Nicole Kirkland

Nicole Kirkland is a commercial choreographer, dancer, and instructor whose work spans music videos, stage production, and digital content creation. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area's studio and convention dance environment, beginning to teach by her mid-teens and working as a choreographer before twenty.

Kirkland's first widely documented major assignment came in 2013, when she choreographed Prince's "Breakfast Can Wait" music video alongside assistant choreographer Antoine Troupe and director Danielle Curiel. The project established a signature aspect of her work: movement designed to carry narrative and performance presence independently of the recording artist's physical appearance.

Her choreography has been commissioned by artists including Iggy Azalea, Kehlani, Gwen Stefani, Prince, and Hyolyn, alongside work for dance teams and competition contexts. Her international profile expanded significantly through collaborations with Korean soloist Hyolyn, whose official dance-practice videos for "See Sea" and "BAE" explicitly credit Kirkland's choreography and preserve full-body movement in rehearsal format—offering viewers the complete artistic intent rather than edited fragments.

In 2020, Kirkland and collaborator Angel Merino created a dance visual for "WAP" centered on LGBTQ+ representation, demonstrating her use of self-produced video to frame both casting and cultural positioning. Her work in heels-based choreography has received widespread fitness-media coverage, while her independent visual releases—including "After Party (Quarantine Edition)"—show her parallel investment in direct-to-audience platforms. Kirkland continues to work across choreography, teaching, content creation, and the development of her own creative platforms.