical worlds look like when centered on Black bodies, challenging narratives of who belongs in epic storytelling. Check out the World Premiere of nanibu on April 18, 2025 at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans, LA.
Imani Gaudin of Gaudanse: Profound stories via art and inclusion
By Emily Sarkissian of Dance Informa
Photo by Sinematic StudiosIn 2020, Imani Gaudin founded Gaudanse, an organization of interdisciplinary artists ranging in form from dance, to film, to music, to visual arts, and even culinary arts. The collective is based both in New York City and New Orleans, and seeks to tell profound and impactful stories via art and inclusion. Dance Informa spoke with Gaudin to learn about the challenges of starting a small dance-based organization, the ways in which ideas and art come to her, and the desire to work in two cities.
— Emily Sarkissian
IMPRESSIONS: jakob&imani @ Hudson Yards
By Miranda Stuck for The Dance Enthusiast
Photo by ©davidplakkemediaWith support from the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, Baryshnikov Arts premiered jakob & imani, a performance art piece created by choreographer Imani Gaudin and visual artist Jakob Vitale. Exploring the symbiotic relationship between graffiti and contemporary dance, this site-specific work investigates how movement shapes the perceived meaning of graffiti art, and conversely, how the visual elements of graffiti influence the dancer’s physical expression. Through improvisation and audience interaction, jakob & imani utilized the large open space of Bella Abzug Park as the location for exploration around a central graffiti mural. This performance was a 6-hour durational work that took place throughout the day of October 3, 2024, and was presented free of charge to the public.