In 2013, co-directors Natalie Schiera and Gracie Novikoff founded Nozama Dance Collective with the aim of creating raw works that reflect the ubiquitous female experience. Nozama Dance Collective is a community of strong women who celebrate and promote female empowerment. They believe that the common experiences women endure, ranging from those we celebrate to those we dread, can propel us to push further and break boundaries. When naming the company, Gracie and Natalie were looking for a synonym for 'an empowered woman'. Unfortunately, many of the words they found that a negative connotation, particularly their word 'Amazonian'. This struck them as frustrating and enlightens, and they wanted to flip these terms - with that, Nozama was created. Over the last four years, Nozama has performed at numerous festivals, galas, and performances across New England. In 2015, they were selected as Raw Artists of Boston and were chosen to represent emerging artists at the Outside the Box 2015 festival. They have also paired with the Big Sisters Association of Boston to create a workshop series to empower young women. In August 2016, the company produced their first full-length production "Pushing Past Impulse" to an audience of 120 individuals. They look forward to continuing to spread their messages at their second full-length production this August 2017, entitled "Bodies and Choices". "