Creation
Jonah Bokaer has cultivated a new form of Choreography merged with Visual Art & Design. American & Middle Eastern, he has deeply interwoven an international career as an exhibiting museum artist; with a touring multi-ethnic dance company; with a nonprofit practice that has succeeded in delivering 4 arts facilities for younger artists.
Jonah Bokaer Choreography has authored 75 original works, produced in 35 nations, 29 of the United States, and 295 cities – including 44 Museum Exhibitions worldwide. The impact of earned, contributed, and granted funds between 2002-Present have realized 4 Artspaces, 14+ diverse jobs, $11M+ in revenue, and 1 City-Wide Festival. Bokaer is Tunisian-American, is an LGBTQIAP+ leader, and is currently exhibiting and touring with 8 international dancers. The company is among the few to tour to the Middle East, MENA, MENASA, & Israeli regions equally: before, during, and after regional uprisings sequenced in 2011, and the more recent war in 2023, during which bi-lateral programming has been sustained. Openly gay since the 1980s, Bokaer’s innovations consistently receive prizes, philanthropic support, and humanitarian acknowledgment internationally, with increasing program alignment and recognition from the global south.
CHOREOGRAPHY
ADVANCEMENT
Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation (JBAF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which oversees the choreography, visual art, and art spaces created by Jonah Bokaer. Through the support of its Board, individual donors, foundation grants, government leveraging, and more recently COVID-19 relief efforts, the organization succeeds in crafting and fulfilling a dual mission: to foster the development, research, and presentation of new performance works across disciplines, while establishing affordable arts facilities for other artists, notably Chez Bushwick (2002) & CPR (Co-Founded 2008), adjacent affordable community facilities in Brooklyn, and Space 428 Hudson (2016) as incubator of The Hudson Eye; among other community facilities. These efforts and these property skills also led to Window On Hudson (2020), co-founded with sculptor Jeremy Kristin Bullis as a pandemic response project providing diverse artists the Hudson Valley with safe space. JBAF 2002-Present has served over 33,000+ diverse artists, supporting next generations of performing arts talent, while remaining one of the only Middle Eastern founded dance organizations in the United States. The fastest growing department of the nonprofit is arts education, often in areas of urban revitalization, and LMIs.
AWARDS & PRIZES
• Smithsonian / Hirshhorn, “50 Most Impactful Artists Working Today” (2024)
• Gay City News Impact Awards (2024)
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives (2024)
• National Endowment for the Arts (Dance, 2023, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2011)
• Albert Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award (2021)
• Crain’s New York Business: “Notable LGBTQ Leaders & Executives” (2020)
• UNC DisTIL Fellowship Award (Chapel Hill, NC 2018-2020)
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation prize residency award (2019)
• Stanford University, Mohr Prize (2019)
• 1st Place, Olympic Rink of Lake Placid, Senior Free Dance:
Quinn Carpenter & Lorraine McNamara (July 27, 2018)
• National Theatre of Serbia / Infant Festival Prize (Serbia, 2017)
• NYU Center for Ballet & The Arts Fellowship (NYC, 2016)
• Civitella Ranieri Foundation Prize in Visual Arts (Italy, 2016)
• United States Artists Fellowship / Ford Foundation (USA, 2015)
• John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (USA, 2015)
• Prix Nouveau Talent Chorégraphie, SACD (Paris, 2011)
• Bogliasco Foundation / Jerome Robbins Fellowship, Dance (Italy, 2011)
• Crain’s NY Business “40 Under 40” (NYC, 2011)
• The Nifty Fifty, America’s Up-And-Coming Talent (NY Times, 2010)
• Rockefeller Foundation NYC Cultural Innovation Fund (NYC, 2009–2010)
• OUT Magazine (2009)
• Alumni Achievement Award, UNCSA (2009)
• Young Leader of the French American Foundation (France, 2008–2009)
• NY Dance & Performance / Bessie Award (Lighting: Aaron Copp, 2008)
• NY Dance & Performance / Bessie Special Citation (Bushwick: 2007)
• National Dance Access, Dance/USA (Mellon Foundation, 2007)
• Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (Dance Finalist, 2007)
• Inaugural Gallery Installation Fellowship, DTW (NYC, Media Art, 2007)
• 25 To Watch, Dance Magazine (2006)
• Passing It On Award, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (Chez Bushwick, 2006)
• Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award (2005–2006)
• Joan Kirnsner Memorial Award (The New School, NYC 2005)
• Human Rights Award (Public Service, North Carolina, 2000)
Public Programs, Fulfilling Our Mission
