Artist, choreographer, and dancer Ishita Mili believes in the power of hybridizing dance forms to tell honest and globally relevant stories. Over the past several years, the 2023 Jadin Wong Artist of Exceptional Merit has developed a dance vocabulary that incorporates Indian classical, bharatnatyam, Mayurbhanj chhau, contemporary, hip hop, and street styles in a distinct approach to movement that resists hierarchy and codification.

Mili’s refusal to silo these dance forms to their cultural contexts echoes the ethos of egalitarianism and radical inclusion of her dance company, IMGE Dance.