Dancer and Teacher
LACHSA 2017
UC Irvine BFA Dance Performance 2021
Nola Gibson is a dynamic Los Angeles-based modern and contemporary dancer whose work spans concert dance, multidisciplinary performance, and community-based art. Currently in her second season with Lineage Dance Company, Nola has performed in multiple repertory works that blend narrative storytelling with athletic contemporary movement. She also performs with Bernard Brown’s BBMoves, having joined the company in 2025. With BBMoves, she recently took part in Cultivate Technologies, a collaborative work with LA Commons that fused dance with civic engagement and cultural dialogue.
From 2021 to 2024, Nola was a main company member with Benita Bike’s DanceArt, where she toured repertory throughout Southern California, performing in site-specific spaces and traditional concert venues alike. Her performance history also includes work with Celeste Lanuza (2022) and participation in the 2024 Carmel Dance Fellowship, where she worked intensively with choreographers and artists from across the country. As a student at UC Irvine, she was featured in Lar Lubovitch’s North Star and Dvorak Serenade. Most recently, she performed in the 2025 DUMBO Dance Festival in New York in Waeli Wang’s “Run” and participated in NACHMO LA (National Choreographers Month) with artists Alessia Zanobini and Taitu Livingston.
Alongside her performance career, Nola is an experienced dance educator and choreographer. She currently teaches Open Level Modern Dance at Lineage Performing Arts Center and works with Pacifico Dance Company, teaching beginning/intermediate ballet and contemporary/release technique to students ages 14–19. In 2025, she choreographed the full musical production of Alice by Heart for Sequoyah High School. Since 2021, she has also taught youth ballet through the Westside School of Ballet’s Outreach Program. Nola’s teaching blends strong technical foundations with an emphasis on artistic expression, encouraging dancers to develop both their skill and their unique movement voice.
Nola’s versatility and grounded presence have allowed her to work across a range of choreographic voices—from the highly technical to the deeply expressive. Her movement roots are in modern and ballet, but her voice as a performer is shaped by her lived experience and desire to bring visibility to Black, queer, and femme narratives. She continues to evolve as a dancer through rigorous training, performance, and teaching, remaining deeply committed to dance as a form of storytelling, ritual, and cultural memory.
