Japanese drummers Kodo head for Plymouth
The phenomenal Japanese taiko drumming company KODO will return to the UK in February 2016 – its 35th anniversary - with the thrilling new production ‘MYSTERY’, a dramatic mix of storytelling, music, dance and drama designed to reflect the beauty and mystery of Japanese traditions throughout the ages.
And on Friday 19 February 2016 they'll be performing at Plymouth Pavilions.
Featuring 15 of Kodo’s highly trained Taiko (Japanese percussion instruments) performers, ‘MYSTERY’ is the second touring work to be directed by the company’s Artistic Director, the celebrated Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando.
Hailing from Sado Island off the northern coast of Japan, Kodo is the first and most influential Taiko ensemble in the world, comprising a troupe of musicians and dancers who transform centuries-old traditional Japanese ritual and performing arts into exhilarating, contemporary stage shows.
Says Tamasaburo Bando: “With this new show ‘Mystery’, my aim is to create just that: a world of mystery. In the folk arts that have been handed down through the generations in Japan, there’s a form of sacredness, an air of mystery within prayers which, in our show, is expressed by the drums. Our aim is to touch audiences as well as entertain them so they can feel that same, incredible air of mystery. I’m hoping that audiences who come to see our show in February will experience a similar sort of other-worldly splendor, a spirituality that you sense in a Japanese temple or shrine.”
‘MYSTERY’ kicks off on Saturday February 13th at the Butterworth Hall at Warwick Arts Centre on the leafy campus of the University of Warwick. The London show follows at the Barbican on February 15th marking the first time the company have trod the Barbican boards in ten years. After performing at the uniquely designed Anvil in Basingstoke on February 17th the company travels to the High Wycombe Swan for the first time on February 18th; February 19th it’s a first visit to the historic Plymouth Pavilions and on February 21st to the Lighthouse at Poole where the company performed in 2014; the tour finishes on February 22nd at the beautiful Cambridge Corn Exchange, the biggest and oldest concert venue in East Anglia.
‘MYSTERY’: Amidst reverberations like rumbles in the earth large serpent’s coil, demons and lions move wildly. They surface from the gloomy dark, eerie at times, and in some respects, even nostalgic… This work fuses Kodo’s real worth, the dynamism of taiko expression, with the wondrous beauty and true charm that lie within rituals expressing the worship of myriad gods and reverence for nature that have been traditions in Japan since ancient times. This performance takes you on a voyage to the extraordinary, to a mysterious realm that lies in the beyond…
KODO is a professional Taiko drumming troupe that made its professional concert debut in Berlin in 1981. Since then Kodo has smashed box office records all over the world; performed over 5,600 shows in 47 countries on five continents; built up a huge international following and gained celebrity fans from maestro percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, to world famous choreographer Akram Khan; from trip hop band Badmarsh & Shri to the producers of ‘Stomp’.
This multi-award winning company is based on Sado Island, Japan. The word ‘Kodo’ has two meanings: ‘heartbeat’, the primal source of all rhythm and ‘children of the drum’. Although Taiko are the primary instrument in their performances, other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue (flute) and hand-cymbal make an appearance on stage along with dance and vocal performance. Kodo’s repertoire includes pieces based on the traditional rhythms of regional Japan, pieces composed for the company by contemporary songwriters, and pieces written by company members. Rigorous training and athletic ability is essential; some of the drums weigh hundreds of pounds.
Statistics:
Kodo sold out New York City’s Carnegie Hall for the first time in 1995; a two week run at Sadler’s Wells in London in 1996; 5 days in Paris in 1997; Turkey for the first time in 1998; 5 days at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 1998; at the end of a mammoth world tour in 2001 they performed at the Nobel Peace Prize 100th anniversary concert; in 2002 they were involved in the recording of the ‘Hero’ movie soundtrack; in 2003 Kodo ran the first of many series of workshops in the USA and performed a thrilling 25 night tour of Japan’s major cities; in 2004 during another monster European tour the company released a massive selling CD and DVD of their One Earth Tour Special through Sony Music. In 2006 Kodo debuted at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan; in 2007 performed at the historical Kabuki Theatre in Tokyo; in 2008 an extensive South American tour was performed in honour of the centennial celebration of Japanese immigration to Brazil and Argentina.
The company’s 30th anniversary tour took place in 2011 and in 2012 the company toured from France to Australia; Tamasaburo Bando, one of Japan’s most revered Kabuki actors who had already worked with the company, was invited to become Artistic Director. In 2013 Kodo sold out all 67 performances of ‘Amaterasu’ in Japan and performed with the Opera National de Paris. Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend debuted in May 2012 and toured throughout Japan; 25 dates in the USA followed a two month tour in Italy and performances in the UK, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Russia and France. In 2016 Kodo will be back in the UK to tour the exciting ‘Mystery’.
Tickets on sale NOW!
Tickets cost: £24.20, £27.50, £29.70 (ticket prices inc 10% booking fee)
To book tickets please visit www.plymouthpavilions.com or call the ticket store on 0845 146 1460*
