Za Ondekoza is one of the best drumming troupes on earth and will be kicking off their Marathon Live Tour at the National Concert Hall with Monday and Tuesday night performances of their acclaimed taiko drumming. After these shows the drummers won't be performing again until June but will still be in Taiwan doing something else they do well: running.
For 45 days, Za Ondekoza will hit the road instead of drums, but will take to Taiwan stages again on June 9 at the National Concert Hall and on yet-undecided dates in Kaohsiung, Tainan, Yuanling and Taichung.
The troupe's motto, "running, drumming and dancing on the earth," is not just a slogan but a way of life. Founded in 1969 by director Tagayasu Den on Sado Island, Japan, the group lives together, trains together and has created world-renowned shows using their taiko drums ("big drums" in Japanese).
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZA ONDEKOZA
Za Ondekoza has performed several "marathon" performances -- such as this upcoming months-long event in Taiwan -- to combine the physicality of running, drumming and dancing.
The group debuted in 1975, after years of practicing and defining their mission, when they jumped on stage to drum straight after running the Boston Marathon. After several more years, they decided to weave running and performance into the medium they have created: the marathon tour.
Za Ondekoza's first marathon tour started at Carnegie Hall, New York, in 1990 and ended there three years later, after 355 performances, 1,071 days, and 14,910km of running. Their first marathon tour in Japan was held after the death of founder Tagayasu Den in 2001. His pupils ran 600km from Sado Island to Fuji, near where the group is now based.
The next running tour planned is Long Journey, a trip of 12,500km in China, which will hopefully be completed by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Za Ondekoza also performed at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Nagano in 1998 and in an unprecedented collaboration with the fashion industry at the Christian Dior fashion show three years ago, when their sounds were combined with those of DJ Jeremy Healy. They have collaborated with many other groups, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The sounds, motions and treks of Za Ondekoza may turn heads but its their silences and stillness that make them so captivating and popular. In Japanese, the word for such silence or space is ma, and in taiko drumming the word describes the period between drum hits.
Ma heightens the drama of the beats in the same way that the stillnesses of the performers accentuates their physical aptitudes. Ma, the silence or stillness, is where the bodies of the performers and the drums serve the same purpose and find common ground.
Ma is often inspiration for thematic rhythms, such as in oroshi, when hits on the taiko are at first spread apart but gradually are played closer together until ma is minimized in a fast roll that creates seemingly constant noise.
Performance notes:
What: Za Ondekoza Marathon Live Tour
Where: The National Concert Hall, 21-1, Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei
When: Monday and Tuesday, 7:30pm
Tickets: NT$500 to NT$3,600, through ERA Ticketing
Telephone: (02) 2729 5896
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