Kodo plays to a slightly different drum
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 6, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 UCLA Performing Arts Using the sounds of traditional
Japanese taiko drumming, Sado Island’s Kodo will perform at Royce
Hall tonight through Sunday.
By Chris Young
Daily Bruin Contributor
When many people think of taiko drumming, they imagine men in
loincloths beating large wooden drums with sticks and playing
traditional Japanese music. Kodo, a revolutionary performing arts
group from Japan, shows that taiko is much more.
Kodo centers its art around its performances, blending
traditional Japanese folk music, commissioned pieces by composers,
and the members’ own compositions. Kodo also incorporates
influences from around the world.
“It’s a riveting live experience, a window into a
new world,” said Dan Rosen, communications liaison for Kodo
who has worked and lived with the group for years.
“It will invigorate and empower people,” Rosen
continued. “The audience leaves the show feeling really
energized. There’s a beauty to the precision, to the
performance as a whole.”
The 22 performing members of Kodo go on tour nine months every
year, giving concerts in Japan and abroad. Their annual “One
Earth Tour” has amounted to 2000 performances in 37 countries
since the group’s formation in 1981.
“They are the most dedicated taiko drummers in the
world,” said Yuta Kato, a second-year Japanese and world arts
and cultures student and member of UCLA Taiko. “Their songs
are very powerful, very artistic and thought-out. Spiritually, the
members are at a very high level.”
Kodo plays contemporary music from Japan and around the world,
using wooden flutes, xylophones and steel and taiko drums.
“If you come into a concert without any preconceptions
that this is Japanese or traditional ““ if you leave your
preconceptions at the door ““ then you go to another
world,” Rosen said.
Rosen suggested there are three layers to Kodo’s
performances. Most obvious is the auditory layer, with the drums
and other instruments. Then there is the visual layer where every
movement on stage is choreographed, like a dance. Lastly is the
physical layer.
The members of Kodo have lived communally on Sado Island, Japan
since coming together in 1971.
“These were people disillusioned with modern Japanese
society, who wanted to drop out and dedicate themselves to
traditional Japanese art,” Rosen said.
Since then, they adopted a rigid lifestyle devoted to studying
the taiko and other Japanese arts. The group formed Kodo with the
idea that they could raise money to preserve and study those
traditional arts by giving performances.
When Kodo is not touring, its members devote the rest of the
year to living, studying and training on Sado Island. Every day on
Sado is spent practicing and exercising to develop the strength and
stamina needed to perform. It is this communal living experience
that makes Kodo special.
“There’s an idea of cultivating a community there
that goes beyond an average performing arts group; it means
working, living, cooking together,” Rosen said.
Having a close community means that when on stage, Kodo members
have extraordinary energy and communication which becomes obvious
to the audience.
“One thing that separates taiko groups is the
“˜kokoro’ they have in playing, the chemistry between
members,” said Marykay Tsugi, a fifth-year East Asian studies
and political science student.
Having lived on Sado himself with Kodo, Rosen agreed.
“It makes for real intimacy (living on Sado Island), and
that shows itself on stage,” Rosen said. “People are
impressed by that (on-stage presence).”
Kodo has been well received by audiences worldwide. In Japan,
people are familiar with the taiko, but rarely see it performed in
an ensemble context such as Kodo. Audiences are amazed that the
taiko is used in group performance.
“In Japan, people are looking at things they already
recognize, like a childhood festival, and all the feelings and
emotions associated with that,” Rosen said. “Or it may
re-awaken in them what it means to be Japanese.”
In the United States, people aren’t as familiar with the
taiko, but they are still overwhelmed by the sheer power of the
group.
“Their performances are amazing and inspirational,”
Kato said.
Because Kodo draws from influences around the world, people
recognize it as performing more than the standard repertoire of
traditional Japanese music.
“Kodo is revolutionizing the taiko, making it more into a
“˜world’ music,” said Walter Tsushima, a
fourth-year student majoring in Japanese.
One way Kodo makes its music more contemporary is by holding
master classes and workshops in Japan and around the world, in
which members give performances. These workshops allow Kodo to meet
people at a one-on-one level.
The group is interested in community outreach and exchanging
musical and cultural ideas. They might teach a local taiko group
some methods of playing, and get back other ideas to incorporate
into pieces composed by the members.
The dedication of Kodo’s members to the art of taiko is
apparent not only in their workshops, but also in that they are
involved in every aspect of the performance.
“There are no “˜stars’ here,” Rosen said.
“This isn’t a group that comes in at 6 p.m. for an 8
p.m. performance. This is a group that comes in at 8 in the morning
to set up. It’s a pleasure to work with people that are
dedicated.”
MUSIC: Kodo performs at Royce Hall, Feb. 7 to
Feb. 11, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $40, $35, $30, and $15 (to UCLA students) at the
Central Ticket Office or Ticketmaster outlets. For information go
to www.performingarts.ucla.edu
or call (310) 825-2101.
