Nicholas Palmquist is a dancer, choreographer, and educator whose work lives at the intersection of movement and human psychology. Based in Brooklyn, he teaches at Steps on Broadway, The Joffrey Ballet School, Alvin Ailey Extension, and Peridance Center, and has been a guest artist at Juilliard, Yale, NYU, Columbia, and institutions across Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

His teaching is built around a simple but radical idea: that the most important thing a dancer can develop is faith in themselves — and an instinct for when to seek guidance. Teaching across four continents over the course of his career, he formalized that approach into a framework he calls emotional ergonomics — now the foundation of his work in the studio and his online courses through Dance Masterclass. The goal is always the same: to include the nervous system of both the student and the teacher in the ecosystem of learning, dancing, and performing.
When he’s not in the studio, Nicholas is creating. His choreographic work has been presented internationally, including a world premiere with the Semperoper Ballet and an installation with the Biennale Tanzausbildung at Humboldt Forum Berlin. He has taught at festivals including Elisa Carrillo’s Danzatlán and Diana Vishneva’s Context Festival, and holds an annual open-level residency at Orsolina28 in Italy — a model he is proud of for its commitment to working with a full spectrum of dancers in real time. His work spans fashion and media as well — with features in Vogue, Vogue Mexico, and Numéro China, and choreography for the CFDA Gala and New York Fashion Week. As a performer, his credits include the Radio City Rockettes, American Dance Machine at the Joyce Theater, the Guggenheim Works & Process series, Netflix, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, the Tony Awards, and feature films.