Drums that is. We ran our set for Matsuri including drum moves and faced away from the mirror to get used to the lack of feedback. It’s funny we have decided opinions about what would constitute the best way to move the drums but we all settled down and enjoyed playing our pieces together. There were a few rough edges since we were concentarting so much on the show, but it is hard to hide how much we enjoy playing together. I like lots of our numbers, but I am particularly fonf of our new number, Soma. We have it now and the big red Chinese Odaiko sounds great thundering along in the back. But then, I would say that…

Kodo played at the Scottsdale Performing Arts Center tonight. We had front row seats and enjoyed every minute. The opening stately dance was so fluid and light – truly wonderful. Monochrome is still shocking in its intricacy and precision. Stride is full of life. The current odaiko player does not yet achieve the intensity of Fujimoto Yoshikazu, but has a body that a medical class would die for. Or do I mean…
Esther-sensei was able to call in old relationships and let us go to meet them after the show. It was great to greet Masami again who had assisted Yoshikazu in teaching us a workshop a few years ago. And it was wonderful to see Eri playing. She had been an apprentice when we visited Sado in 2007. And it turned out that Kenzo Abe, the dancer is from the town where Esther lived in Japan.
I do not have the words to convey how inspiring their performance is. I no longer have the amazed novelty of a first viewing, and while the longer I play the more I can appreciate their skill in relaxing while they play at the same time as letting their spirit free, it does not diminish the enjoyment and wonder of seeing them perform.

Summer is over. Class is settling down again now that we don’t have someone away on vacation every week.
Yesterday the dojo held a workshop on Omiyage the ‘gift’ to the Taiko community at one of the conferences several years ago. We were lucky enough to have a workshop on it from the creator, Shoji Kameda, and the other members of the On Ensemble when they were playing at the new Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix.
Eileen Morgan organized the workshop very well, recalling the way that Shoji taught it and helping to break it down clearly for us.
Our homework is to watch the Taikoproject video for familiarity and ideas :)