Nicole Martinell

About the Artist

Nicole A. Martinell is a choreographer, teacher, entrepreneur, and Certified Movement Analyst.  In 2011, Martinell founded Deep Vision Dance Company (DVDC) – a vehicle for her choreographic and entrepreneurial endeavors.  Martinell’s choreography has been featured at venues, festivals, and universities throughout the Baltimore/DC area as well as up the east coast.  Ranging from proscenium to site-specific work, her choreography questions the complexity of humankind and is characterized by detailed characters, spiraling phrases, and a continuous ebb and flow of space.  Collaboration with various artists is at the forefront of every multilayered process.  Recent choreographic accolades include a 2013 b-grant recipient of Maryland’s prestigious Baker Artist Awards and selection for the Annual Choreographers’ Showcase, DC Capital Fringe Festival, Intersections Festival, Artscape, and New Release Choreographers Showcase at Dance Place.  Throughout 2017, Martinell’s work, Matter, Energy, Human, was on a multi-city, east coast tour and was also nominated for Baltimore’s Best Performance 2017.  Highly active in the community, Martinell/DVDC projects include Go Deep! residency programs, such as Learning Physics through Movement and The Traveling Feet: Women of the Ragtime Era, By/4 Artist professional development series, and choreographic mentorship workshops.  In 2012, Martinell and Sidney Pink co-founded the AKIMBO Dance & Movement Art Festival in Baltimore’s Station North Arts & Entertainment District.  Running for 5 consecutive years, this site-specific festival features over 100 artists performing original, site-based works for 800+ audience members. Growing up in Johnstown, PA, Martinell received her early ballet training under Carla Prucnal at the Johnstown Concert Ballet.  Martinell continued training at the Allegheny Ballet Company, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and The Ailey School (NYC).  She has studied under and/or worked with such artists as Larry Keigwin, Cherie Noble, Milton Myers, Sarah Gamblin, Dwana Smallwood, Adrienne Clancy, Scott Rink, Richard Cook, Kazuko Hirabayashi, and Mary Anthony.  She has been a company member of The Moving Company, ClancyWorks, and DanceRink.  Pursuing her passion for dance and injury prevention, Martinell received a BS in Kinesiology from Penn State University and a MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University.  Her research on biomechanics and ballet pedagogy was published in the Journal of Dance Education, and she has presented at the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and the National Dance Education Organization’s conferences.  She looks forward to becoming certified educator of Functional Awareness® and a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique (2020).   Since 2008, Martinell has taught modern technique, repertory, ballet, and composition at Towson University in Baltimore, MD.  Martinell has also been on faculty at the University of North Texas, Baltimore County Community College, Goucher College, and University of Maryland Baltimore County.     

Artist's Statement

Questions about the emotional complexity of humankind and the strange beauty of the world around us initiate and propel Nicole A. Martinell's creative process. She is fueled by what connects us, what drives us, and what transforms us. Ranging from abstract to narrative work, her choreography illustrates opposing ends of a continuum - an unfolding journey characterized by detailed characters, spiraling phrases, and a continuous ebb and flow of space. Collaboration with dancers, musicians, and visual artists is at the forefront of every multilayered process. DVDC's collaborative endeavors ignite long-lasting relationships and stimulate artistic growth for all involved in the creative process. Martinell values creating an environment where all involved - including the choreography - grow, adapt, change, and thrive.