About Nicole

Nicole Stanton is a dance artist and educator currently serving as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Wesleyan University.  She is a Professor of Dance, African American Studies, and Environmental Studies, as well as being on the faculty of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance.  Her work explores the intersections between personal, cultural, political and physical experiences with an eye towards celebrating the complexities of black cultures and creating platforms that cultivate community. Her artistic practice emphasizes collaboration, including work with historians, scientists, anthropologists, musicians and media artists. Her choreography weaves diverse vocabularies such as Contact Improvisation, Senegalese Sabar, Euro-American Release Technique and Cuban Orisha dancing; and is grounded in varied theoretical perspectives including critical race theory and eco feminism. 

Her choreography has been presented at venues such as: Boston’s We Create Festival; the Center for Performance Research, and Triskelion Arts in New York; the Katherine Hepburn Theater in Connecticut; Pro Danza Italia in Italy; and the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio, amongst others.  She has presented her scholarship at conferences such as the Congress on Research in Dance, the Society of Dance History Scholars and the National Dance Educators Association. She has been a guest artist/visiting faculty at Yale University, Kenyon College, Antioch College and Alfred University. In addition, Nicole worked as a technician, administrator, teaching artist and performer with organizations such as the San Francisco Mime Troop, San Francisco Make*A*Circus, and In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

She is the recent recipient of an Artist’s Fellowship from the Connecticut Arts Council for artistic excellence, New England Foundation for the Arts , New England Choreographers Award and a Threads interdisciplinary artist’s residency from the Albers Foundation for research in Senegal.  https://nicolestanton.net/