Jonathan Nosan is a contortionist, performer, ceramic artist, and entrepreneur with an academic background in Japanese history, and the design of sacred space.
In Dirt, his solo autobiographical show, a performative lecture at the Clipa Theater in Tel Aviv, the multi-talented artist combines all his passions. In the English-language performance, he challenges the limits of his body and belief, using as part of his expression his extremely elastic body, clay, and pottery made by him, and the Japanese vocabulary.
The show is less than an hour and is divided into five segments. Each segment examines different ways of interaction and relationships with God while also showing different aspects of the artist’s life. Nosan finds an etymological connection between the words “dirt” and “God,” which he explores in his show. The audience is invited to participate in the show (it’s advised to attend in comfortable clothes).
How did Jonathan Nosan make aliyah?
Nosan made aliyah in 2020 at age 51. As as a teenager, he loved to perform juggling and magic at parties, but he didn’t plan on this being his career. He is a graduate of Berkeley University of California in Japanese history, and a Fulbright Scholar to Japan in the design of sacred space.
He spent three years in Japan, where, at age 23, he unexpectedly discovered his true calling. One day he attended a circus in Tokyo, and that changed his life. “I had my epiphany moment in a circus tent, and there was no turning back,” he says. “Instead of finishing my PhD in Japan, I decided to move to London for a year to study at Circus Space: theater and circus. I had zero acrobatic experiences [back then],” says the now internationally acclaimed contortionist.
After London, he continued to study contortionism for three years with his master coach Lu Yi in San Francisco. Eventually, he moved to New York, where he lived for 22 years.
Nosan was born in 1969 in the small town of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, as the youngest of four siblings in a Jewish family of European Ashkenazi origins. His father was a doctor, and “my mom was a mom – a fantastic mom,” he says. His parents have always been very supportive of his choices. They are still very close.
In his hometown, there was one synagogue, where his father served as a cantor and led services on Jewish holidays. Every Friday night, the family had traditional Shabbat dinner. The family was not Orthodox but had a strong Jewish identity and a spiritual connection to Israel.
He first visited Israel in 1976 for his brother’s bar mitzvah, then again for his sister’s bat mitzvah on his 13th birthday. However, even though Israel was present in his childhood, he wasn’t thinking of moving here until his mid-40s, about five years before his aliyah, on August 30, 2020.
Nosan came to Israel on a Nefesh B’ Nefesh aliyah flight at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and spent his first two weeks here in isolation at a hotel in Tel Aviv.
With the help of a friend, he quickly found an apartment in central Tel Aviv, close to the beach (nowadays, he can be seen practicing at the Banana Beach in the early morning hours) and Chabad on the Coast – the synagogue where he quickly became an active member and found his community.
Why did he make aliyah at age 51? Nosan compares aliyah to dating: “There must be the right energy.” He says that the decision to move took a few years. “I was visiting Israel more and more, teaching master classes [in contortion] and performing, and the relations I was making, people I was meeting connected me more to Israel. The energy over here made me belong here.”
After all his travels and 22 years of living in New York City, Nosan now lives in Tel Aviv. The choice of the city was also obvious to him: “I came to Tel Aviv because it ticks all my boxes: as an artist, being gay, as a Jew, as a human, as a performing individual. It’s a place that is comfortable.” He also notes: “Tel Aviv is such a gay city, but it has only two gay bars because there is no need for it.”
Jonathan Nosan has created a unique life as a performing artist, entrepreneur, coach, and ceramic artist.
He says that he started his adventure with contortionism at a time when not so many men were involved in it, which worked in his favor. He quickly became known in the entertainment industry.
His stage work includes Twyla Tharp’s musical on Bob Dylan The Times’s They Are a-Changin on Broadway; going on tour for years with the international Spiegeltent show LIMBO; seasons at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City in Così fan tutte; and his solo show BAGABONES at La Mama in the NY Fringe Festival. His contortion film work includes stunt doubling for Jim Carrey in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and more. Nosan’s contortion poses have appeared in many fashion magazines.
Besides artistic activities, Nosan is also a businessman. His New York City performance design firm Acroback Productions integrated circus performance into big corporate events from 2000-2018, including clients of famous international brands.
He travels internationally teaching and certifying CONTORTURE® Guides (his training method) to continue the legacy of his master, Lu Yi. His students have continued on to Cirque du Soleil and include dancers of all genres, yogis, crossfitters, circus, and civilian extremists.
In his diverse biography, Nosan also had the experience of participating in the TV show America’s Got Talent in 2015. During his performance, he bent his body in every possible direction and received four “yeses” from the stunned judges.
He performed wearing a black kippah. As he explains, “I wanted to represent Jews, to show that we are very multifaceted people, that we can be artists, contortionists, lawyers, bankers; to give a surprise.”
In Tel Aviv, apart from contortionism, performing, and teaching, Nosan has pursued his other passion: creating ceramics. “The coronavirus years provided time to create work,” he says. He is a member of the Ceramic & Craft Association of Israel: “My works were included in the ‘VASES’ exhibition this year at B.Y5 gallery in Tel Aviv. I was also awarded by the Aliyah Ministry for my ceramic works.”
He often takes photos of his pottery in nature. For example, his Shabbat candle holders are photographed at the Tel Aviv beach.
Nosan knows how to balance his spirituality, pleasures, and hard work, and has already made plans for 2025 to perform in Israel and abroad. He continues to tell his story; his hands are deep in Dirt. ■
The next show will be held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on October 15. www.jonathannosan.com/
Jonathan Nosan, 55: From New York to Tel Aviv, 2020