John Carrafa is an Emmy-nominated choreographer (Only Murders in the Building) and a two-time Tony Award nominee. His work spans Broadway, film, and television, earning him Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie Awards, as well as the Media Choreography Award and the World Dance Award for Feature Film Choreography.
Carrafa is currently in active production across mediums. He recently completed work on Season 3 of The Gilded Age and Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building, and served as choreographer on A Complete Unknown, the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet. He also choreographed two soon-to-be-released films: Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, and The Dink starring Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen.
Television highlights include Daredevil: Born Again, The Penguin, Succession, Dead to Me, Westworld, Barry, The Flight Attendant, The Knick (directed by Steven Soderbergh), Transparent, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Maniac, Nurse Jackie, Prodigal Son, and Disney’s Freaky Friday. He choreographed the Emmy-winning mega-musical number “Eat Sh*t, Bob” on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, served as series choreographer for six seasons of Nashville (also directing episodes), and for Season 1 of Empire.
In film, he pioneered the use of motion capture choreography for The Polar Express, earning the Media Choreography Award, and received the World Dance Award for Something Borrowed. Additional credits include The Thomas Crown Affair, Bride Wars, Analyze That, If I Stay, Let’s Be Cops, The Other Guys, Rebel in the Rye, The Last Days of Disco, and The Chaperone.
On Broadway, Carrafa choreographed the groundbreaking hit Urinetown (Tony nomination), Dirty Blonde, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Dance of Death (with Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren), Dance of the Vampires, and Good Vibrations (which he also directed). He earned a second Tony nomination for Into the Woods with Stephen Sondheim, starring Vanessa Williams, and later collaborated with Sondheim again on A Little Night Music at the Kennedy Center. Also at the Kennedy Center, he choreographed Wagner’s Ring Cycle for the Washington Opera, starring Plácido Domingo.
For New York City Center Encores!, he choreographed Out of This World, The Pajama Game, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. He also choreographed Finding Nemo: The Musical for Disney.
As a director, Carrafa has helmed numerous original musicals, including Academy (Best Director at both the NY Musical Theatre Festival and Daegu International Music Festival). He has served as Creative Director/Producer for the NBA, directed Carole King and Friends at Madison Square Garden and the Songwriters Hall of Fame Concert (featuring Paul McCartney), co-created and directed the long-running Norwegian Cruise Line musical Showdown, and directed/choreographed the Burning Man inspired Cirque Berzerk, at the Nokia Theatre.
His music video and live performance credits include Sarah Bareilles, Editors, Greg Laswell, and Machine Gun Kelly’s 2022 VMA performance. He has choreographed national campaigns for brands including Vera Wang, Swarovski, AT&T, Sprint, Old Navy, Gap, and Barnes & Noble.
In addition to his screen and stage work, Carrafa is the creator of CHOSIN, a new play which recently completed workshops at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Mercury Store in New York.
Renowned for his calm, collaborative approach, Carrafa is equally adept at working with seasoned dancers and actors with no formal training. His belief that everyone can dance has inspired memorable performances from Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Emma Stone, Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Daveed Diggs, Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, and Connie Britton.