Bring in da drums: Taikoproject has a booming story to tell

By Tina Potterf
Seattle Times staff reporter

ROBERT MEYERS Taikoproject, an eight-member collective, combines taiko drumming with elements of theater, hip-hop dance, music and video.

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That's how Bryan Yamami describes Taikoproject, an eight-member collective that uses the ancient Japanese taiko instrument, or big drum, as the cornerstone of contemporary theatrical productions. For the group's first full-scale performance piece, "(re)generation," artistic director Yamami and his group, which features Seattle sisters Tiffany and Kelsey Furuta, meld elements of theater, hip-hop dance, live and recorded music, and video with taiko drumming.

"It's not like any other taiko show anyone has ever seen," Yamami said during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles, where the group was rehearsing. "The show really gets ... into the stories and history behind American taiko. The majority of groups don't talk about the history. We wanted to tell the stories of where taiko started in the U.S. and the journey it's taken in the last 45 years." The 90-minute show is high-energy and high-impact, Yamami said.

Taikoproject presents "(re)generation" at 8 p.m. today and tomorrow at Meany Theater at the University of Washington, as part of the UW World Series.

Performance preview Taikoproject presents "(re)generation," 8 p.m. today and tomorrow, Meany Theater, University of Washington; $15-$28 (206-543-4880, 206-628-0888 or www.ticketmaster.com; information, 206-543-4882 or www.uwworldseries.org).

American taiko began as a way to celebrate the dual identities of Asian-American taiko artists, and to promote taiko as an art form. While the taiko drum goes back more than 1,400 years, it has only been showcased in performances for the past 50 years or so. "That's what sets (taiko) apart from other Japanese cultural traditions is that it's really young," Yamami said.

Over the past three decades, there's been a proliferation of American taiko artists throughout North America, including such renowned groups as Ondekoza and Kodo. As an art movement, it has gained world attention through high-profile events such as the North American Taiko Conference and the International Taiko Festival.

" '(re)generation' ... wouldn't have been possible five or 10 years ago," said Yamami, "because the taiko community only started to come together in the last few years, and that's when I started to meet all these different people."

Many taiko artists today, such as Yamami, represent third- or fourth-generation players.

When he was 8 years old, Yamami's parents introduced him to taiko: "It was something my parents sort of forced on me," he said. Yamami played for four years until his family moved from San Jose, Calif., to Syracuse, N.Y. It wasn't until he returned to Southern California to attend college that he picked the instrument up again.

The initial seeds of Taikoproject were planted while Yamami was working at the Japanese American Cultural Community Center in Los Angeles several years ago. A member of a then-fledgling local taiko group, Yamami was encouraged by the center's artistic director, and well-known drummer, the late Duane Ebata, to develop a show. As the group was taking shape, Yamami got involved with the Asian-American theater troupe, Here and Now, where he learned about working on stage and acting techniques that he put to use in his performances.

"Through theater I saw that you could really tap into things emotionally and tell stories that with taiko alone you couldn't really tell," Yamami, 27, said. "So we started to incorporate other things into (taiko), using humor or video, and adding bands and narrative to create a show."

Through his involvement with Here and Now, Yamami not only honed his performance style but met the theater group's founder, John Miyasaki, who is now Taikoproject's director. (Miyasaki, Yamami and musical director Shoji Kameda are the creative minds behind "(re)generation.")

The lessons learned on stage, from the art of storytelling to reciting monologues and projecting, are channeled into "(re)generation."

A compelling story about the history of the "big drum" and the growth of American taiko groups is at the heart of "(re)generation." But the show isn't about long-winded monologues; it's fast-paced and fluid, kicking off with what Yamami calls a "really hot" song before slipping into a poignant story, told by one of the group's performers, about growing up in a family of taiko players. Since this is, after all, a taiko performance, the rhythmic and resonant instrument is the unequivocal star of the show.

Tina Potterf: 206-464-8214 or tpotterf@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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