Rohan Zhou-Lee is Black Asian writer, dancer, trumpeter and community organizer in New York City

Pronouns: They | Siya | 祂(Tā) | Elle

Gender: Firebird

Blasian March Founder Rohan Zhou-Lee is an award-winning dancer, writer, speaker, curator, and community organizer. In 2024, they co-curated the Critical Connections exhibit with the Pace University Art Gallery and the George Stephanopoulos photo collection of the Civil Rights Era. In 2023, they became the first mixed race Black Asian admitted to the Open City Fellowship for Journalism at the Asian American Writers' Workshop. They are also a recipient of the 2024 PEN American US Writers’ Aid Initiative, 2023 FIYAH Rest Grant, 2023 New Yorkers for Culture and The Arts, 2022 Bandung Resident, they have written for Newsweek, Hyperallergic, Truthout, and more. They have performed poetry and dance as a reflection of their activism in the United States and the 2022 Unite Festival in Zürich, Switzerland. Spotlight features include CNN, NBC Chicago, USA Today, WNYC, AJ+, and more. Zhou-Lee has spoken at Harvard University, New York University, Yale University, Oberlin College, The University of Tokyo, the 2022 Unite and Enough Festivals in Zürich, Switzerland, and more.

As a performing artist, major credits include: Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy on trumpet (ChamberQUEER, 2021,) and for dance: Lovecraft Country (HBO, 2018) François & The Rebels (Public Theatre, 2023,) Over Here! (Triad Theatre, Off-Broadway debut, 2019) West Side Story (New Bedford Theatre Festival, 2018) and Bluebird from Sleeping Beauty (Victoria Ballet Theatre, 2019.)

Zhou-Lee holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Ethnomusicology from Northwestern University. Pronouns: They | Siya | 祂 | Elle, gender identity: Firebird.

Rohan Zhou-Lee standing on a rock facing a cloudy sky and river. Siya wears a blue malong tube skirt to celebrate their Filipinx heritage. Photo Credit Stas Ginzburg.

Rohan Zhou-Lee standing on a rock facing a cloudy sky and river. Siya wears a blue malong tube skirt to celebrate their Filipinx heritage. Photo Credit Stas Ginzburg.

Awards and Fellowships

2024 At Capacity Fellowship, Movement Research Artists of Color Council

2024 PEN America U.S. Writers’ Aid Initiative Grant

2024 Asian Women’s Giving Circle Grantee

2024 What Can We Do? Grant from Asian American Arts Alliance

2023 FIYAH Rest Grant

2023 Open City Fellow at The Asian American Writers' Workshop

2023 NAFCON Community Forum Awards Recipient

2023 New Yorkers for Culture and Arts Fellow

2022 City of New York Public Advocate Certificate for Blasian March

2022 Bandung Residency