  We report a 75-As single crystal NMR investigation of LaFeAsO, the parent
phase of a pnictide high Tc superconductor. We demonstrate that spin dynamics
develop a strong two-fold anisotropy within each orthorhombic domain below the
tetragonal-orthorhombic structural phase transition at T[TO]~156 K. This
intermediate state with a dynamical breaking of the rotational symmetry freezes
progressively into a spin density wave (SDW) below T[SDW]~142 K. Our findings
are consistent with the presence of a spin nematic state below T[TO] with an
incipient magnetic order.
