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Australia\u2019s premier drumming ensemble Taikoz presents The Beauty Of 8, <\/em>an unusual blend of\u00a0Tennyson\u2019s poetry with taiko drumming and exquisite Japanese traditional dance.<\/p>\n Featuring guest artists master taiko player, Chieko Kojima and Shakuhachi Grandmaster Riley Lee, the production has all the elements Taikoz is famous for \u2013 hypnotic rhythms and adrenalin-fuelled performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Guest artist Chieko\u2019s famous combination of dance and unique drumming style\u00a0will introduce a new element of expression to Taikoz\u2019 performance. Trained as a dancer, Chieko seamlessly combines her love of movement, sound and rhythm into a unique performance, with a program of new music composed by Taikoz members, Ian Cleworth and Anton Lock.
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\u201cWe\u2019re building the program around Chieko\u2019s talents as a beautiful, emotive dancer and powerful, graceful taiko drummer, and I have no doubt the audience will be thoroughly entranced by her, and the music and theatre we will create in The Beauty Of 8<\/em>\u201d, says Ian Cleworth, Artistic Director of Taikoz.
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The program is constructed in three distinct parts \u2013 Horizon<\/em>, Sunrise<\/em> and The White Bird<\/em>. The three parts flow into one another with short scene changes separating each one.
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Horizon<\/em> begins with Tom Royce-Hampton\u2019s recitation of a selection of verses of Alfred Lord Tennyson\u2019s Ulysses<\/em>, an epic poem that speaks of the desire to explore new frontiers. Horizon <\/em>introduces Chieko\u2019s virtuoso side-on drumming, known as Hana Hachijo. Chieko\u2019s original style could be described as flamboyant; dressed in a beautiful kimono, Chieko approaches the taiko as if in a trance, and her movement, which grows in intensity, smoothly transitions from pure dance to \u2018drum-dance\u2019 with the infectious rhythms building in a frenzy of sound and colour.
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Sunrise<\/em> is composed by Anton Lock and features choreography by both Anton and Chieko. It develops out of Horizon<\/em> to feature upbeat, high energy taiko playing, culminating in a piece that sees five players rotating around the odaiko (Grand Drum), each beating out their own ad lib solos in an ever-increasing vortex of sound, power and momentum.
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This furious \u2018crescendo of pure energy\u2019 is preceded by a delicate but powerful dance for Chieko and four male dancers. A feature of Sunrise <\/em>is the use of fans in a stark spot-lit space where no bodies or faces appear \u2013 just the men\u2019s hands and fans.
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The White Bird<\/em> constitutes the third part of The Beauty Of 8<\/em>. This final section sees Chieko\u2019s choreography come to the fore as she dances to the ethereal strains of Riley\u2019s shakuhachi in Cascading Waterfall<\/em>. This delicate and melodious music directly contrasts with the transformation of Chieko from dancer to drummer in her rendition of Hana Hachijo. \u00a0To bring everyone together in a spirit of playfulness at the end, all players will combine to perform Anton\u2019s upbeat Rhythm River<\/em>.
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\u2018Taiko\u2019 is the Japanese word for \u2018drum\u2019 but a taikoz performance is more than just the beating of drums: it incorporates a complete world of drumming, song and dance that on the one hand harks back to ancient Buddhist and Shinto rituals and on the other is a reflection of contemporary musical life, irrespective of nationality. While once a uniquely Japanese art form, its transformation into an international language is a recent phenomenon and one in which Taikoz is very much at the forefront.<\/p>\n