The Ailey School

Omar Román De Jesús, of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, began his formal training at School for the Performing Arts and Julian E. Blanco School in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He trained on scholarship at The Ailey School and has attended summer intensives at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Gallim Dance, and Keigwin + Company.  Omar has performed with Balleteatro Nacional de Puerto Rico, Dance Iquail and Taira School in Japan.  He won the Championship Cup and Gold Medal at the National Dance Competition in Puerto Rico.  He has danced with Parsons Dance, Ballet Hispánico and Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company where he performed works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Robert Battle, Mary Pat Henry, Trey McIntyre, Kate Skarpetowska, Michelle Manzanales, Jennifer Archibald, Tania Peréz-Salas, Carlos Pons and Ephrat Asherie.  Omar is currently dancing for Yin Yue Dance Company. 

As a choreographer, Omar has received awards from The Dance Gallery Festival and Reverb Dance Festival. He has been commissioned twice by Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico to create work as part of the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico. His work, DANIEL, was commissioned by Parsons Dance for the company's 2017 Joyce season as part of its initiative to support emerging choreographers through David Parsons' GenerationNow Fellowship. He was one of the winning choreographers for the Joffrey Academy of Dance's 8th annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition, and he was the first person commissioned to create an original work on Jacob Jonas The Company. Omar was one of the choreographers selected to create original work as part of Whim W'Him Contemporary Dance's program, CHOREOGRAPHIC SHINDIG IV. Omar has created works for The Ailey School and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.