Taiko ensemble, Kodo, know how to take the show on the road: according to their newsletter, the troupe has performed over 2,600 concerts in 42 countries since their 1981 debut (do the math). A wellspring of fresh ideas and aspiring young talent help explain why they grow stronger, year after year, but the real reason is simple: they are the best there is.
Dedicated to their craft, Kodo grew out of the desire to start a traditional Japanese art and culture school. The result was Kodo Village, where many members and their families live, and the Kodo Cultural Foundation, a two-year program teaching everything from drumming to tea ceremony to farming techniques. Both are on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, close to where they hold Earth Celebration, a world music festival the group organizes every summer.
Kodo are not your local matsuri's Taiko. Their performances are equal parts theater, ritual and block party, with 20-plus performers putting Broadway flair to black-belt precision (and not an ounce of body fat among them, I might add). The stage is in constant flux. Dancers, drummers, traditional instrumentalists and stagehands moving massive drums -- some weighing nearly 400 kg. -- alter the aural and visual landscape with almost superhuman alacrity. These guys are serious, but never betray how much fun they're having. Their bonhomie, like the beat, is infectious.
