REi
akazawa-smith
Dancer/Actor/Singer
Hi! I'm Rei!
Rei (she/her) is a dancer/actor/singer based in the NYC area. As a dancer, she performs at the Metropolitan Opera (Madama Butterfly, Turandot), and she had the extreme pleasure to dance with Paul Taylor Dance Company, Taylor 2, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, and HT Chen and Dancers. With Paul Taylor Dance Company/Taylor 2, she toured 37 US states and abroad, teaching and performing Paul Taylor's work, including venues such as David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center.
Her musical theater credits include Kristine (u/s Connie) in A Chorus Line (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Liat in South Pacific, Mary Poppins (Theatre Under the Stars), Eliza in The King and I (Walnut Street Theatre), Cinderella (Fulton Theatre), and The Frogs (Jazz at Lincoln Center).
Rei holds a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College, and is originally from Tokyo, Japan, where she trained in ballet in the style of Royal Academy of Dance.
...Ms. Akazawa, in particular, makes you believe in what she is feeling, be it happiness, suffering, confusion. This has something to do with her open carriage, sturdy technique and supple, expressive upper body.
- Siobhan Burke,
The New York Times
...Akazawa-Smith also opens the show by dancing an elegant and exquisite ballet to the overture.
- Chris Gray,
Houston Chronicle
Performance/Production Photos
Movement/Lifestyle Photos
Photo by Justin Clynes
Photo by Bill Wadman
Photo by Savannah Lee
Photo by Laura Halzak
