Taiko drumming beats with a rhythm as steady as the human heart—and as much life and soul. Letting out screams as they pound huge drums, teams of performers at Watsonville Taiko’s 20th anniversary celebration this weekend are sure to leave audiences spellbound.
“Taiko drumming resonates,” says Ikuyo Conant, composer for Watsonville Taiko. “That sound and vibration will pull you within your body.”
This year’s incarnation of the annual festival, which has been under the direction of Conant for 19 years, sees the drummers joining forces with the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus, led by Cheryl Anderson. Organizing three kinds of taiko—all of them based in the martial arts—Conant and her fellow directors have managed to strike an ideal balance between music and dance-like movements. While some groups focus on dancing and others focus on movement at the expense of sound, Conant didn’t want to make any sacrifices. “I wanted to have both,” says Conant of her martial arts-based approach.
Conant has collaborated on performances around the world, composing works that have been performed in London and Japan. In Santa Cruz County she has won both the Gail Rich Award for Artistic Inspiration and the Calabash Award for excellence in the Ethnic Arts.
She says performers learn to reconcile and balance polar opposite forces within themselves by using both male and female energies. Performances with the chorus will juxtapose sublime choral music with taiko’s thumping rhythm, “more of an earthy sound,” says Conant.
“Everything is kind of a dualism,” says Conant. “We human beings are caught between these two different poles, two extremes. And we have to balance ourselves between these two extremes. That’s how our lives are, and that’s why we learn taiko drumming.”
WATSONVILLE TAIKO 20TH ANNIVERSARY celebration is Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30pm and Sunday, Oct. 9 at 2pm at Cabrillo Crocker Theater, 6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos. Tickets $15-20. 831.435.4594. www.watsonvilletaiko.org
