Meet Jonah Bokaer

We were lucky to catch up with Jonah Bokaer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jonah with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I grew up in New York State being raised by 2 families from two deep, different, quite disparate cultures: but among them was an uncommonly hardworking family of Tunisian (North African) immigrants who embarked on a suite of entrepreneurial businesses and properties supporting the Arts within a specific New York State community adjacent to Cornell University. What I believe this upbringing did, for me, is instill a rare ability to work with levels of stamina and duration that are unusual. I say this because that side of the family’s capacities for work were just that – unusual. The other component of what they imparted in me, was not just work: but work ethics. It’s astonishing to look back on actually, because their sense of work ethic was so completely developed, so full, and so entirely thought through even against the comparable of business in the United States. I actually think, if the comparable were held up to the test, that this close-knit immigrant family would have deftly aced the test of ethics in America if asked, invited, or brought to the table. I am then fascinated, later on, and exploring my own work ethics, to look back at what was provided to me during a blended upbringing in America – and scarce resources aside, how richly developed the newfound family had implemented strong work ethics on their own terms. Shifting to speak practically about our present day, and about the Arts, in many ways I believe my family remains over-developed when the subject of work ethic arises up in the sector, and when this subject comes up in 2025 – where we seem to be entering a time of increasing challenge, corruption, falsehood, and questionable paradigms for how work ethics should be measured, privately and publicly.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

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 70 original works, produced in 35 nations, 29 of the United States, and 295 cities – including 43 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 LGBTQIA+ 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 of 2011 (and more recent events 2023-present, 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.

Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation (JBAF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which oversees the choreography, visual art, and artspaces 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 including Window On Hudson (2020), co-founded with 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.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Flexibility, tenacity, and listening skills.

Flexibility is not only a word with dance and athletic origins – beyond its corporeal meaning, it is also a style in management and working methods too. Think of working across cultures, or with plural cultures in one working environment: in which the ability to adapt is key to decision making.

Tenacity might sound like the opposite of flexibility, but I bring this up because 21st century challenges can often present longterm, chronic, dynamic timelines. To me this quality is less about determination, and more about the navigational focus required to take something complex to completion. I’m also bringing this up as a quality that can be useful in dialogue, with flexibility.

I’d like to introduce listening skills, in reply to a question about most important qualities, situated in America, in the beginning of 2025. A listening environment, with listening skills, is one which says (to me) that input and output will become possible in a positive and reinforcing cycle. I also think that listening skills – of which there are many kinds and types – will attract people who, eventually, become heard. If that’s the case, then the next logical step, after becoming heard, would become the experience of being seen. These are the types of sequences that I aim to foster in a dance, performing arts, or visual arts rehearsal environment, and I think these same things apply in professional work environments (and virtual environments) absolutely in the same manner. The other element to note is that the performing arts is often far further advanced with proven forms of non-verbal listening skills, from which other sectors might be in a position to learn in terms of management theory.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I remain truly very grateful for the experiences I had between ages 18-26, and the experiences that I sustained, which offered intensive professional development within and among some of the largest Dance and Theatre arts organizations founded in the 20th century in the United States. Some of the many lessons that remained most formative for me, were the experiences of watching and witnessing the art of fundraising in America, up close, personally, and with accessible leadership willing to share their insight during fundraising. (This was remarkable, because I could easily have just been treated like a mixed dancer or choreographer in tights: but I was included, by these arts professionals, and that management style made a difference in my life. I’d like to give a little shout out to Jeffrey H. James, Stephanie French, Erica L. Marks, and many others – who also served on our Board, generously, in a wide variety of helpful and philanthropic capacities.)

I was also told a bit more directly, by an Arts mentor born in past generations, “Now it’s time for you to go out, and not just author work, but to master the art of fundraising.” I appreciated that, and still appreciate that, also because I was generously shown some of the tools – and chose to build trust, with that opportunity, while maintaining those relationships with great care.

What I see today, also in terms of people and partners to collaborate with, is a rapidly changing 21st century where methodologies of Philanthropy are shifting again – against a backdrop of societal upheaval, complex challenges, political belligerence, and market volatility that, when combined, is hindering an ability to operate in the arts with the tools that once felt familiar. I also see a depreciation of visibility for the arts, in general, and a very large shift towards pop culture, big media, and celebrity when the broader heading of “culture” is applied to cover the arts. That is not a criticism – but it is a dynamic and a fact when is distinct and true when speaking from a nonprofit perspective, which big media and pop often overlooks.

With this I am seeking new, tertiary, adventurous, if not “venture-culturist” partners that embrace Philanthropy, to think alongside organizations like ours which have a proven track record – and have the flexibility, the tenacity, and the listening skills with which to partner and collaborate on true problem solving. For me, this is anchored in the arts, and clearly lodged within nonprofit work – but it is not limited to either. In tandem with seeking this, and inviting this alongside present and future funding partners, I am also hoping to continue the opportunity to grow, whether in challenging, emergent, or yet-untold moments in the development presenting our many artists, and many cultures.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://works.jonahbokaer.net/portfolio-category/choreography/
• Instagram: @Jonah_Bokaer
• Facebook: @JonahBokaerChoreography
• Twitter: @JonahBokaer
• Youtube: @jonahbokaerartsfoundation1246
• Other: https://vimeo.com/jonahbokaer

Image Credits

For The Main Portrait (1 Black & White Photo):
Jonah Bokaer Choreography

Photograph by © Michael Beauplet.

Dancers: Jonah Bokaer, David Rafael Botana, Adam H. Weinert

Venue: CPR – Center for Performance Research, Co-Founded by Jonah Bokaer during 2006-2008, opened in 2009.

For the Original Series of 8 Color Photos:
Jonah Bokaer, for a new Museum Work

Photograph by © Giorgia Fannelli

Venue: Fondazione Civitella Ranieri