Chieko Kojima will take part in various performances and teach workshops in the USA this July.
Chieko Kojima will join contemporary taiko quartet On Ensemble for a unique performance at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles, which takes place during a seven-week series of world music and dance performances celebrating humankind’s connection to nature and gardens. Bring a picnic for a family-friendly evening of fun! Free with admission to the Gardens.
For more about On Ensemble, please visit their website.
On Ensemble http://onensemble.org/
Chieko Kojima will collaborate with former Kodo member Kaoru Watanabe in New York. They will be joined on stage by a range of guest artists. We hope you will come along!
*Friday evening through Sunday morning
Chieko Kojima will lead a weekend-long intensive at the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center in New York, teaching her signature piece Hana Hachijo. Her interpretation of this folk drumming style from the island of Hachijo, one of the few places in Japan where women have traditionally been allowed to drum, is an ever-popular piece in the Kodo repertoire.
While she approaches Hana Hachijo as a dance more than as a drumming composition, she hits with power and precision and her movements are always functional in terms of creating efficient and dynamic strikes. We hope you'll take this opportunity to spend an extended amount of time with Chieko in New York.
Workshop participants can expect to study Chieko's philosophy and methodology regarding posture, movement, balance and her approach to the piece Hana Hachijo: playing the jiuchi pattern, typical Hachijo rhythmic patterns, developing one's solo and much, much more.