Nikolas Owens
Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance and Movement Studies
Nik Owens is an interdisciplinary and multi-modal contemporary choreographer, educator, and performer. He has worked with nationally and internationally recognized choreographers such as Cynthia Oliver, David Dorfman, and Kyle Marshall. Owens has been awarded choreographic commissions and fully produced shows at Wesleyan University, Arts on Site in New York City, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Illinois, and The Wooden Floor in California. His creative research explores how historic redlining in the United States, particularly in the Los Angeles area, continues to shape people's embodied and lived experiences. Owens holds an MFA in dance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in dance and a certificate in environmental studies from Wesleyan University. He looks forward to teaching classes on vernacular jazz dance and choreography at Hamilton.
Recent Courses Taught
Elementary Jazz Dance
Jazz & Black Popular Dance
Performance
Making Dance I
Research Interests
Black and queer dance studies; identity, lineage, and embodiment; U.S. American Black dance and popular culture; dance improvisation as research; athleticism in contemporary movement.
Distinctions
- Mellon Interseminars Graduate Fellow, 2024–2025, Humanities Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Creative & Performing Arts Fellowship Recipient, 2023–2024, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Fellowship for Underrepresented Students Recipient, 2023–2024, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- UIUC Graduate Teaching Assistantship, 2023–2024
Appointed to the Faculty
2026Educational Background
MFA, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.A., Wesleyan University
