Dancer, poet and organizer of movement, music and causes, Patricia Nicholson has developed her work within the aesthetic of the freejazz improvised arts with an attention to spiritual and social responsibility. As she has focused heavily on building and sustaining a diverse, improvising community, Ms. Nicholson's work as a multi-disciplinary artist has often been overshadowed.  She has however, been consistently active as a dancer, poet and choreographer.  In the last few years she has been collaborating with percussionist Val Jeanty in a project now called, Shamanic Principle. She also works with vocalists, Ellen Christi and other singers such as Jean Carla Rodea in the project Knife & Rose.  She continues collaborations with William Parker in the poetry/music bands What It Is and Hope Cries for Justice and in 2 new projects, Little Huey’s Pocketwatch and the sextet, Sounds in Exile.  She choreographed and did the stage production for William Parker’s Opera, Trail of Tears.

There is a choreography to Nicholson's approach to programming. She curates evenings with a deliberate arc, emphasizing dynamic flow and messaging. Her goal is to design nights that create a complete experience and engage audiences in active, and creative, witnessing.

All her work is done with the intention of illuminating, whether it is movement/dance based, or poetry or organizing. 

Nicholson has had a wide-reaching influence in her capacity as an artistic and community organizer. In 1981, Nicholson choreographed, performed and organized A Thousand Cranes Peace Opera, with 1,000 children performing in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for the opening of the Special Sessions on Disarmament; in the mid 1980’s, she responded to a lack of visibility for free jazz improvised music by organizing the Sound Unity Festivals. In 1988 she choreographed a work for 30 dancers that was performed at LaMaMa called Vision Peace and Battle Cries.  In 1994, Nicholson brought together fifty artists to form The Improvisors Collective. Following that success, in 1996, Nicholson founded Arts for Art and the Vision Festival to promote and advocate for free jazz with a focus on equity and diversity, raising awareness through the highly visible platform of the Vision Festival. AFA has grown to be a movement that supports hundreds of artists annually, all working with the freejazz aesthetic.

In January of 2017, she initiated and led Artist for a Free World, a marching band that participated in 47 demonstrations.  

As she has focused heavily on building and sustaining a diverse, improvising community, Ms. Nicholson's work as a multi-disciplinary artist has often been overshadowed.  She has however, been consistently active as a dancer, poet and choreographer.  In the last few years she has been collaborating with vocalists, Ellen Christi and Jean Carla Rodea in the project Knife & Rose as well as collaborating with percussionist Val Jeanty in a project now called, Shamanic Principle.  As well she is continuing her collaborations with William Parker in the poetry/music bands What It Is and Hope Cries for Justice and in 2 new projects, Little Huey’s Pocketwatch and Voices in Exile.  As well she choreographed and did stage projection for William Parker’s Opera Trail of Tears.

After decades of creative production, programming, and organization, In her own words, “there is both a community to sustain, and the creative expression of my own art, yet to be shared. I am humbled by our collective creativity waiting to be expressed.”