Date:
Sat, 2018-05-26 14:45 to 16:30
Ticket price:
N/A
Location:
UC Riverside
Description:
The fuchi (rim) of the taiko inspires endless naname movement. Participants learn selections of advanced choreography as well as the compositional process that created them.
Question-driven format
- Do you work out for physique or technique? technique
- How many different spots on the drum do you use? all of them (kuchishoga for about a dozen, see attached PDF)
- How do you switch sides? one way: Helio
- How do I figure out the footwork? Start with the flow of the hands through space and your feet will follow.
- What's the most useful rhythm you've learned? Recently... 'gadachidaga' (<- at 00:06)
- Any thoughts on collegiate use of fuchi? Collegiate players with dance experience can pull off more dance-like moves than me. On the 'relevance spectrum', I have to stay close to just playing the taiko.
- How do you make your arms not look stiff? Starting move from torso, bachi lag.
- Do you start with the music or the movement? I'm usually choreographing to music that makes me want to move. I stop the music when I want to move slowly or not worry about timing.
- What's your favorite genre of music? In general, there is something from every genre that I like, but for naname choreo I like 'trap' and 'hip-hop'.
- Do you use a metronome? Nowadays, I just use music since it's 'metronome plus fun'.
- What's the most complicated move you've tackled? Ardor
- How do you use small, fast hits (vs big movements)? I used to try and go from rhythm to movement but now I appreciate mixing the two more randomly.
- What's a "pointless" move vs a musical one? Pointing and bachi-tossing can easily come off as pointless but anything can work (taught Blip) if it's used at the right moment.
- Do you spend your time playing with others or solo? 95% of my practice time is alone, with the hopes of being able to make musical connections with others.
- What teaching methods do you use recently? I did a week of classes without words and realized how powerful teaching without words can be. My Move! course is almost entirely copycat.
- Any drills that you love? The 1eau Drill continues to inspire me.
- What is a good taiko performance? That's the big question! The search continues!
Wrap up:
Great group of enthusiastic players. Tried doing entirely question-driven workshop: "The title is ~... What do you want to know?"
I started with a warmup game that seemed to help. "What question would you like to ask Kenny Endo but you're afraid?"
Thank you to all the participants!
Audience size:
13