Omar Román de Jesús
"I am a queer, puertorriqueño choreographer and company director who creates rhythmic narratives through classical and contemporary dance forms, improvisation, and dance theater techniques."
Photo by Stefano Altamura
Omar 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 2025 Works & Process Recipient, and a former Artist in Residence with 92NY. Omar is also a 2023 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Awardee and was recently awarded the Alan M. Kriegsman Residency at Dance Place and the Kennedy Center. His accolades include the 2022 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, the 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Choreography, the 2022 Palm Desert Choreography Festival Grand Prize, and the 2020 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow.
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 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.
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Omar’s 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.
Omar is fond of education and has experience teaching workshops and master classes all over the world for professional dancers, students with special needs, people with physical disabilities, and marginalized communities.
Dance Background
Omar began his formal training at the School for the Performing Arts in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Omar was a member of Balleteatro Nacional de Puerto Rico from 2006-2011. During this period, he won the Championship Cup and Gold Medal at the National Dance Competition in Puerto Rico. He received a scholarship to the Ailey School in 2011, and after two years, he began his professional career in the modern and contemporary dance world. He has toured nationally and internationally with Yin Yue Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, Parsons Dance, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company and Sleeping Beauty Dreams featuring Diana Vishneva. He has performed and led works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, David Parsons, Robert Battle, Trey McIntyre, Kate Skarpetowska, Jennifer Archibald, Carlos Pons, Ephrat Asherie and Yin Yue. Omar had the honor of performing at the 2018 TITAS Gala representing Ballet Hispánico, and he is proud to have danced at BAM Fisher, NY and the 2019 Schrittmacher Festival in Germany, where he performed an evening-length show by Yin Yue. Omar collaborated with Erin Sullivan on an Interactive Projection Workshop titled Spine Lines, which was presented at Yale University - Center of the Collaborative Arts and Media.
