Nicholas Leichter Overview

(courtesy of nldnyc.org) Nicholas Leichter (Artistic Director) received a BA in dance from Connecticut College where he studied with Jacylnn Villamil and Martha Myers. He was a member of Ralph Lemon Company from 1993–1995, and has performed with the companies of... [more]

(courtesy of nldnyc.org) Nicholas Leichter (Artistic Director) received a BA in dance from Connecticut College where he studied with Jacylnn Villamil and Martha Myers. He was a member of Ralph Lemon Company from 1993–1995, and has performed with the companies of Jennifer Muller, Ronald K. Brown, and Gus Solomons jr. Sought after for his teaching abilities almost as much as his choreographic talent, Leichter has taught throughout the United States, at festivals in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, and Canada, and he has been on faculty at Tisch School of the Arts and the American Dance Festival, in Durham, New York, Russia, Korea, and most recently Shanghai. Leichter has created over 25 works for his own company, including commissioned works Free the Angels (for VCU), Undertow (for In The Company Of Men), Carmina Burana and Rite of Spring (for the Brooklyn Philharmonic), and Sweetwash with Eisa Davis (for The Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach Community College). Leichter has also been commissioned to create works for others, most recently for students at Connecticut College, Wayne State in MI, and Pomona College in CA. Leichter has an eclectic approach to movement and a hybrid style that fuses traditional and contemporary forms in surprising and subversive ways that are always fun to watch. His work also broadens audience appeal through his musical choices, which balance Beethoven and Björk, Wonder and Orff, and even Debussy and Winehouse within a single work. In recognition of Leichter’s approach to contemporary dance, he has received support from TIAA-CREF, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, New York Foundation for the Arts (two BUILD Grants and two Choreography Fellowships), Jerome Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, Pentacle’s HelpDesk, Dance/USA and the NEA as part of the National College Choreographic Initiative, The 92nd Street Y New Works in Dance Fund, The Joyce Theater Foundation, New York City, with major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Leichter received the 2006 Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan University. In 2008 he received a NYFA Choreographer Fellowship and a National Performance Network/Network of Cultural Centers of Color Artist-of-Color Residency Award at Sacramento State. Leichter is the recipient of the 2009 Copperfoot Award for choreography from Wayne State University. Leichter has been artist-in-residence/guest artist at many institutions including CSU Fresno, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Iowa, University of Richmond, George Washington University, University of Houston (National College Choreographic Initiative of Dance/USA and the NEA), Muhlenberg College, and Idaho State University. He is on the board of Dance Theater Workshop [show less]