Ka-Oriented Soloing at 2018 ITI

Ka-Oriented Soloing at 2018 ITI

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

  1. Do you work out for physique or technique?  technique
  2. How many different spots on the drum do you use?  all of them (kuchishoga for about a dozen, see attached PDF)
  3. How do you switch sides?  one way: Helio
  4. How do I figure out the footwork?  Start with the flow of the hands through space and your feet will follow.
  5. What's the most useful rhythm you've learned?  Recently... 'gadachidaga' (<- at 00:06)
  6. 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.
  7. How do you make your arms not look stiff?  Starting move from torso, bachi lag.
  8. 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.
  9. 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'.
  10. Do you use a metronome?  Nowadays, I just use music since it's 'metronome plus fun'.
  11. What's the most complicated move you've tackled?  Ardor
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Any drills that you love?  The 1eau Drill continues to inspire me.
  17. 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
Performers: