He also studied with José Limón, Robert Joffrey, Karel Shook, Louis Horst and Doris Humphrey.
Forming a small company, "El Ballet Negro de Walter Nicks," in Mexico, he performed at the Insurgentes Theatre in Mexico City in a production starring Cantinflas; at the Sans Souci in Havana; on television in the Dominican Republic, and at the Condado Beach Hotel in San Juan.
In 1954 he performed with Joe Nash and others in Donald McKayle's "Games" at the 92nd Street Y. Nicks died 3 April 2007 in Brooklyn, New York.
In Sweden, under the auspices of Lia Schubert, Nicks became a consultant at the University of Stockholm (1960–67), a guest instructor at the Swedish Ballet Academy (1960), and performed there with his small company (1961–65).
As a consultant to the government of Guinea in 1963, Nicks studied traditional dances and formulated recommendations which resulted in the formation of Le Ballet National Djoliba by President Sékou Touré.
Nicks taught at international dance workshops and festivals in Germany, France, Israel, Spain, Italy, Finland, and East Berlin.
He was a recipient of The Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching from the American Dance Festival.