The ‘TAIKOPROJECT’ performed on Monday evening for a sell-out audience at the Ellen Eccles Theatre (Image courtesy of Facebook).
LOGAN – Anyone who expected to hear nothing but the sound of drums on Monday evening at the Ellen Eccles Theatre got more than they bargained for.
Way more!
Back when I was living in Tokyo in the mid-1980s, they would occasionally have traditional taiko drumming on NHK Television. To my unappreciative western eye, that just looked like sweaty exercise with a bunch of overgrown kettledrums.
While retaining the same raw energy of those Japanese performers, the performance here by the Los Angeles based TAIKOPROJECT was sophisticated, theatrical and wildly entertaining.
In Japan, taiko drumming dates back to the Sixth Century AD, used for functions ranging from communication and military action to religious ceremonies.
Taiko began to be developed as a modern art form in the 1950s, with ensembles playing many different varieties of drums and using stylized rhythms and forms as well as varieties of sticks and clothing.
Taiko performance groups are active not only in Japan, but also in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, Taiwan and Brazil. There was even a taiko group based in Salt Lake City that turned out in force to see the TAIKOPROJECT perform here.
That’s because TAIKOPROJECT is regarded as the best of the best.
The TAIKOPROJECT was founded in 2000 in Los Angeles by a group of young, emerging taiko drummers led by Bryan Yamami and Masato Baba.
Utilizing authentic instruments hand-crafted in Japan, the performers weave traditional and modern forms of taiko together to share elements of their Japanese and Japanese-American culture.
The reputation of the TAIKOPROJECT was firmly established in 2005, when they became the first American taiko group to win the prestigious Tokyo International Taiko Contest, besting all of the Japanese groups in the competition.
Judging by their performance here, it’s easy to see why TAIKOPROJECT won that event.
Rather than just drumming, the sell-out Cache Valley audience was treated to a feast for the eyes and ears. While foreign-based taiko groups often accompany the drums with vocals, strings and woodwind instruments, TAIKOPROJECT also added elaborate choreography and dramatic lighting effects to their show.
The packed crowd in the Eccles Theatre rewarded their performance with a well-deserved standing ovation.
The TAIKOPROJECT will cap its visit to Cache Valley on Tuesday, Mar. 14 with an educational matinee performance for school children, according to Wendi Hassan, artistic director of the Cache Valley Center for the Arts.
Next up on the busy performance schedule at the Ellen Eccles Theatre are two dance recitals by the Valley Dance Ensemble on Mar 17 and 18; the Cache Valley Civic Ballet’s presentation of Coppélia on Mar. 24 and 25; and the a three-day celebration of the venue’s 100th anniversary on Mar. 29 to 31.
Information and tickets for those shows and others can be found online at www.cachearts.org.