ISHITA MILI

2026 SOZO FELLOW
DIRECTOR | CHOREOGRAPHER
JERSEY CITY, NJ

Ishita Mili is a Bengali-American director, choreographer, educator, and iconoclast. She founded IMGE (”image”) as a dance company that unravels cultural roots to thread together global stories with diverse artists. IMGE’s transcultural vocabulary encompasses dynamic imagery, mudra storytelling, and percussive footwork to confront social and cultural constructs. Ishita’s work has reached inter/national stages (New Victory Theater, Lincoln Center, Seattle IDF, World Arts West, Tempe Center for the Arts), commercial campaigns (NBCuniversal, Ben & Jerry’s, IndoWarehouse), and theater (Broadway Bares, Asolo Rep). Ishita was awarded Artist of Exceptional Merit ‘23 by the Asian American Arts Alliance and taught the IMGE methodology at Princeton and Gonzaga University. Ishita was selected into the LabWorks '24-'25 cohort at New Victory Theater and received a '25 Individual Artist Fellowship award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Most recently, she was nominated for a Bessie for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer ‘25. IMGE was featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair, and amassed a loyal global fan base.