What’s that you say? Your ex- won custody of the kids?
Well, here’s a holiday gift idea: How about a nice set of 150-pound Japanese drums for the children?
This video sampler shows what fun little Johnny and Janey can have with these exotic instruments!
The performers are from a New York-based troupe called Taikoza, which, we are told, translates as “Japanese Drum Group.” We aren’t going to question these folks. They carry big sticks, and know how to use them!
Tuesday’s show outside Morristown’s Community Theatre concluded the free summer series “Music Without Borders,” organized by the theater and the Arts Council of the Morris Area. Our thanks to MG contributor Nayna Shah for the photos.
Taikoza is: Margeurite Bunyan, Chikako Saito, Kenji Nakano and Elizabeth Stela.
Margeurite is a karate black belt who saw a Japanese drumming performance and immediately was hooked by its blend of music and movement. The mix includes elements of centuries-old Japanese folk songs and Shinto rituals. Instruments include the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute; the koto, a semi-cylindrical zither with 13 strings; the fue, a bamboo flute similar to the piccolo, and of course, the taiko — very big, very loud drums that are sure to resonate with your ex- on Christmas morning.
Taikoza rehearses in a Manhattan building that also accommodates a heavy metal band, said Elizabeth Stela, a dancer who studies oral history at Columbia University when she is not pounding the living you-know-what out of her cow-skin-covered-tree trunk.
“I feel really happy after I do this,” Elizabeth said of her drumming. “I guess it releases endorphins.”
No doubt, you will feel the same way on Christmas morning when your ex- calls to thank you for the wonderful gifts.
MORE FROM THE ‘MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS’ SERIES…
