From Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan to New York, United States, Nobuya Nagahama has been active as a dancer and choreographer in and around the New York area since 2006.
For nearly two decades, he has trained extensively in Hip Hop, Locking, Voguing, Popping, Breaking, and House, along with over ten years of experience in ballet, contemporary, and jazz.
Nobuya’s journey into performance began long before he arrived in New York. As a child, he was deeply drawn to comedy and dreamed of making people laugh. In elementary school, after discovering a Japanese gag baseball manga, he mistakenly believed that becoming a professional baseball player would be the best way to entertain the masses. Although he joined an elite youth baseball club team that later won a national championship, he spent most of his time on the bench and eventually shifted his focus toward education, enrolling in a competitive academic high school with the goal of becoming a teacher and mentor. His path took a decisive turn in high school during a school sports festival, where participating in a cheer-dance performance revealed his natural affinity for movement and performance.
At eighteen, Nobuya appeared in the Tokyo production of the musical Big, performing as an ensemble member alongside both youth and adult casts—his first major theatrical experience. After graduating from Tokyo Gakugei University with a degree in Education (Home Economics), he worked as a public high school teacher in Kanagawa Prefecture, where he also founded and coached a school dance club. In 2006, Nobuya moved to the United States to pursue a professional dance career. In 2007, he made his national debut as a professional dancer at the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, one of the most widely broadcast fundraising television events in the United States.
In 2010, he joined The Love Show NYC, where he has since served as a principal performer and choreographer. Through this work and other productions, Nobuya has performed extensively across the United States as well as internationally, including appearances in Japan, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Aruba. He has appeared in numerous dance showcases, television programs, and stage productions, including So You Think You Can Dance and Carnival Choreographer’s Ball, a major stage performance event primarily based in Los Angeles that also hosts large-scale productions in New York City twice a year. His performances have been praised by The New York Times for their “sinuous blend of popping and voguing.” In addition to performing, Nobuya is a dedicated instructor, teaching Hip Hop at Peridance Capezio Center in New York. His students have achieved notable success, including earning the title of Grand Champion at Apollo Theater Amateur Night.
In 2023, Nobuya expanded his creative practice to include work as a Nine Star Ki (Kyusei Kigaku) consultant, supporting performing artists, hair stylists, nail artists, entrepreneurs, and chefs in both New York and Japan by helping them refine timing, direction, and personal strategy.
In 2024, he launched his original comedy performance project, “Kan-Pai! Team Japan Music & Comedy Hour,” a genre-blending show that fuses Japanese comedy, sword fighting, dance, music, and interactive game-show elements. The project premiered at Theater for the New City, where it played to a sold-out audience and was met with explosive laughter and enthusiastic response.
In 2025, Nobuya continued expanding his artistic reach by serving as a guest Hip Hop instructor at the Montana Dance Arts Association summer dance intensive. That same year, he officially launched his career as a stand-up comedian. Drawing on physical performance, cultural contrast, and unexpected storytelling, Nobuya is developing a fresh, cross-disciplinary style of stand-up comedy and performing solo live shows in New York and beyond.