about NVA
Born outside of London, UK, in 1988, and raised in both Hong Kong (China) and the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Nicole von Arx is an immigrant, soon-to-be mother, and dance-theatre artist based in Brooklyn. She moved to the USA in 2008 to attend The Ailey School, where she graduated in 2011.
Whether it's theatre, dance, opera, or film, Nicole’s works have a highly emotional and dramatic drive. She is inspired to create storytelling works where the viewer is welcome to either sit back or lean in and participate.
She has been invited to present her work at The Joyce Theater (New York, NY), The New Victory Theater (New York, NY), Joe’s Pub (New York, NY), Judson Memorial Church (New York, NY), The Ailey Citigroup Theatre (New York, NY), Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn, NY), CPR - The Center for Performance Research (Brooklyn, NY), The Museum of Moving Images (Queens, NY), Stanford Live (Stanford, CA), The Westside Theatre (Missoula, MT), and TACAW (Basalt, CO). Internationally she presented her work in Switzerland at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (Geneva), Théâtre Nuithonie (Fribourg), Théâtre de Grand Champ (Gland), and in Canada at the Luminato Festival (Toronto).
She has been commissioned to choreographed for NW Dance Project (Portland, OR), Whim W’Him (Seattle, WA), Brooklyn Ballet (New York, NY), Edmonton Opera (Canada), Wolf Trap Opera (Vienna, VA), Limón2 (New York, NY), Salt2 (Salt Lake City, UT), D.A.F Dance Arts Faculty (Rome, Italy), Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX), Boston Conservatory at Berklee (Boston, MA), Brigham Young University (Provo, UT), LINK Choreography Festival (Salt Lake City, UT) and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (New York, NY).
She is a 2020 recipient of The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship At Jacob’s Pillow. She has been nominated for the Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
She has received grants from the Danse Mirage Foundation (2025 & 2026), The Lily Auchincloss Foundation (2025), Brooklyn Arts Council (2024 & 2025), NYSCA (2023 & 2025), and Gland Culture (2020).
She’s been named artist in residence via CUNY Dance Initiative at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater At John Jay College and at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (New York, NY), GLUE (New York, NY & Missoula, MT)), Leimay (New York, NY) and Dance Initiative (Carbondale, CO).
She’s been a guest teaching artist at BlueBox (Austria), Dance Area (Switzerland), SUNY Purchase (Purchase, NY), NYU Tisch Dance (New York, NY), GibneyPro (New York, NY), EMIA (New York, NY), Move NYC (New York, NY), and The University of Montana (Missoula, MT).
As a performer, she has performed and toured with Carte Blanche - The Norwegian National Company for Contemporary Dance (Bergen, Norway) under the direction of Bruno Hendrickx , Bryan Arias (New York, NY), The Metropolitan Opera (New York, NY), Royal Opera House (London, UK), Chicago Lyric Opera (Chicago, IL), Company XIV (New York, NY), Loni Landon Dance Projects (New York, NY), and Romeo Castellucci (on tour).
Since 2014, she's been creating under the name NVA & Guests.
Other credits include creating for: V Magazine, Bombay Sapphire, K-Way, Target, and Kate Spade.
Photos by Jim Lafferty
(edited February 2026)