Omar Román de Jesús
Contemporary Choreographer/Director, The School at Jacob's Pillow
Omár Román de Jesús is a queer Puertorriqueño choreographer and the director of the NYC-based dance company BOCA TUYA. He is the inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, a Works & Process Awardee, and a former Artist in Residence with 92NY. His honors include the Princess Grace Award in Choreography, Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Award, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, Alan M. Kriegsman Residency at Dance Place and the Kennedy Center, and the Palm Desert Choreography Festival Grand Prize. He is a proud alum of The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship of The School at Jacob’s Pillow (2020).
He has created works for over 20 companies and pre-professional programs, including the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Charlotte Ballet, The Juilliard School, Ballet Hispánico, BalletCollective, St. Louis Dance Theater, Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, Whim W’Him, Parsons Dance, The Ailey School, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
His stage and screen works have been presented internationally, earning recognition through the Joffrey Academy’s Winning Works, Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, The Dance Gallery Festival, Reverb Dance Festival, and the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he received the Ambassador of Dance Medal. His film Los Perros del Barrio Colosal has reached audiences in over 20 countries and won Best of Screen Dance International, as well as Best Choreography and Best Narrative at the ReThink Dance Film Festival. Over the past five years, he has toured internationally to Colombia, Panama, and the Canary Islands, and presented work across the U.S. in New York, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, and California. In 2023, his Papagayos, commissioned by Ballet Hispánico, premiered at New York City Center and later appeared at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina. Most recently, Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight was presented in celebration of the 92NY 150th anniversary.
Committed to education, he has taught workshops and classes worldwide for professional dancers, students with special needs, people with physical disabilities, and marginalized communities.