The Martial Art Of Drumming

March 24, Collin’s Center, Orono- The sold out audience of all walks of life packed the campus auditorium to view twelve Japanese performers play Taiko drums, harps and flutes. The performance opened in darkness with a male performer at center stage sitting Indian style in front of a drum. The empowering sound created from this individual dressed in Japanese attire was accompanied by ten other percussionists. The sound appeared to multiply in magnitude as the visual aid came alive from the growing line of performers sitting in the same position from upstage left to right.
These performers created an overpowering illusion from their percussionist and choreographic skills for the audience to get lost into. The viewing crowd was in silence until one of the performers marched into the seated crowd armed with a drum and drumsticks. Taro Harasaki prompted the audience to become the metronome through clapping hands in a very generic beat. This lead into intermission as the once possessed audience appeared disruptive while exiting to stretch and refresh after the first hour of the performance.
Haha Lung is a martial artist writer and in his book “Mind Penetration” Lung tells how to remain in a peace of mind. One of the tactics often characterized as “black magic” is the use of vocal expression within specific letter sounds. The Tao artists chanted Japanese words as they performed, while the audience who probably didn’t speak Japanese was possessed from the sound coming from the performer’s mouths. This aspect was very interesting to view and experience. It is remarkable that even through a language barrier the audience felt the emotion intended for them to feel.
This performance was one of the last of “Tao: The Martial Art of Drumming” during their 3 month tour in the U.S. For more information about this performance please go to: http://www.drum-tao.com/en/