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PERFORMANCE POSTPONEMENT AND CANCELLATION NOTICES

♦ June 5 (Sat), 2021 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2021: Tsuzumi” Furano Theater Factory (60-min. version), Furano, Hokkaido [CANCELED]
♦ June 6 (Sun), 2021 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2021: Tsuzumi” Makubetsu, Hokkaido [POSTPONED]※
♦ June 12 (Sat), 2021 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2021: Tsuzumi” Settsu, Osaka [POSTPONED]※
♦ June 13 (Sun), 2021 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2021: Tsuzumi” Sakai, Osaka [CANCELED]
※The Kodo production presented at the rescheduled performance may be subject to change.

Feel the reverberations of heaven and earth in harmony.

Kodo celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2021.
We will commemorate this milestone with two new productions. In our first commemorative work, Tsuzumi, we will perform Dyu-Ha on tour for the first time in around 15 years. The late Maki Ishii, a modern composer who was introduced to Kodo by conductor Seiji Ozawa, presented this piece to Kodo as a gift to congratulate our ensemble on its debut in 1981. Tsuzumi will also feature Ishii’s masterpiece Monochrome and other Kodo signature pieces such as O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi, and Zoku, coupled with new compositions. Join us as we trace our group’s origins back to the beginning, to reflect on our history and reaffirm what has shaped Kodo today. Tsuzumi will serve as a cornerstone for Kodo’s next ground-breaking chapter.

Message to Kodo from Rokusuke Ei*

“Your handcrafted taiko are works of art,
which people can fully appreciate just by looking at them.
That’s why I want you to be humans who show their presence just by being there, without doing anything.

When you face taiko with that kind of presence,
only then will you realize you cannot play those drums
half-heartedly:
you need to devote yourself to it with the purity of a child.
In that moment, you are Kodo—children of the drum.”

*Rokusuke Ei was an entertainer and lyricist who was involved in the creation of Kodo’s antecedent group, Sado no Kuni Ondekoza. He passed away in 2016.

Conjured and honed on Sado,
Kodo’s sound is like no other.

Kodo 40th Anniversary Commemorative Performance: Tsuzumi.
For its theme, we chose the place where it all began half a century ago: our home of Sado Island. When we reflect on the past, we understand the present.
This brand new work will become a cornerstone for Kodo’s next innovative chapter.
The reverberations of taiko awaken the power of heaven and earth. Conjured and honed on Sado, Kodo’s sound is like no other.
I hope you’ll come and feel the soul-stirring depths of its resonance firsthand at the theater.

Yuichiro Funabashi, Director

Director

Yuichiro Funabashi

Cast*

Eiichi Saito, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Jun Jidai, Koki Miura, Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga, Reo Kitabayashi, Mizuki Yoneyama, Yuta Kimura, Yuki Hirata, Kei Sadanari, Sho Nakatani, Moe Niiyama, Jumpei Nonaka
*Subject to change without notice.

Programme

Features Dyu-Ha, Monochrome, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi, Zoku, new compositions, and more.

Sponsor: Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd.
Supported by: The Agency of Cultural Affairs, Goverment of Japan through the Japan Arts Council