2016 – Up to Now
Freelancer Based in Germany and Switzerland
——— Collaborators & Supporters [↗︎]

2013/2014 – 2015/2016
Ballett Theater Basel
under direction of Richard Wherlock

2009/2010 – 2012/2013
Thoss Tanzkompanie
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
under direction of Stephan Thoss

2005/2006 – 2008/2009
Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Aterballetto
under direction of Mauro Bigonzetti

2002/2003 – 2003/2004
Cannes Jeune Ballet
under direction of Monique Loudières

2021 January
M.A. in Design
Masterstudio Design — Institute Integrative Design
Academy of Art and Design — Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW


2006 June
B.A. in Dance
Codarts — University of the Arts
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten — Rotterdamse Dansacademie

2004 June
Rosella Hightower Cannes Higher Academy of Dance
Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower

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Her works and collaborations have been presented in theatres, art spaces, and site-specific contexts. Most recently, she was nominated by Hussein Chalayan as one of the selected artists for the mentorship programme for the Forecast Forum in July 2025, where she will present a new project concept at Radialsystem, Berlin. In parallel, her ongoing project quite quiet explores silence and visibility through the lens of Japanese femininity and cultural icons of the modern era, and is currently in the preparation phase for a new production at ROXY Birsfelden (CH) and Berliner Ringtheater (DE), scheduled for 2026.

Narisawa’s previous work OMG – observation / motivation / glamorisation (2024) received support from the Fonds Darstellende Künste research grant scheme #TakeHeart, as well as research trip grants from Atelier Mondial and the Goethe-Institut. As a production, the premiere was later realised as a co-production with ROXY Birsfelden. In OMG, she collaborated with artists from diverse disciplines to explore performative codes, the glamorisation of identity, and the objectification and presentation of self.

Earlier projects include TRAJECTORY (2022), presented as part of Fabula Collective’s mixed bill at Sadler’s Wells (UK), London, where she was invited as a guest choreographer, and Have I ever spoken properly? (2020), a participatory performance developed during the pandemic, which concluded her MA research and examined spatial relationships between language and proxemics. This work evolved from a series of earlier research-based projects under the title FIGURATIVE (2016–2019), in which she explored proxemics through performance and collaboration. As part of this series, she developed wonderland (2019), presented at Frankfurt LAB (DE) as the culmination of a residency with Keith Chin, which laid the groundwork for Have I ever spoken properly?. Other works within the FIGURATIVE series include into the why (2017), and within arm’s length (2018), a duet with Keith Chin presented at Festival TanzArt Ostwest in Gießen (DE); as well as re/cognition (2018), developed during a two-month residency supported by the Goethe-Institut Kanada and presented at Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique in Montréal (CA).

A collaborative work, phóné phainó phoney (2015), created with Jeremy Nedd and Fabrizio di Salvo, was presented at ROXY Birsfelden and marked her initial steps into the European independent scene, following her engagement with dance companies and state theatres. This strand of inquiry stemmed from her earlier solo piece P.S. (2015), which marked the beginning of her engagement with anthropological approaches to space and embodied communication.

Her professional stage career began at Cannes Jeune Ballet in France (2002–2004), and then Aterballetto in Italy (2005–2009) under the direction of Mauro Bigonzetti and later Cristina Bozzolini. She went on to dance with Thoss Tanzkompanie at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (2009–2013, artistic director Stephan Thoss), and subsequently with Ballett Basel at Theater Basel (2013–2016, artistic director Richard Wherlock). Alongside these institutional engagements, she began developing her own independent choreographic and visual works, which were presented both within the companies she worked for and in the broader European freelance scene. Over the years, she has performed in creations and repertoires by major European choreographers including William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, and many others — as well as being creatively involved in works by Giuseppe Spota, Frank Fannar Pedersen, Nicole Morel, Jeremy Nedd, Alessandro Schiattarella, Zino Wey, and more.

Narisawa began her dance education in 2002 at the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower in France, where she also joined the junior company Cannes Jeune Ballet. She continued her training at Codarts – Rotterdam University of the Arts, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2006. In 2021, she completed a Master’s degree at the Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (Masterstudio Design) at the Basel Academy of Art and Design, HGK FHNW.