CUNY Dance Initiative announces NVA & Guests in the World Premiere of “Cry Wolf”
Company:
CUNY Dance Initiative
The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY college campuses, announces the world premiere of “Cry Wolf” by NVA & Guests at Tribeca Performing Arts Center at 199 Chambers St, New York, NY, 10007. General admission is $40, with student tickets available for $30. Get tickets at https://tickets.tribecapac.org/nva-guests-presents-cry-wolf.
Led by choreographer/artistic director Nicole von Arx, NVA & Guests is known for highly physical productions that have a strong emotional and dramatic drive. Since its founding in 2014, NVA & Guests has been invited to perform in Switzerland at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Théâtre de Grand Champ, Théâtre Nuithonie, and Theatre am Gleis; and in the United States at The Joyce Theatre, The Westside Theatre, Joe’s Pub, The New Victory Theatre, Triskelion Arts, CPR – Center for Performance Research, Judson Memorial Church, The Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Museum of Moving Images, Sam Houston State University, TACAW, and the Chop Shop Festival.
Blending highly physical choreography, text, and audience interaction, “Cry Wolf” navigates a world where truth and deception blur. Rooted in the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, the work embraces the story’s inherent playfulness while reimagining it to speak to our present reality. What happens when warnings are ignored? And what are real warnings and what are false? Through humor, movement, and theatricality, the piece explores responsibility, misinformation, and the weight of collective consequence.
The Saturday, October 25 at 4pm performance includes a brief talk-back, post show. The performance lasts approximately 60–75 minutes.
“Cry Wolf” was created with the support of two CUNY Dance Initiative Residencies: Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (2024-25) and BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (2025-26); Brooklyn Arts Council 2024 & 2025, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Triskelion Arts, The Ardsley House Foundation, Danse Mirage Foundation, NYSCA with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and our donors.
CREDITS
Title: Cry Wolf
Company: NVA & Guests
Choreography and Direction: Nicole von Arx (in collaboration with the dancers)
Performing Cast: Gabriel E Katz, Michael William Arellano, Miriam Gittens, Caitlin Taylor,
Juan Carlos Franquiz II, Michael Greenberg, Eleni Loving, Dareon Blowe
Acting Coach: Charlotte Bydwell
Creative Advisor/Scientist: Melissa Gomis
Lighting Design: Matt Morris
Costume Design: Caitlin Taylor
ABOUT NVA & GUESTS
NVA & Guests exists as a platform to produce and share the artistic work of choreographer Nicole von Arx, providing opportunities for the exchange of ideas across cultures and cultivating community on a local and international level. Through a rotating roster of performers representing a diverse array of backgrounds, the company offers a repertory of individualized dance/theater works that can be seen on large stages as well as in flexible/non-traditional performance spaces. With roots in New York City and Switzerland, NVA & Guests invites audiences across the globe to forge genuine connections with performances that present the company’s unique combination of dynamic physicality and theatrical narrative.
Since its founding in 2014, NVA & Guests has been invited to perform in Switzerland at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Théâtre de Grand Champ, Théâtre Nuithonie, and Theatre am Gleis; and in the United States at The Joyce Theatre, The Westside Theatre, Joe’s Pub, The New Victory Theatre, Triskelion Arts, CPR - Center for Performance Research, Judson Memorial Church, The Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Museum of Moving Images, Sam Houston State University, TACAW, and the Chop Shop Festival. During the pandemic, the company partnered with hotels and stores such as The New York Ace Hotel, The Playground NYC, SHOWFIELDS, and The Yard to offer affordable outdoor dance classes, often in untraditional movement spaces, to the dance community.
Nicole von Arx (Artistic Director + Choreographer)
Born outside of London and raised in Hong Kong and Switzerland, Nicole von Arx (she/her) is an immigrant choreographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her works, spanning theatre, dance, opera, and film, are highly emotional and dramatic, inviting viewers to either sit back or actively participate.
Nicole’s works has been presented at notable venues such as The Joyce Theatre, Stanford Live, The New Victory Theatre, Joe’s Pub, Wolf Trap Opera, Judson Memorial Church, Le Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (Switzerland), and Théâtre Nuithonie (Switzerland). She has received choreographic commissions from NW Dance Project, Edmonton Opera, Whim W’Him, Limón2, D.A.F Dance Arts Faculty, SALT2, Brooklyn Ballet, Sam Houston State University, The Boston Conservatory of Dance, Luminato Festival (Canada), and the LINK Choreography Festival.
She is a 2020 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow and a 2020 Lauréate of a Gland Culture Grant. Her works have also been supported by Brooklyn Arts Council for FY24 and FY25, and NYSCA for FY23 and FY25. Nicole has been awarded creative residencies in 2024 at John Jay College and a performance residency in 2025 at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center via CUNY Dance Initiative. She was artist in residence at The Westside Theatre in Missoula and Dance Initiative in Carbondale, Colorado.
As a performer, she has danced for and toured with Carte Blanche (Norway), Bryan Arias, The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House (UK), Chicago Lyric Opera, Company XIV, Loni Landon, and Romeo Castellucci.
Since 2014, she has been creating under the name NVA & Guests.
ABOUT THE CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE
The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) marked a decade of supporting the NYC dance field in 2024. The program was developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key player in New York City’s performing arts ecosystem, leading a consortium of 14 CUNY colleges and four arts organizations to host 20+ residencies for NYC choreographers and dance companies each year. In the past 11 years, CDI has granted 275 residencies to emerging and established choreographers, providing invaluable resources to artists, while enhancing CUNY students’ education and cultural experiences.
The CUNY Dance Initiative receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative
ABOUT TRIBECA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Tribeca PAC is located at 199 Chambers Street on the Borough of Manhattan Community College campus, and is accessible via the 1/2/3, A/C/E, R, and PATH trains. For more information and added events, please visitwww.tribecapac.org. Tickets for events may be purchased online at tickets.tribecapac.org. For more information on purchasing tickets or questions, call 212-220-1460 ext. 3 or email ticketing@tribecapac.org.
