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The challenges of bringing the Japanese drum style to an American audience are laboriously told, but the performance scenes are thrilling
This performance-driven documentary tracks the lengths to which organisers and players went in February 2020 to put together a show featuring mostly female taiko drummers from both Asia and the US. Taiko also refers to a whole style of performance that has grown up around ensembles playing together in overlapping or contrapuntal rhythm patterns, sometimes supplemented with singers, dancers and other traditional Japanese instruments. Professional taiko performers are traditionally men – who perform in relatively little clothing because it’s fierce, sweaty work but perhaps also so that viewers can admire the players’ muscular physiques. Like many traditional Japanese performance styles, women were excluded from it until recently and, inspired by touring companies of taiko drummers, it has taken off in the US, not just among Japanese expats but among wider Asian-American communities.
This performance-driven documentary tracks the lengths to which organisers and players went in February 2020 to put together a show featuring mostly female taiko drummers from both Asia and the US. Taiko also refers to a whole style of performance that has grown up around ensembles playing together in overlapping or contrapuntal rhythm patterns, sometimes supplemented with singers, dancers and other traditional Japanese instruments. Professional taiko performers are traditionally men – who perform in relatively little clothing because it’s fierce, sweaty work but perhaps also so that viewers can admire the players’ muscular physiques. Like many traditional Japanese performance styles, women were excluded from it until recently and, inspired by touring companies of taiko drummers, it has taken off in the US, not just among Japanese expats but among wider Asian-American communities.
- 2/12/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
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