Nicole Vivien Watson

Nicole Vivien Watson has over fifteen years of experience working in the arts and holds the position of Executive Director and Founder of Surface Area Dance Theatre – which she established as a Community Interest Company in 2007; under Nicole’s Direction, Surface Area Dance Theatre has joined Arts Council England’s 2023-26 National Portfolio. Nicole’s work is collaborative and produced with leading national and international organisations; The British Council, Arts Council England, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Barbican, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. As a dynamic and highly motivated researcher Nicole, in 2021, acquired a rigorous and critical MA scholarship from the School of African and Asian Studies (SOAS) University London — specialising in East Asian Buddhism, Japanese History, and Shogun Iconography. Nicole works best at facilitating creative projects across disciplines by communicating ideas through multiple platforms to all audiences. As an advocate of British Sign Language (BSL) and D/deaf culture, BSL is her second language; supported by the Royal Ballet Benevolent fund, in 2021, she completed five years of accredited Sign Language and Deaf Culture education. Nicole encourages collaboration between the D/deaf and hearing communities and champions the arts as a conduit to establish international relationships with Deaf arts ambassadors in the UK, Japan, Greece, and North America.