By: David de Young
 Theater Mu - photo from their website |
Members in attendance: Rick Shiomi Official webpage: |
Theater Mu (pronounced MOO) is a Minneapolis-based artistic company that creates theater and taiko from the heart of the Asian American experience. Mu is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for the shaman/ artist / warrior who connects the heavens and the earth through the tree of life.
Local Honeyweller's at the Camden facility were honored to have Mu Daiko, Theater Mu's professional taiko ensemble, perform an hour-long sampling of taiko over the lunch hour on Tuesday. According to the artistic company's webpage, "Taiko drumming goes back to the earliest Japanese communities where it was a part of daily life and rituals. In North America today, taiko has become a dynamic performance art form of musical drumming based upon traditional Japanese styles and techniques. It's loud, strenuous, and pulsating with adrenaline." Though not the most fitting music by which to eat a quiet lunch, it was an exhilarating and energizing experience, and I look forward to seeing them again at a more drum-friendly time of day.
I walked in about a minute or so late at the beginning of Journey to Toji Temple ("Journey" for short.) This piece was composed by Rick Shiomi after he was inspired by a trip he took to the temple in Japan and reflects the spiritual pilgrimages of the Japanese to one of the famous shrines for the monk Kobo Daishi. Their publicity material mentions adrenaline, and this piece was full of the most pure form of it, just the sort of energy required to affect change.
Then came another original song called "Pounding Hooves" inspired in part by images of horses galloping in a field. Each song required a rearrangement of the stage and drums, and this song itself was varied, with dancing, and plenty of smiles and shouts by the players.
Out of breath after the intense piece, Theater Mu co-founder Rick Shiomi said that most of the Mu Daiko performers had started out less than 6 years ago, while he himself started in the 70's under the Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, founder/leader of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Theater Mu itself is now 10 years old, and has 11 members (5 of whom were present today.) Aside from the Mu Daiko members, Theater Mu as a whole has many performers involved in theatrical productions. And as a teaching as well as performing organization, Theater Mu now boast more than 60 students. A summer concert, "Passing the Beat: A Taiko Recital," planned at The Southern Theater on July 11th through 13th" will feature students as well as the full time Mu Daiko members.
Today's performance was as much theater as it was drumming. One example was the performance piece Shishi Mai, a traditional Japanese lion dance dating back to the 17th or 18th Century. As Theater Mu leans primarily towards original and contemporary works, this was the only traditional piece of the performance. It featured Shiomi dressed in a lion costume. He explained before the piece that apparently it's good luck if the lion in this dance bites you on the neck. I had no such luck myself, but the lion did go after a nearby audience member's ice cream sandwich.
Matsuri (Japanese for festival) came next, and Shiomi claimed most groups in Japan play some version of this song. Then finally Yodan, a song that became very popular in Tokyo. At the start, this song is definitely a meditation of sorts, with slow, methodic beats and intermittent triangle chimes. It gives way to a powerful and dramatic climax that is definitely a workout for all the players involved. Taiko is extremely physical music, a veritable combination of martial arts and musicianship. As the group members move from drum to drum, the choreography at the end of the piece is such that one false move and a drummer would be likely to be struck in the head by another.
Theater Mu's major annual concert of this year it will be a two hour show in December 5th through 14th at the Southern Theater. The group also takes 3-5 drummers at a time to do outreach programs, primarily at schools. For more info on these programs, show schedule, or classes see their webpage or email info@theatermu.org.
Location Info:
Honeywell Labs Cafeteria
Artist Info: Theater Mu
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