Artist STATEMENT.

My art is deeply rooted in my experiences as an immigrant female artist, aiming to create spaces for meaningful conversations. I believe art should entertain, provoke thought, and foster connections. At its heart, my work responds to the resilience required to navigate our world, thriving on the dynamic exchange between performer and audience. It is within this interaction that my dancers’ performances truly come to life.

I am an artist and storyteller, reflecting the society we inhabit by exploring the physicality of human experiences, the moments that make us profoundly, beautifully, and undeniably human. The nuance, resilience, and vulnerability of our existence move me, and my community and the world around it shape my work. Raw emotions, unspoken fears, untapped strengths, and grit fuel my artistic process.

Humor plays a vital role in my artistic approach, offering lightness to challenging topics such as power dynamics, and socio-political conflicts. By weaving wit into my productions, I create spaces where audiences can engage with these themes in an accessible and thought-provoking way. Through my art, I celebrate the collective human experience, inviting audiences to reflect on their own stories.

Over two decades of working across contemporary, immersive, opera, and Off-Broadway dance and theater scenes in the U.S. and Europe, I have developed a collaborative practice that blends movement, recorded and spoken text, music, film, comedy, visible costume changes, audience participation, and simple yet evocative stage design. By uniting these mediums, I create emotional landscapes where audiences are invited to either sit back and watch, or lean in and participate. And by working closely with my collaborators and researching their personal narratives, we shape each performance from a point of truth that resonates within my audience, and within me.

Mission Statement. 

NVA & Guests is dedicated to creating evocative, interdisciplinary contemporary dance-theater performances that forge genuine connections between the audience and the stage. Guided by Artistic Director Nicole von Arx, our works blend playful narration, dynamic physicality, and humor to foster physical, social, and environmental consciousness. We also host annual workshops for pre-professional and professional dancers, promoting creativity, community building, and dialogue with emerging choreographers.

Values.

Movement

Our process begins first and foremost with movement, which we see as the base of everything that we do. It is a universal language to authentically draw all audiences to our work and help them create a genuine connection with something that may feel foreign at the onset but settles quickly into familiarity. 

Collaboration

Within our company and cohorts, we lean on collaboration to ensure every unique voice is heard. We lead by guiding and asking questions and rely heavily on authentic communication among our team to balance collaborative input with concrete, informed direction. 

Community

Our performances and workshops emphasize the fundamental bond between audiences and performers; without which, everything we do occurs in a vacuum. Each individual that experiences our work is an active participant in our process and contributes to the essential community that drives all of our activities forward. 

Mentorship

NVA & Guests is committed to cultivating the next generation of artistic thinkers, makers, collaborators, and supporters. Through intentional programmatic initiatives and overall curricular design, our work centers today’s artists and the tools they need to sustain long-term, multifaceted dance careers. 

Company Bio and HistorY.

NVA & Guests is a creative platform for the choreographic and theatrical work of Nicole von Arx, rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and care. The company creates space for the exchange of ideas across cultures while building meaningful community on both a local and international level. With a rotating group of performers, dancers, musician and actors, NVA & Guests develops a repertory of intimate, human-centered dance-theater works that live comfortably on large stages as well as in flexible and non-traditional performance spaces.

The company is based in Brooklyn, New York (USA), and also exists as an association in Switzerland, with a base in Cully, VD. This dual foundation allows the work to move fluidly between countries, communities, and contexts, inviting audiences across the globe to engage with performances that blend dynamic physicality, spoken text, humor, and theatrical storytelling.

Founded in 2014, NVA & Guests has been invited to perform internationally, including appearances in Switzerland at Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Théâtre de Grand-Champ, Théâtre Nuithonie, and Theater am Gleis, and in the United States at venues such as The Joyce Theater, The New Victory Theatre, BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Joe’s Pub, Judson Memorial Church, Sam Houston State University, The Westside Theatre, Triskelion Arts, CPR (Center for Performance Research), The Ailey Citigroup Theater, the Museum of the Moving Image, TACAW, and the Chop Shop Festival.

During the pandemic, the company expanded its notion of performance and access by partnering with spaces like the Ace Hotel New York, The Playground NYC, SHOWFIELDS, and The Yard, offering affordable outdoor dance classes in unconventional settings for the dance community.

Committed to artistic exchange beyond the walls of traditional theaters, NVA & Guests also hosts workshops and educational experiences that invite students and professional dancers to engage deeply with the company’s multidisciplinary process. These offerings emphasize intentional storytelling, collaboration, and skill-building while supporting dancers in navigating their own creative and professional paths.

As the company continues to grow, NVA & Guests remains dedicated to advancing anti-bias and anti-racism work. Nicole von Arx’s leadership is grounded in ongoing dialogue, accountability, and collaboration with the company’s intersecting communities, ensuring that the work remains sustainable, responsive, and socially engaged.

Edited January, 2026

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