Japanese DRUM Tao ensemble beats its way into India

It’s a chill evening and Delhi’s iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is lit successful much ways than one. A girl, successful achromatic and silver, gracefully takes her spot connected the signifier down a monolithic drum. Her diminutive stature belies her strength. As she begins to play a passionate bushed connected the drums, the dependable echoes done the stillness of the nighttime aerial and reverberates successful one’s heart.  

This was the almighty instauration to the Japanese drum ensemble — DRUM TAO — presently connected a 14-city circuit of India arsenic marque ambassadors of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) group. Since its inception successful 1993, the radical grew successful fame by playing accepted Japanese drums — Wa-Daiko oregon Taiko — and staging high-energy performances to their beat. The troupe consists of set members, Seika Sakuma, Shima Sasaki, Yutaka Kawasaki, Haruto Mizuno, Yoshinori Suito, Hiroaki Kishino, Koki Sato, and others.

Though Taiko drums are the main attraction of their set, the performers are arsenic adept astatine playing smaller percussion instruments specified arsenic hand-held snare drums and the ample Odaiko drums, which tin measurement up to 3 tonnes with a diameter of 10ft. Additional bushed and tonality travel from Japanese flutes, marimbas, the harpsichord and the three-stringed shamisen.

The music, however, is lone a portion of the act. What keeps the assemblage riveted passim the 60-minute acceptable is the accompanying high-energy creation and question routine, blending dynamic choreography with Japanese martial arts. Well-designed sets, striking costumes and undiminished vigor adhd to the experience.

Over the past fewer decades, DRUM TAO has affirmed its spot arsenic the astir salient taiko drumming radical successful the world. A fewer years ago, they played to packed off-Broadway shows successful New York, cementing their spot arsenic planetary taste ambassadors of Japan. “We person a tendency to beryllium the adjacent Cirque du Soleil ,” explains bandmember Lan Yi-Hsun. 

DRUM TAO’s birthplace is the Oita prefecture successful Japan, wherever its set members unrecorded unneurotic and travel a gruelling grooming regimen that includes philharmonic learning, on with a assortment of dances and martial arts. They besides execute astatine the open-air theatre called TAO nary Oka, which features an unfastened signifier astatine an altitude of 1,036 m, overlooking the stunning environs of the Aso Kuju National Park.  

The troupe consists of men and women, though it took immoderate convincing connected the portion of Nishi Arisa, considered the look of DRUM TAO, and presently serving arsenic the group’s enforcement director, to bring much women connected board. Her graceful creation and almighty drumming whitethorn look astatine odds, but it makes for a unsocial show. The men excessively oscillate betwixt high-paced, energetic instrumentalism and razor-sharp creation moves. 

The ongoing circuit isn’t DRUM TAO’s archetypal successful India, but is surely their astir sweeping 1 yet.  It began with a power-packed show astatine the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival, and was followed by shows successful Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi, wherever they regaled a packed assemblage of much than 2,500 radical astatine the JLN Stadium. Then came shows astatine Jaipur, Kolkata, Kohima and Guwahati. Up adjacent are Varanasi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Port Blair earlier they adjacent astatine Bengaluru’s Phoenix Mall of Asia connected December 21. 

“Cultural performances of this quality observe the long-standing creator ties betwixt India and Japan. We consciousness determination are galore similarities betwixt our accepted drums and the accepted percussion instruments of India. The existent mode to link is done the beat. Our euphony doesn’t person lyrics. We are conscionable astir sound, rhythm, bushed and melody, truthful it doesn’t substance if you don’t recognize Japanese. You tin conscionable consciousness DRUM TAO,” smiles Yi-Hsun.

“Cultural performances of this quality observe the long-standing creator ties betwixt India and Japan. We consciousness determination are galore similarities betwixt our accepted drums and the accepted percussion instruments of India. But the existent mode to link is done the beat. Our euphony doesn’t person lyrics. We are conscionable astir sound, rhythm, bushed and melody, truthful it doesn’t substance if you don’t recognize Japanese. You tin conscionable consciousness the DRUM TAO euphony and enjoy,” says Yi-Hsun.