Tag ‘Europe’
“From the UK” by Jun Akimoto
The “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” team are in the United Kingdom.
Here are some photos from Liverpool on Feb. 19 and
Manchester on Feb. 20.
Behind our hotel in Liverpool, there was an art school bearing the name of a famous man from this city: John Lennon!
Apparently this school was attended by members of “The Beatles.”
Philharmonic Hall, our venue in Liverpool. This picture was taken before the performance.
“From Dublin, Ireland” by Jun Akimoto
National Concert Hall, Dublin.
We were welcomed by a sold-out audience. Our performance was passionate and we received a standing ovation from the full house.
The Ambassador of Japan, His Excellency Mr. Chihiro Atsumi, and his wife came to our performance. The day before, we were invited to their residence. Performers Masaru, Yosuke, Kenzo, Masayuki and Mariko went along with the tour managers.
“Performances at Theatre du Chatelet” by Yosuke Inoue
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend” Performances
We had five performances in a week at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France. On the day before the first concert there, we had a full dress rehearsal. At this performance, the press, staff, their families saw us perform, and it was mainly an audience of people who are familiar with Japanese drums.
They really liked our performance!
Thanks to their reaction, the papers and word of mouth that resulted led to our five performances being almost full-houses. We received a lot of applause and the performances were really fulfilling.
The staff at the Chatelet were very good humoured, took an interest in Kodo, and we are grateful that they enjoyed having us there to perform.
“O-daiko Ura-uchi” by Jun Jidai
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend” O-daiko Ura-uchi
In the second act of the performance, there are three O-daiko soloists who perform one after the other, and the third one is Yosuke Oda.
Wild, free, like he is beating the drum instinctively: he plays that kind of “O-daiko.” On this tour, I am playing the back of the drum, which is the bass rhythm part called “ura-uchi.”*
There is something great about standing on either side of the odaiko, the atmosphere and the air of tension. At first, the harder I tried, the more I’d lose the plot, or collide, or get ahead of where I was meant to be, and I couldn’t get my energy to accompany Yosuke’s energy properly. It was frustrating and it troubled me for ages.
n Milan, I was rehearsing with Yosuke before the performance and he said, “Relax, and be calm.” So I made a clean break and tried to play really calmly.
And when I did that, Yosuke said “Yes, that’s the way! When you play calmly, you could see all kinds of things, right? You need to face me with the exact opposite to my energy. Then our energy will meet in just the right spot.”
I felt like new things had popped up in my senses for sure. “So that’s what he meant!,” I thought to myself. I learned how good it feels when the two of us are in sync.
Playing the back of the odaiko teaches you a lot.
I’ll do my best behind the big drum again today!
*”Ura-uchi” is the person who plays the bass rhythm on the back of the odaiko (big drum), with their body and soul in unity with the soloist on the front of the drum.
“Tour Scenes from Paris, France” by Jun Akimoto
Our five performances at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France have successfully come to an end and many people came to see us.
Here’s a photo of the Theatre.
Yesterday it was our technical director Martin’s birthday! We celebrated his special day with a cake filled with something he loves: strawberries.
From Paris, France (by Jun Akimoto)
After successfully completing our performances in Italy, the “Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend” cast and staff have been at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris since Feb. 7 giving back-to-back performances.
▼Loading in to Theatre du Chatelet.
▼Yosuke Oda and Jun Jidai give an O-daiko demonstration.
This is also captured for tv and radio.
▼The curtain call after the first performance in Paris!
The audience got very excited and we received a standing ovation,
which is rare in Paris nowadays.
From Milan, Italy (by Jun Akimoto)
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend”
Feb. 1 Performance in Milan, Italy
The passionate audience gave us a standing ovation during the curtain call.
Local taiko groups held up message cards for us during the curtain call to cheer us on.
Thank you very much to everyone who came along.
From Opening Night in Rome, Italy (by Jun Akimoto)
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend”
On January 29, the tour had its opening night in Rome, Italy.
“A Stroll in Paris” by Tetsumi Hanaoka
After our performances in Rome and Milan in Italy, we have arrived in Paris, France.
I went out for a walk and was looking about in a shop and couldn’t believe I found Mano Tsuru sake from the Obata Shuzo sake brewery on Sado Island!
I asked the shop assistant and they said they had ordered it in especailly because it’s delicious…
Japanese stores Book Off and Uniqlo have also made their way onto the streets of Paris.
It’s only been 2 weeks since I left Japan, but this stroll in Paris made me feel a bit homesick.
“O-daiko Rehearsals for ‘Legend'” by Yosuke Kusa
We’re packing in the rehearsals for “One Earth Tour: Legend” that begins at the end of January.
Today Masayuki is making minor adjustments to his “O-daiko” solo, working hard in preparation for opening night.
