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==Making a Commotion: The 1980s and 1990s== ---- As word got out that Vancouver now had its own taiko ensemble, KT found many opportunities to perform. In 1982 alone, we played at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and the Eardrum Festival locally, and the Winnipeg Folklorama further afield; we also held our first public workshop that year, and some members even were able to tour Japan, including a visit to Sado-e, the island home of Kodo, perhaps the world’s best-known taiko ensemble. In the years that followed, the KT’s membership changed as people came and went (and sometimes came back), but we developed a tradition of performing at events that expressed our commitment to community causes and progressive politics. Some of these events focused on Nikkei issues. One early concert in 1984, for example, was a benefit for the Japanese-Canadian volunteer association Tonari Gumi, and we collaborated with Kokoro Dance in 1986 on a performance in Ottawa that was a commentary on the (eventually) successful movement seeking redress for those who were sent to internment camps during the Second World War. But we have also played benefits for First Nations land claims, performed in a women’s prison, participated in rallies for peace in the Middle East and against APEC, and held a show in support of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan. And then there were all the school shows – in both BC and Washington State – where we introduced a new generation to taiko, and the various community festivals: Dragon Boat Festivals, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, and of course the Powell Street Festival. Other performances took us further afield, whether to the interior of BC, almost every province in Canada, and even the wilds of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Somewhere along the way, KT started to act like a “real” musical group. We hired a manager, the indefatigable Diane Kadota. (A famous Diane-ism: “Blessed are those who write their names on their receipts. More blessed are those who write what they are for.”) In 1994, we recorded our first CD, Commotion, made of pieces composed and arranged by KT members. (Yes, Commotion is still available. Contact us to buy it, and to find about a more recent CD we put together with other local musicians, called Itadakimasu.) Perhaps one of the biggest challenges – and joys – of life in KT has been our big anniversary concerts, and member Atsuko Yamashita described what life was like during the (dare we say it) commotion of the CD-and-big-concert era: “It was a long, winding road to the [15th anniversary] concert, especially for the new inexperienced members…. It was my first experience to be in a performance of this scale. Combined with the releasing of a CD, it made me feel like a geihonjin, which is a term used to describe movie stars and singers in Japan.” As we had in the beginning, we sought out new skills and perspectives. We continued to learn from other musicians – including, most notably, visiting members from Japan’s own Kodo – and collaborated with musicians from other cultural traditions such as Mexican performing artists in Querétaro, the Sts’a’iles First Nation dancers, and the Vietnamese duo Khac Chi. Eventually, KT also became one of the foundations for a number of other taiko groups in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast. Groups like the youth groups Chibi, Tera, and Tonbo Taiko, the women’s group Sawagi Taiko, the more casual group Tokidoki Taiko, and the professional ensemble Uzume Taiko all have their origins in part in the history of KT. Today, there is a rich taiko scene in Vancouver, with each group having its own style and emphasis, which in turn enriches those of us who call KT our “home group.”
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