Tag ‘Rehearsals’
“In Preparation for ‘Michi'” by Tsuyoshi Maeda
Feb. 14, 2015
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
This month we began our rehearsals for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi,” which will be held at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama on March 19 & 20. The programme is nothing but “Kodo classics.” We have taken the pieces that Kodo has honed over the past decades and let our current members recreate them.
For a couple of years, we have been working on all kinds of new challenges and taken a break from the fundamentals of Kodo to date, such as our signature pieces and costumes. With that distance comes new realizations about things until now that had never occurred to us before. It has been a period for us to find out about what defines us as “Kodo” beyond our name.
Now, at this particular point in time, we will hold this special concert, Michi, which means “road” or “path.”
Chonlima, Monochrome, Miyake, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi. We have taken a look at an array of classic Kodo pieces anew. Personally, I deeply feel that a special Kodo aura radiates from within each of these “classic Kodo performance” pieces.
During our rehearsals for Michi, the senior members remind us about our stance, the nuance of each rhythm, how to approach the taiko mentally and emotionally, and they performed with us for the first time in quite a while. This really emphasized to me where my weaknesses lie, and it also made me realize just how high our seniors have set the bar with their own skills.
Rehearsing feels like I’m banging into a wall that I can’t climb over yet, and while I completely frustrate myself everyday, I can also feel a fire burning my belly ignited by motivation. In any case, I am learning a lot every day.
In Japanese, onkochishin is a phrase we use at times like these, which means “to attempt to discover new things by studying the past.” I can reaffirm what is important for Kodo, what Kodo must never lose, through these rehearsals for Michi. And I want to make a good use of what I learn in brand new creations, too.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Reo Kitabayashi, Masaya Koike, Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 3″ by Mitsunaga Matsuura
As the performers rehearse, it feels like each beat creates a “pellet” of sound.
The rehearsal hall is filled with sound pellets, fired from every instrument.
▶YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers (TBC): Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 2” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
This programme is filled with moments to let each individual shine, showcasing their own uniquely honed skills.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 1” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Even though these are such familiar pieces, they filled the rehearsal hall with a wave of fresh air.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“A 15mm World” by Maya Minowa
The rehearsals for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi” are well underway.
At this performance, I will become the first-ever female Kodo performer to play Monochrome on stage.
We have to use such precision when we practice Monochrome… you could cut through the tension in the rehearsal hall with a knife.
The pianissimo parts in this composition are played in a tiny 15mm world. We have to control our drumsticks to make strokes within this minute range. Eiichi Saito says, “Don’t move your sticks up and down, just let them fall from your tanden (core/abdomen).” But this drumming technique is far more difficult than I had ever imagined. (Apparently, in the old days, Kodo members would light a candle and practice drumming like this until it had burned down completely.)
My practice for this piece is rather stoic and subtle and it makes me connect an array of nerves that I never had to think about before.
I hope you will join us for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi” next month.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“Rehearsals Begin for ‘Michi'” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Rehearsals for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Rehearsals have begun for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi.”
The cast features three brand new junior members: Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama.
Everyone is working hard to prepare for the performances in March.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“‘Amaterasu’ 2015: Here We Go!” by Mitsuru Ishizuka
“Amaterasu” will return for encore performances in May this year at Osaka’s Shochiku-za Theatre. We started off our practice for 2015 by spending a couple of days rehearsing for this collaboration.
The lead performer and artistic director, Tamasaburo Bando, and Harei Aine, who will play the role of Ameno-uzume, didn’t join us for these rehearsals, so it was just us Kodo members. We went through the music, piece by piece, checking it all carefully together.
We recalled the programme mentally, then remembered it physically by playing it anew. We all performed the music with care and attention to detail, so that each one of us can take our own performance to a higher level than last season.
We have been given another opportunity to tackle this programme so soon after the last “Amaterasu” performances in 2013. We will focus on our musical instruments, our bodies, and our technique, so that we can create a deeper quality of sound that is even more feel-good to our audiences.
I hope you are looking forward to the upcoming performances in May!
Amaterasu (Photos by Takashi Okamoto, courtesy of TBS）
Amaterasu 2015
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150503amaterasu_en.html
Article in “SWITCH” Magazine
The latest issue of “SWITCH” magazine (Oct. 20) features interviews with cast members Yuichiro Funabashi and Masayuki Sakamoto about Kodo’s upcoming production, “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity.” (Article in Japanese/On sale in Japan) If you’re in Japan, we hope you’ll take a look.
Switch Official Website
Switch Vol. 32 No.11 Ringo Shina “Musician’s Counterattack”
(Published on October 20, 2014 by Switch Publishing)
Kodo “A New Style of Freedom”
“Two years have passed since Tamasaburo Bando assumed the role of Kodo’s artistic director. We snuck into the Kodo rehearsal hall, amidst an air of supple intensity.”
Yuichiro Funabashi: An Interview by Johnny Wales
Interview with Yuichiro Funabashi by Johnny Wales
Yuichiro Funabashi (Photo: Johnny Wales)
Yuichiro Funabashi was born on May 9th, 1974 in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo. He grew up in suburban Ninomiya. His father was a salary man and his mother worked in a hospital. He had one sister, 6 years older. He remembers his childhood fondly, describing himself as a life–of–the–party type playing soccer and baseball outside every day. Spinning tops were all the rage, (to put things in historical context) so there was plenty of that too. This was the very tail-end of the baby boom so there were children everywhere, 1,000 students alone in his elementary school, so there was no lack of friends to play with.
In middle school he joined the volleyball club. This became the centre of his world, 7 days a week, until he entered high school. Though his high school was nearby, it had even more students and he felt adrift among all the strange faces. Apart from dabbling in two wildly-divergent interests, American football and the tea ceremony, and some part-time work on archeological digs, he more or less coasted through 3 very dark years. In spite himself though, he did manage to get good enough marks to consider university. He was accepted into the Kyoto University of Art and Design where he studied archeology and artifact conservation. He enjoyed going on digs and he also became interested in marine archeology. It was while preparing for his scuba diving license that his life came to one of those great crossroads. Taiko entered his life.
“Rehearsals for ‘Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island'” by Tsugumi Yamanaka
Rehearsals for ‘Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2014: Autumn’
We had rehearsals at Shukunegi Community Hall to prepare for the “Kodo Special Performances” centered around Kodo’s distinguished members. Yoshie Abe will sing a charming rendition of Isobushi. In Kawasaki, Chieko and Yoshie will dance to an accompaniment by the male performers. Ryosuke will give an energetic, youthful performance of Onidaiko (demon drumming dance).
One of the highlights is O-daiko, which will be performed by Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Eiichi Saito, and Tomohiro Mitome.
Don’t miss it! We are really looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2014: Autumn
Oct. 2 (Thu)–Oct. 5 (Sun), 2014 Shukunegi Community Hall, Ogi Peninsula, Sado Island, Niigata
Appearing: Kodo (Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Chieko Kojima, Motofumi Yamaguchi, Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Ryosuke Inada)
Special Appearance: Yoshie Abe
Times: Oct. 2 (Thu) 15:00, Oct. 3 (Fri) 15:00, Oct. 4 (Sat) 11:00, 15:00, Oct. 5 (Sun) 11:00, 15:00
Inquiries:
Kodo Cultural Foundation Tel. 0259-81-4100 (Mon–Fri, 9:30 – 17:00)
Sado Island Taiko Centre Tel. 0259-86-2320 (Tue–Sun, 9:00 – 17:00)