Dance with the Odaiko

Photo by Ceclia Chan 

Every year the coordinators of the Namekuji (slug) festival ask me to start it off with an Odaiko solo called  "Hitoyosei". It is to call people to the main stage and get things going. I don't know if they ask me because I like playing solos and not afraid to perform or because I am the most visible foreigner in our community. Either way, for the past 5 or so years I have been starting the festival.

Ever since I started Taiko, I have been playing with solos and mixing the feel of east and west. But when it comes to these solos, I try to stick to the foundation of Toko Ryu style taiko. This is the style of my group and many groups in the Mino basin (Gifu), a few in Hida (gifu), parts of Hokuriku (Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa) and the Nagoya area.

The big problem is that there are no formal "solos" or "hitoyose" for our group. So, I create them myself. I think of a feeling, look at how things have been in the weather and for the people of the community and go from my gut. Usually I am given several weeks to plan for this and use my Friday evenings to create and practice. But since the birth of my third child, I have been spending less time at Taiko and more at home. Still I give myself a few hours a week during the weeks leading up to think of a feeling, make some notes and layout how I want it to flow.

I only have 2 or 3 minutes to play which is not a lot of time, considering a good solo should start with silence. The lights pointed at the stage are off. I walk to the drum and prepare myself. The lights go on and I pose. I raise my hands, strike once and let the sound echo. People who are not paying attention will turn their heads and wonder what they heard. I strike again brining more attention to the low strong sound. I pose to add a visual effect to the performance as unlike regular drumming where can barely see the drummer, in Taiko, visual is a huge part of the performance. On top of this, usually the voice is used for effect. But it is not a planned sound. It's a primal feeling that just rises from deep in the soul in the form of a "ya" or other very simple grunt.

Slowly I build up the tempo and apply a little more power to the performance. It is not just playing a drum but a dance including energy, visual movement, sound, emotion, and storytelling. My arms move in this direction and that, big and small movements drawing out sounds and conveying a picture.

I am in a zone during a taiko solo. I blank out the world so I can talk and dance with this drum. Though I have planned, the solo is different from what I had practiced. My emotions and the surrounding atmosphere change the feeling. My sticks seem to move on their own.

Finally I build up a crescendo of 16th notes, a primal urge brought on by the energy being exerted rages up and I finish with a single hit, pose and scream. I hold for a few seconds, turn and bow.

Taiko solos are not for everyone. Many of my group members will not do it even though they are far more experienced. I do it, enjoy it and look forward to my dance with the drum.