It is difficult to describe Sun.REI’s contribution to Not Just Jazz. There is always the fear of underselling her, after all, the power of corporal expression hardly translates to text. There is also the fear of sounding biased, because she is my daughter. But let’s try.

Back in the first version of the show, I dreamed of having someone on stage to dance to the music and get the audience on their feet, and I had the idea of asking her. It was a big hit, and the video of Sun.REI’s dancing that time is still one of the most viewed posts in my website. Nothing to be surprised of, as, in words of a member of the audience of Not Just Jazz 5, “she’s so full of energy, the way she managed to get the audience up and dancing and literally come out from the stage and engage with people, it really brought something to the night”. She also contributed backstage, even teaching me some moves to add to my own performance.

Sun.REI’s creative endeavours don’t stop at Not Just Jazz. On top of her career as an Engineer, she has taught herself to dance and to do Cosplay — creation of costumes and dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga or anime. She has made pieces of electronic art for exhibitions, and the cultural gatherings she organizes around the music genre of k-pop have been steadily growing as well. I am very proud of what Sun.REI has achieved and of the confidence with which she looks at the future.

Thank you for joining me in Not Just Jazz and bring something truly special to the night with your dancing, Sun.REI. I hope you can shine brighter and brighter in the years to come.