Faculty

Nick Anthony is an entrepreneurial artist, dancer, choreographer, teacher, mentor, coach, & consultant based in Los Angeles, CA. Having grown up in a family of versatile artists & small business owners in western Massachusetts, Nick was introduced to the world of entrepreneurship & business management, as well as to the greater communities of dance, music, theatre, entertainment, & the performing arts, at an early age. The family business that had the greatest impact on Nick was none other than his mother & aunt’s dance studio, the Hackworth School of Performing Arts, which was opened by Nick’s great grandfather in 1934 & is still going strong. While dance was always something Nick was passionate about & enjoyed, it wasn't until his college years at Quinnipiac University that he realized & acted on his desire to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the arts & entertainment industry. Shortly following his college graduation in 2010, Nick took what he learned from his Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management degree, as well as his years of dance training & experiences, & dove into the LA dance scene in the fall of 2011. Since then, Nick has been represented by Bloc Talent Agency & Clear Talent Group as a dancer & choreographer & The Movement Talent Agency as a dance educator. His performance & choreography work spans from movies, television, & music videos to commercials, web series, live shows, & more. Some of his more notable credits on this front so far include: Dr. Ken, Arrested Development, Dance Moms, All the Right Moves, Real Life: The Musical, Lindsey Stirling, Neon Trees, Kidz Bop, Disney, Coca Cola, Ryan Seacrest Productions, GAP, & the NBA D-League. As a dance educator, due to having grown up studying all styles of dance & working with a vast array of teaching professionals over the years, Nick’s classroom leadership style, as well as his choreography & movement choices, are versatile & uniquely his. These days his primary focuses for choreography & classroom instruction are hip hop, contemporary, improvisation, & acrobatics/tumbling, though he coaches, cleans, critiques, judges, & provides feedback for all movement styles. Nick has been consistently traveling nationally & internationally for close to 15 years to share his work & to pass along what he’s learned to the next generation, through master classes, workshops, seminars, coaching & mentoring sessions, & personalized feedback & critiques. He has been able to collaborate with over 200 dance studios, schools, teams, companies, & colleges, dozens of conventions, competitions, & events, & thousands of students across all ages & levels throughout the US, as well as parts of Canada, Central America, & Thailand. He's a regular faculty member for Dance Educators of America (DEA), Dance Masters of America (DMA), American Dance Awards (ADA), Move: The Initiative, & Generation IV (GIV). He has also taught &/or judged for the likes of Velocity Dance Convention, LA Dance Magic, Hollywood Dance Jamz, Regional Dance America, DanceXplosion, Headliners, Dance Fierce, Breaking Bounds, & Kids For Kids, to name a few. In addition to his pursuits as a dancer, choreographer, & educator, through his company NAKOA Network, founded in 2016, Nick has served as a manager, producer, organizer, & director for many individual artists & their projects, as well as for such companies as Shaping Sound, Generation IV, The Dance Counsel, IV REAL MVMNT, UN.Conventional, & Curtain Call Costumes for their fashion line NX3. Most recently, amidst his on-going touring schedule of teaching, choreographing, & judging throughout the year, Nick has been building his newest venture, NAKOA YOUuniversity, a very personal & mission driven coaching, consulting, mentoring, & training business established to help educate, guide, & empower aspiring & established professional artists & creatives of all types to more confidently & effectively navigate & manage their lives, careers, & finances. A 2024 graduate of the Jay Shetty Certification School, Nick is a certified Life & Success Coach & offers valuable one on one private sessions for individual clients of all backgrounds. He also leads group classes & seminars for artists, entertainers, & creative professionals at various studios, schools, companies, & events, including such places as the CLI Conservatory in western MA, on topics ranging from mindset development & management, entrepreneurship, business strategy & implementation, financial literacy & money management, branding & marketing, & career management & decision making to lifestyle design & organization, goal achievement & habit formation, personal & professional growth, networking & relationship building, & confidence & self-esteem improvement, to name a few. While Nick frequently finds himself on the road in his professional life, enjoying the opportunities he’s afforded to travel & work with friends & peers from all over, he spends every moment he can at home in Los Angeles with his wife, Taylor, their sons, Asher & River, & their pup, Arrow.