“Our Performance in Legendary Yabu” by Mariko Omi

Posted: 2015/10/14 tags: Eternity, Kodo One Earth Tour, Mariko Omi | Posts by Kodo Members

Our Performance in Legendary Yabu
Oct. 3, 2015 “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity”

From the beginning of our current tour, the senior members have been saying “but when we’re at the venue in Yabu” so many times and they have brought up interesting things about this legendary hall.

“We have to roll the O-daiko in from outside up a staircase!”

“Last time, we set up the O-daiko cart on the stage even though it was a tight fit.”

“They have a profound love for Kodo at the hall in Yabu.”

As our performance there approached, I got so curious about Yabu from hearing all the different things the Kodo members had to say about it!

Rehearsal in Yabu

Viva Hall in Yabu is smaller than most of our usual venues with just 333 seats and a smaller stage to match. It was such a cozy place accompanied by a really warm, heartfelt welcome from all of the staff.

Rehearsal in Yabu

No matter how different a venue is, we have to create the unique realm of “Eternity” on stage as intended by the artistic director and deliver the production to our audience properly. So during our rehearsals at each venue, we check every element in our performance with great attention to detail, from the angle of our gazes into the audience to how we produce each sound to suit the acoustics.

I felt relieved when we received such warm applause from the full house during our performance in Yabu.

When each and every member of the cast actively reconsiders the essence of “Eternity,” we move with more detail and create sound together with more depth. I can feel our performance gaining depth and becoming more refined each time we go through this deliberate process.