Nicole Vivien Watson has over fifteen years of experience working in the arts and holds the position of Executive Director and Founder of Surface Area Dance Theatre – which she established as a Community Interest Company in 2007; under Nicole’s Direction, Surface Area Dance Theatre has joined Arts Council England’s 2023-26 National Portfolio. Nicole’s work is collaborative and produced with leading national and international organisations; The British Council, Arts Council England, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Barbican, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. As an advocate of British Sign Language (BSL) and D/deaf culture, BSL is her second language, and she encourages collaboration between the D/deaf and hearing communities by championing the arts as a conduit to establish international relationships with Deaf arts ambassadors in the UK, Japan, Greece, and North America.