{"id":3356,"date":"2015-06-06T09:50:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-06T00:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/?p=3356"},"modified":"2015-06-06T09:57:42","modified_gmt":"2015-06-06T00:57:42","slug":"kodo-in-june-by-tomohiro-mitome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/posts-by-kodo-ensemble-leader\/20150606_3356.html","title":{"rendered":"“Kodo in June” by Tomohiro Mitome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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June 1, 2015<\/p>\n

Hello, everyone! I hope that you are well.<\/p>\n

This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo.<\/p>\n

June has begun. The sun’s rays are\u00a0getting stronger and the forests on Sado are such a vivid green. I feel the power of Mother Nature through this intensity.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>\"Photo:<\/a><\/h3>\n

Until a few years ago, I spent spring traveling around Japan with\u00a0the “Kodo One Earth Tour” performances, from the beginning of May until the end of June. When I would come back to Sado in June, I was always taken aback by the changes in nature between my departure and my return. As we passed through the dense gauntlet of trees to reach Kodo Village, I’d feel at home before we had even arrived.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Takashi Okamoto, Courtesy of Shochiku-za Theatre<\/p><\/div>\n

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Thanks to all of your support, May concluded on a high note after our successful “Amaterasu<\/a>” performances at Shochiku-za Theatre in Osaka. Thank you very much to all of you\u00a0who attended the performances. The previous encore performances were held two years ago, so this time even more young, new members joined the cast. I think “Amaterasu” provided\u00a0them with such valuable experiences: they rose to the challenge of tackling\u00a0new parts and instruments, and they were able to perform on stage with Kabuki luminary Tamasaburo Bando.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5736-150505-taroN\"<\/p>\n

Around the same time, we held the fourth annual\u00a0“Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island<\/a>”\u00a0near Kodo Village in\u00a0the historic Shukunegi area. The cast was centered around Kodo\u2019s distinguished members and also featured our new\u00a0junior members, so there was a large age gap between the cast members (more than a generation!). These performances were a great opportunity for our\u00a0junior members to learn from our senior members.<\/p>\n

As usual, from June Kodo has planned\u00a0a variety of performances in Japan including “Kodo One Earth Tour 2015: Eternity<\/a>” performances and “School Workshop Performances<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

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From June 10 to\u00a015, our\u00a0“DADAN 2015<\/a>” performances will take place\u00a0at Asakusa Public Hall in Tokyo. This year is the third year for Kodo to have a series of performances at Asakusa Public Hall in June. Thanks to warm local support, Kodo\u2019s performances in Asakusa have gradually started to take root.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDADAN<\/a>,\u201d which means \u201cmen drumming,\u201d premiered in 2009. This production features an all-male cast of\u00a0seven\u00a0performers in a bold exploration of pure non-stop physical percussion. Dadan marked the first time for Kodo to adopt professional hair styling,\u00a0makeup, and a new style of costume.<\/p>\n

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Dadan also introduced the use of\u00a0a giant screen, which shows performers filmed by a\u00a0fellow performer live on stage. This allows the audience to watch aspects of the stage that cannot usually be seen, such as the drummer beating the base rhythm on the back side of the big drum, the firmly-anchored legs of the performers as they drum, and all the beads of sweat. By showing these elements, the impact of the performance is doubled. Dadan was a turning point for Kodo to forge ahead in new directions, not only visually, but also in terms of musical expression.\u00a0For Dadan, we incorporated instruments other than drums, such as Javanese kempul, and we broadened our range to\u00a0create not only powerful sounds but also delicate forms of expression.<\/p>\n

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Dadan has held encore performances almost every year since its premiere. In 2012, we had four sold-out\u00a0performances at Th\u00e9atre du Ch\u00e2telet in Paris, France, followed by a tour in Japan. In 2014,\u00a0Dadan went on a summer\u00a0festival tour in Spain and France. Through all of these performances, Dadan has been continually evolving.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of www.ESJAPON.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a02014 Dadan tour in Europe featured new pieces and a new cast. For “DADAN 2015” at Asakusa Public Hall, this formation will expand with additional cast members. As time goes by, the programme is\u00a0becoming deeper and more refined. I hope that you will come along and enjoy this year’s Dadan performances in June!<\/p>\n

\"tomohiro_s\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"20150610dadan\"<\/a><\/p>\n

June 10\u201315 “DADAN 2015” in Asakusa, Tokyo<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/news\/20150610dadan_en.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 1, 2015 Hello, everyone! I hope that you are well. This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo. June has begun. The sun’s rays are\u00a0getting stronger and the forests on Sado are such a vivid green. I feel the power of Mother Nature through this intensity. Until a few years ago, I spent spring traveling around Japan with\u00a0the “Kodo One Earth Tour” performances, from the beginning of May until the end of June. When I would come back to Sado in June, I was always taken aback by the changes in nature between my departure and my return. As we passed through the dense gauntlet of … \u25b6\u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[11,26,6,82,23,42,35],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3356"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3356"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3356\/revisions\/3477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}