His books include Art, During Siege: Performing Arts Workshops in Traumatised Communities, Raising Dust: A Cultural History of Dance in Palestine, Talking Dance: Contemporary Histories from the Southern Mediterranean, Talking Dance: Contemporary Histories from the South China Sea and the edited volume Moving Oceans: Celebrating Dance in the South Pacific. His films include The Secret World and his research engages in archival, phenomenological and narrative enquiry ethnographic methods to explore creative practices, pedagogies and policies associated with dance in diverse locations. A graduate of the Australian Ballet School, Nicholas holds a PhD from London Contemporary Dance School, University of Kent at Canterbury.