Photo provided Members of the Southern Indiana Taiko performance group are shown at an outdoor performance.
Sounds of traditional taiko drums will soon reverberate through the halls of the Crump Theatre as the Southern Indiana Taiko performance group and a few invited guests demonstrate their taiko at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Formed in 2015 by director Gail Nowels, the Southern Indiana Taiko performance group is a non-profit organization that focuses on the Japanese art of taiko drumming, hosting taiko performances and taiko informational programs to promote cultural diversity. Nowels has been practicing taiko for almost 20 years after a friend introduced it to her. She described taiko as being a theatrical form of drumming that involves synchronized movement and voice.
The organization offers multiple instruction groups designed for different demographics and age groups, including a children’s class and a class for adults and teens. They have also started a new Silver Class for older drummers, those who experience a limiting factor or have Parkinson’s disease, Nowels said. The performance group performs at festivals, Nowels said`, including Ethnic Expo and Oktoberfest.
“We also perform for businesses, different cultural events, the library, we do stuff for the schools,” Nowels said. “We currently have a grant right now where we’re doing a program with the schools through the Indiana Arts Commission and Columbus Area Arts Council.”
Their upcoming concert will feature the Southern Indiana Taiko performance group and the Junior Thunder Class, a more advanced class of students who have played with the group for a while, according to Nowels. Utilizing a grant from Arts Midwest, Nowels said they will also be joined by taiko professionals Mark Rooney and Eddie Yates.
Dubbed “the world’s most dangerous half-Japanese/half-Scottish solo improvisational taiko artist,” Rooney teaches taiko at his own school in Washington D.C., as well as in after-school programs and colleges, according to his website. Yates teaches in Cincinnati and was the first Westerner to be invited to perform with Aska Gumi, a prominent Japanese drum troupe, in Japan, Nowels said. Yates and Rooney will also be bringing along their groups to perform during the concert.
While Yates has performed with the Southern Indiana Taiko performance group and even teaches the group a few times a year, Nowels said they have not performed with Rooney before. She said they are looking forward to playing with world-renowned drummers as well as performing at the Crump Theatre.
“It’s a very powerful, exciting, fun type of art form. And… it’s a whole body experience, so once the drums start going, you can just feel it down in your soul,” Nowels said. “So, drumming is very healing and it’s just a really fun thing to watch and to see people be able to play drums like this all together and move, it’s a very powerful experience.”
Tickets for the concert can be purchased at Save the Crump’s Facebook page or Southern Indiana Taiko’s website and Facebook page. Tickets cost $15 for general admission while tickets for children 12 and under cost $10. Red carpet tickets and VIP tables are also available with red carpet tickets costing $25.
