Jonah Bokaer has cultivated a new form of choreography merged with visual art and design. American and Middle Eastern, he has deeply interwoven an international career as an exhibiting museum artist, with a touring multi-ethnic dance company, and with a nonprofit practice that has succeeded in delivering four arts facilities for younger artists.
Jonah Bokaer Choreography has authored 67 original works, produced in 35 nations, 27 states in the United States, and 294 cities — including 41 museum exhibitions worldwide. The impact of earned, contributed and granted funds since 2002 has realized four art spaces, over 14 diverse jobs, more than $11 million in revenue, and one city-wide festival.
Bokaer is Tunisian-American, is an LGBTQIA leader and is currently exhibiting and touring with eight international dancers. The company is among the few to tour to the Middle East, MENA, MENASA and Israeli regions equally, before, during and after the regional events of 2011. 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.
Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which oversees the choreography, visual art and art spaces created by 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) and CPR (co-founded 2008), adjacent affordable studios in Brooklyn, and Space 428 Hudson (2016): incubator of The Hudson Eye, among others.
Since 2002, the nonprofit has served a community of more than 1,500 diverse artists, supporting and impacting 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 organization is arts education, often in areas of urban revitalization.