Nicole Lawson, Artistic Director of Nicole Lawson Dance Projects, is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and activist working in the Piedmont Triad community of North Carolina. As a choreographer, her work investigates the pathways between injustice and hope.

Prior to launching NLDP in January 2018, Nicole was selected as a part of the first class of Artists in Residence with the Greensboro Dance Project. Through this program, Nicole produced the company’s first show, “I am not a Monster.” in November 2018 at the Greensboro Project Space. In 2019, Nicole and collaborator, Dylan Reddish, teamed up to produce “Love Notes from the Skeleton in my Closet.” The show premiered in August 2019 through the GreenHill Opens program at the GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art. Most recently, Nicole was selected as a member of the Tobacco Road Dance Productions 2020 concert. Through the residency, she is working the first phase of her latest project, (Un)Civilized Nation.

Previously, Nicole’s work has been presented Stokes County Arts Council, Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, and Emergence in Durham, NC. As a performer, Nicole has danced with Alex Warren and JOYEMOVEMENT Dance Company, Renay Aumiller Dances, the Carol Finley Dance Group, Kate Davis and the Continuum Collective, and other choreographers including Kristin Sudeikis, Beth Gill, Elizabeth Corbett, and Boby Ari Setiawan.

Nicole is a graduate of Meredith College where she received Bachelor of Arts with majors in Dance Studies and Spanish. In addition to her work as a dance instructor with Ballet and Performing Arts Center in Winston-Salem, Nicole also collaborates with North Carolina public schools as a guest artist.