By: Allison Ballard, Fort Wayne Taiko Founder/Director, FWDC On-Site Instructor/Outreach Instructor
The sound of the taiko drum certainly carries in a school gymnasium. The sound of 20 taikos in a gym reverberates through one’s entire skeleton. I can feel the vibrations in my skull, my sacrum, my sternum…. through all those tiny joints that seldom get much movement. It is invigorating. Multiplied by 10. Better yet, it is an experience shared. The taikos play and 400 plus students, teachers, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and strangers are all suddenly, viscerally connected-even if they are covering their ears!
“Miss Allison, Miss Allison!” called one of my young taiko students, running up to me after Weisser Park drummers played at their Winterfest performance in December 2013. “When the drums were played in the gym, I could feel it right here!” she said excitedly, putting both hands over her heart. I smiled and she rushed towards me and gave me a hug. She had felt her heart center open. Not figuratively. Not symbolically. Literally. Perhaps for the first time. Her joy was almost more than she could contain.
This is why taiko drummers play with such a wide stance–we are grounding ourselves so we can successfully channel all that powerful energy! I experience this energy like a wave that I strive to surf. Sometimes I become overwhelmed, loose my footing and tumble in gasping for air. Other times I am perfectly balanced, focused and sure. It is a complete body-mind experience. A single song becomes a roller coaster adventure. A lifetime journey becomes a theme park quest for center, a search for core.
I am so grateful to have discovered the taiko as a tool for personal growth and expression. I am equally grateful for the opportunity to facilitate this process for others and share the joy and power of the taiko with the community. My role and responsibility as an artist is to sculpt the energy created by the taiko to achieve the highest common good. Thank you to Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne for recognizing these efforts by featuring me as one of their selected artists in their 2014 fundraising campaign.
Doko Doko!
Yahoo!
