NANAKO HORIKAWA MANDRINO is a freelance dance artist with a desire to move and create through interdisciplinary approaches. Nanako is originally from Sapporo, Japan, where she was trained in jazz, tap, and acting. She moved to the United States to begin contemporary dance training and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a Minor in Theater at the College at Brockport, SUNY. Nanako performs nationally and internationally and shares her true joy of dance as an intriguing art form.
Nanako has been dancing as a soloist, ensemble member, and collaborator with MARIAH MALONEY DANCE, directed by Mariah Maloney, and HEATHER ROFFE, DANCE, directed by Heather Roffe, and ANOTHER RIVER INTERDISCIPLINARY ENSEMBLE, directed by James J. Kaufmann and Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre. In 2017, she was invited to join BIODANCE, directed by Missy Pfohl Smith and also started working with Hanlon Dance & Company (HaDCo), directed by Eran Hanlon. Most recently, Nanako was invited to work with KineoLab, directed by Curtis Stedge, for their upcoming production.
Nanako also enjoys working with other individual artists, such as Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Natalia Lisina, and Mariko Yamada. She had a privilege to work with a director Frank Kuhn in “Life is a Dream,” and perform with Eastman Opera Theatre in “Les Enfants Terribles” and “Orfeo ed Euridice.”
In addition, Nanako had danced with Japanese well-known choreographers: Masahiro Yanagimoto; Yuki Yamada; Yasushi Shoji; and Michiko Watanabe. She also worked with Yukie Hashiguchi, the director of Theater Sennen Oukoku (劇団千年王國), in “Rosa Luxemburg,” which received a Grand Prize in TGR 2013.
Nanako has had the honor and pleasure of performing in works by William (Bill) Evans, Richard Haisma (Geomantics Dance Theater), Larry Keigwin (Keigwin+Co.), and Darwin Prioleau. Nanako continues her dance training and has studied with world-renowned Trisha Brown Dance Company, Limon Dance Company, Gallim Dance and many other artists including Paul Matteson, Fumiyo Ikeda and Jean Laurent Sasportes. She recently traveled to Melbourne, Australia, to study Countertechnique in One Body, One Career intensive at Chunky Move with Anouk van Dijk and Nina Wollny. Nanako is also a certified Projective Kineticisit (CPK) in Projective Kinetics Analysis and Training (PKAT)(emphasis: Laban-Bartenieff) directed by CMA Richard Haisma.
As a performer, Nanako has been seen at various venues: La MaMa; Dance New Amsterdam; Green Space; Movement Research; Triskelion Arts; Dixon Place; DUMBO Dance Festival; Geva Fielding Stage; Strasenburgh Planetarium; Lyric Theatre; University of Rochester; The College at Brockport; Nazareth College; Luther College; Hobart and William Smith College; School of the Arts; Eastman School of Music; Hochstein School of Music; Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective; and Visual Studies Workshop. As a choreographer, her work has been seen in Syracuse Civic Center, SUNY Oswego, Hamilton College, and Multi-use Community Cultural Center (MuCCC).
Since 2010, Nanako started performing with cabinet toi et moi as a collaborate artist. cabinet toi et moi is an international interdisciplinary group directed by Kanako Horikawa, her sister and pianist based in Paris, France. In 2012, Nanako co-produced “WA” with Kanako and Yuko Hashimoto, as a choreographer and performer, touring Europe and Japan.
Nanako Horikawa Mandrino 