Rockin' out on Shin-en

With festival pieces like “Matsuri” and “Shin-en” in our repertoire, it was only natural that Odaiko New England would be invited to perform for the Allston Village Street Fair. Dubbed an “urban Mardi Gras”, this event featured many different bands and performers, and we were thrilled to be adding taiko to the musical stew for everyone to enjoy.

Our presentation for the fair was a bit different than our concerts; we played right on Harvard Avenue, between Commonwealth and Brighton Avenues! We played mainly to passersby strolling up and down the street instead of a seated audience, so we opted to perform 4 pieces as a set which we could repeat as needed for the duration of our time slot.

Due to our limited space, we arranged a setup of three chu’s, an okejime set, and miscellaneous percussion. An advantage of the set rotation was that everyone got a chance to play different roles for each song. Thus, I sometimes played chappa, sometimes uchiwa, and other times a chu daiko.

We played two popular pieces from ONE’s repertoire on nanamedai, or slant-stands – Matsuri and Hachijo. Personally, I thought we rocked out pretty well on Hachijo, and the dramatic choreography of that song made it a crowd-pleaser even for casual observers, compelling them to pause, listen & watch. Another highlight for me was my first-ever opportunity to finally play Shin-en on a chu! For more than two years I’ve had “ji duty” when playing Shin-en, setting the groove with the swing ji rhythm at our concerts and other performances, so there was real satisfaction for me in finally playing the chu part.

After awhile, the two main stages began sound checks for the PA systems and bands, and the volume was just too much for our unamplified drums. We were all set to perform the next song, but how much of it would anyone really hear? Mark came up with a great solution to this impasse: we grabbed all our portable equipment (okedo’s, chappa, uchiwa, kane and fue) and took our brand of taiko on a mini-parade down the street and back again! This unexpected excursion was really fun and made for a fitting conclusion to our performance.

I must add that our merchandise table was staffed by the indefatigable Joy. Despite nursing a sore ankle, she played chappa from her chair for a few songs and efficiently managed our table. And while the rest of us were busy preparing for the next song, or supervising a youngster having a go at playing one of our chu’s, Joy handled inquiries from the passersby stopping to peruse our wares and sign up on our mailing list.

Due to the transient nature of the audience we played for, one of Kenny Endo‘s pearls of wisdom came to mind - the notion that at a given concert there will be people hearing taiko for the first time as well as people hearing taiko for the last time, and we want them to have a good experience of taiko. On a warm, sunny, late summer Sunday in Allston, I think we left people in either of those categories with a positive  experience of taiko.

Beth, that's not a bachi.

The first way was a purely personal blending of old and new. Sheilarae and I were co-running a taiko workshop. Neither of us had ever run a workshop before. The 6th anniversary of my first taiko workshop is coming up at the end of the month and here I was running one! Thank goodness for Sheilarae! There is no way I could have done it alone and she was so much more engaging than I was. Our first workshop was a little shaky. We didn’t quite know how to time things out.

Our second and third groups were much better though, in no small part to the students who arrived full of energy and interest. Our last group was quite small, but the two enthusiastic women who showed up out kiai‘d the other two groups combined. It was a wonderful note to go to the performance on.

The performance. Now here was a real blending of old and new.

Karen and Greg had been working on their stick flipping for a traditional standard, Matsuri. They needed a third to join them, but none of us had quite mastered it well enough to perform. Beth stepped up to the plate however, but instead of her skill in flipping, she employed her skill in comedy. This is why, two days before, on a dreary afternoon, I went to meet a friend to borrow his rubber chicken. Rubber chicken, two bananas (one real and one plastic), taiko and Beth’s comedic timing made for the most “new” Matsuri I’d ever seen. Bachi flew everywhere, and so did bananas and the chicken, making its plaintive cry as it flew through the air.

Will we ever see the chicken again? Time will tell, but this was definitely a memorable performance and a testament to creativity. Were we making a mockery of the tradition? I don’t think so. I think we were paying tribute to the difficulty of the things that some taiko players make look too easy! Plus we were taking the spirit, old and new, and taking it in our own direction.

This past weekend was a whirlwind of taiko events, and has already been written about in one or two other blog posts. However, being the sort of person I am, who always has to insert her opinion into the conversation, I’m writing yet another. Enjoy!

For me, the weekend stressed the importance of Attitude in performance. We performed at the University of Hartford’s International Gala Saturday night. As we rehearsed Matsuri during the previous week, one word was emphasized over and over again: Boisterous. Matsuri is a boisterous song, all about having fun and sharing that fun with the audience. Our amazing Tanya on chappa boistered (is that a word?) everyone into having a great time at U Harftord. Just see that grin in the video!

After the Gala, we packed up our stuff and rushed to Stamford to see Taiko Project, hosted by Otatsu-taiko. It goes without saying that the taiko and the musicality was awesome. But, what really stuck with me was the history, especially the piece “From the Inside/Outside”, in which the Greats of the Japanese taiko world are projected on a huge screen over the stage as they talk about American taiko.

I bought my shime-daiko from Asano-san himself while I was in Japan with the KASA/MIX tour in September 2008, so listening to Yasuo Asano of Asano Taiko had extra meaning for me:

American taiko players seem like they … emphasize “enjoying themselves” onstage which in turn makes us (the audience) enjoy the performance. I think that’s great.

That’s our Matsuri in a nutshell

Then Tosha Kiyonari, one of the original members of Sukeroku Taiko, sitting there in his Hawaiian shirt and talking about performance costumes, instructs us:

If you can wear something well, then people will think that you’re good. Even if you suck.

I hope that we don’t suck. But, yes, it’s all about “wearing” the piece well.

Mark H. Rooney, our ever-inspired Artistic Director, talked to us just yesterday about playing on slant stands. In addition to always being boisterous, he reminded us that the reason the founders of these styles claim to have developed them was to “pick up chicks”.

Of course, you can also ask Juni, our amazingly talented Assistant Artistic Director, why we do push-ups during every taiso. Is it so we can be strong? NO – it’s so we look cool! Just check out Karen’s biceps!

Regardless of whether “chicks” are your target, a good taiko performance is all about impressing people.