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(Photo: The Selby) |
Jonah Bokaer seems preternaturally calm for someone whose business is movement. “It’s exhaustion,” he laughs. After becoming the youngest dancer (at 18) hired by Merce Cunningham, Bokaer could have enjoyed a long career in the iconic company. Instead, after eight years stunning audiences with his elegant, unpretentious style, Bokaer founded Chez Bushwick (an affordable studio space) and then co-founded, with fellow choreographer John Jasperse, the Center for Performance Research in Williamsburg (another affordable studio and performance space). This year, thanks to a Rockefeller cultural grant, he’ll begin a project working with developers in northern Brooklyn aiming to provide space for up-and-coming artists. “I think the model of the single-choreographer dance company is no longer economically viable,” Bokaer says of the importance of these spaces. “More dance artists are securing their own studios and doing a variety of projects, often multidisciplinary or collaborative. That’s where I see things headed.” Bokaer is now in Rome, where he’s creating the movement for Robert Wilson’s Aida. Next up: a commissioned duet from the National Academy of Sciences, and working with Wilson again for a Guggenheim series called “Works & Process.” Did we mention Bokaer is 27? “I’ve never paid attention to my age,” he says. “My last boss, Merce, is turning 90!”
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