Naoko Tanaka studied visual art at the Tokyo University of the Arts before moving to Germany in 1999 to take up a scholarship at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Since then she has created numerous performance works and installations in which choreography and visual art are intimately related. Together with the choreographer Morgan Nardi, Tanaka is the co- founder of the artist collective ›Ludica.‹ which was invited to perform at the German Dance Platform in 2010. In 2011 Naoko Tanaka created her first solo piece ›Die Scheinwerferin‹ which premiered at PACT Zollverein during the festival tanzNRW11 and has since toured extensively in Europe. This production won the jury prize at the INFANT Festival in Novi Sad in 2011, the Prix Jardin d'Europe 2012 and the ZKB Acknowledgement Prize 2012 at the Zürcher Theaterspektakel.

The second part of Tanaka’s shadow trilogy ›Absolute Helligkeit‹, premiered in July 2012 at SOPHIENSÆLE Berlin. Here, Tanaka was responsible not only for the concept of the installation and performance but also the visual and sound design.