Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons Win Best Choreography for Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the 2026 Tony Awards

Ballroom legends Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons won Best Choreography at the 2026 Tony Awards for their work on Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Their win was announced at the 79th Annual Tony Awards Act One pre-show on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall.

In the Ballroom world, Lyons leads the House of Miyake Mugler and Wiles is the founder of the House of Ricci. The duo thanked the Ballroom community, with Lyons saying, “We have been in Ballroom [for] over 30 years combined—serving, battling, competing. But this is not a competition. This is celebrating all the hard work of all the choreographers, all the talented cast members of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, who put their blood, sweat and tears every show eight times a week on that floor."

Cats: The Jellicle Ball received nine 2026 Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical, and won three. Costume designer Qween Jean made history as the first transgender Tony winner and Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch won for Best Direction of a Musical.

Get tickets to Cats: The Jellicle Ball!