Portland Taiko roars into Caldwell
Sold-out crowd ends Caldwell Fine Arts Season
REVIEW, May 10, 2002
By Michelle Cork, Idaho Press-Tribune
CALDWELL -- Caldwell Fine Arts 40th anniversary season ended with a thunderous
roar Wednesday night when the Asian American drumming ensemble Portland
Taiko performed to a sold-out crowd.
The six-member ensemble created a powerful sound that was not only heard, but felt. The striking of the traditional Japanese drums -- ranging from the size of a dinner plate to 300 pounds -- was a choreographed display of musical ability, dance and martial arts.
The roar of the drums beat was mixed with dance, melody and story telling. The co-directors’ humorous take on an ancient story of “Amaterasu,” the sun goddess, and her bratty, jealous brother elicited laughs, particularly from the younger members of the audience.
Portland Taiko’s original compositions blend taiko -- rooted in ancient Japanese religious ceremonies, folk festivals and theater -- with hip hop, rhythm and blues and the ancestry of its members, who are Japanese, Filipino, Korean and European American.
They use their music to educate their audiences about the birth of American Taiko in the 1960s as a symbol against the World War II era imprisonment of Japanese Americans in internment camps.
The second half of the performance began with a set of songs with more subdued energy that beautifully highlighted the bamboo flute, violin and dance. The drive returned with Portland took its drums off their stands for “Soliloquy” and “From the Village”, and climaxed with a frenzy of movement and drumming in the finale “Taikokinesis”.
It’s great to see Caldwell Fine Arts end a milestone season with such a strong beat.