I have returned tired but inspired! I just finished taking a 6 day taiko intensive that was brutal, inspiring, motivating and filled with great connections with amazing people at a level that was intense. Two taiko artists were brought in:

Eri Uchida for katsugi – She was with Kodo for 10 years and taught the apprentices.  Her teaching style is fun and detailed. Some memories I will always have “Bounce and be a bird” and “Sui don Sui don” (Ask me in person for details). She taught us the Summer song (This is not us) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIVQVFhUKP0

Kaoly Gocoo who taught us a slimmed down version of her piece Eleven. This piece was written in response too the tsunami that hit Japan.  She creates connections and has a vibrant style of playing.  Here is a video of the first time I took the workshop back in 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev-UbX0Akms

We spent 3.5 hours with each teacher every day. It was hard work and a LOT of great information. Just having meals together made us stronger.

I cannot express how strong the connection was between both teachers and students. Nobody came out unchanged. I made new friends and strengthened my connections with others. The amazing people I met still leave me stunned. THEN I spent the next three days at The North American Taiko Conference. More connections with great people. I learned the Oban Dance “Tanko Bushi”, learned more about odaiko and Saturday night the intensive students performed both new pieces (I only did Eleven).

So now I have returned motivated (stayed tuned for possible future events) and ready to share what I have learned!

Please feel free to come to our practices and see what I learned this year and I will post videos when they are available to me!

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