Harkness Promise Award

Omar Román De Jesús (Bayamón, Puerto Rico) is a Queer Puertorriqueño choreographer and director of NYC-based dance company Boca Tuya, dedicated to creating visibility for emerging LatinX/a/o leaders in the arts. He is the inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellow at Kaatsbaan, a 2022 Princess Grace Award Winner in Choreography, a 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography, a 2022 Palm Desert Choreography Festival Grand Prize Winner, and a 2020

Recipient of The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow. His work has been commissioned by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, Ballet Collective, Limón 2, MOVE/NYC, Bruce Wood Dance, Jacob Jonas The Company, Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, Whim W’him, Parsons Dance, and several universities and arts high schools. Over the past five years, he has toured internationally and has presented work domestically in New York, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, California. Most recently, “Papagayos,” commissioned for Ballet Hispánico, premiered at New York City Center and was presented by the 2023 American Dance Festival.