resume | industry comp | BOOKING

Imana Gunawan, a Texas-born Indonesian, is a Seattle-based storyteller, multimedia journalist, dance artist and creative director. Through her journalism and dance work, Imana believes in realizing a more just world for those historically pushed aside. As a journalist, Imana specializes in breaking news reporting and digital journalism, but has a soft spot for community-centered journalism and audio production. Imana currently works as senior breaking news analyst for Dataminr — primarily covering East, Southeast, and South Asia — and serves as deputy manager for a team of eight. She was previously editor at Breaking News (NBC News Digital) and producer at Humanosphere, where she produces/hosts weekly podcasts on community-based solutions to global poverty and inequity. She is a member of Au Collective — a dance-based nonprofit centering people of color, queer people, and womxn — with which she regularly performs, collaborates and teaches. Imana is passionate about facilitating community conversations and has hosted panels for artists of color at events including the Artist of Color Expo and Symposium and the Womxn's Creative Industries Meetup. She was also part of the 2017-18 On the Boards Ambassador Writer’s Corps.

Imana graduated from the University of Washington’s dance and journalism programs in 2015. In 2014, she was awarded the Pioneer News Group Award for Excellence in Journalism for her community reporting work, and received the Foreign Intrigue Scholarship, which allowed her to work for The Jordan Times in Amman, Jordan. Her reporting interests include underrepresented communities and histories, the intersection between policy and culture, and the arts — issues which often seep into her dance works. In her art, she creates scenic, surreal dance-based worlds that centers the stories of marginalized peoples, their ancestry, and their futures.

Select dance commissions — On the Boards, Seattle Theater Group, American Dance Guild, Found Space, Velocity Dance Center, Washington Ensemble Theater’s ReSET.

Select published work (print, audio, visual) — NBC News, The Jordan Times, NPR's Next Generation Radio, Seattle Weekly, International Examiner, SeattleDances, The Seattle Lesbian.

Select artist residencies — body.space.time (University of Washington Dance Program), Storefronts [UN]Contained (Center on Contemporary Art + Shunpike).

Select artist | company collaborations —
Alice Gosti, Markeith Wiley, Chamber Dance Company, The Three Yells, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, BANDALOOP, George Staib/Staibdance, Amy O'Neal, Gianti Giadi/GIGI Dance Company, Andara Moeis.

Select music | entertainment work — Hannibal Buress at Sasquatch, Kanya Iwana’s Die Free, Thunderpussy’s Speed Queen, ZELLi’s Solid, live show visuals by Anissa Amalia.

Languages — Indonesian (native), Malay (proficient), Arabic (elementary)