Reona

She was born in downtown Tokyo in 1989. She started tap dancing at a young age, and was captivated by tap when she met Kazumi Watanabe in the spring of her 16th year. After graduating from high school, she went to New York for training. She won all the “Cutting Contest” held in Chicago, LA and Tokyo. She is currently working mainly on live performances with musicians in the jazz and improvisation areas.
Leader band “Toto [w/ Fumio Itabashi(pf)/Takashi Seo(cb)]”, “Trio with Eiichi Hayashi(as) and Takashi Seo(cb)”, “Trio with Shinpei Ruike(tp) and Kurumi Shimizu(pf)” are in development. In order to materialize the sounds in her head with taps, she carries around tap shoes, a wooden board, iron plates, tin pot lids, stainless steel bowls, etc., and makes full use of what she has.
She is currently working on a wide range of activities, breaking down the barriers between the aural and the visual, such as appearing in “LAND FES”, a walking performance event where people can watch live performances by musicians and dancers while walking around the city, and appearing in cabaret and showbiz events.
In 2014, she appeared in ONWARD “Kumikyoku” 2014SS concept movie Kumikyoku ga Saku. (Masakatsu Takagi and Reona)
In 2017, she performed in the show “TIRELESS” curated by Michelle Dorrance at Jacob’s Pillow Dance, the oldest summer dance festival in the US, with Reona (tap) and Takashi Seo (cb) in a DUO. They received a great response for their new expression of tap.