Re-connections focus on TaikoPeace coming to the UK…
It’s been a very long time since I wrote anything here….in fact, it’s only been 3 months since returning from the trip, but it seems as if a year has passed. A new taiko studio takes a lot of time to set-up; and although the last three months have been the most testing I have known in my short taiko life, they have probably taught me as much as they have pushed me to the edge…Now, things seem to have settled – there is still much to do, finishing touches, more classes to initiate, more marketing to do, a launch to organise, but there is finally time, now that I have somewhere to live again, to contemplate writing this report…capture something worthy about my time away on the Churchill Fellowship. It seems as if I have been slack in leaving it this long, but I have been writing notes, assessing different ideas of how to approach this, contemplating what I want to say, and I think it needed to have time to sink in and settle. As with everything, it is just as is should be…and now, I am looking forward to seeing what it is I have to say to the taiko community, what it is that I most want to communicate, to share.
TaikoPeace UK
And it’s not as throughout all of this time it has been untouched…quite the opposite. Already, an idea that was conceived in PJ’s back garden has already been planned, executed and celebrated as a huge success…the ripples have already started, and done so with quite a splash. PJ Hirabayashi and Pear Urushima have visited England to run three workshops with Kagemusha Taiko, and one with Taiko Meantime – we even got to do some sight seeing in London together. It is quite remarkable how quickly things happen when they just seem to be right. I knew that the UK taiko community would embrace TaikoPeace, but I wasn’t prepared for how strong the connections would be. More on that later…I just wanted to re-activate this to keep me going as I find my way through these experiences to create something that will be useful to others, that will communicate to them, allowing connections to be made, causing ripples of their own….for that, I believe, is what everyone wants…to make connections, to feel connected with one another. That is what so many people say their reason for playing taiko is.
The report…
So today I have been having to dig a little deeper than I expected to. Writing this report it seems is so much more difficult than having to write something for a degree, or for an exam. Because I’m not trying to get a good grade, I’ve already been given the grant. This is about me having to decide what it is that I’ve learnt, and be able to put it inot words, which is fairly difficult, when what you do is so far away from intellectual thinking and communication.
When I spent time with Kenny Endo, he said that if he could achieve even 1/100th of the level that his teacher had attained he might just be happy with his level of taiko playing, but he is not there yet. At times I feel like that with how I think about taiko…I feel like I’ve just dipped my toe in the water of thinking about the bigger picture, and I’m being asked to put it to paper. But then I realised that’s the whole point of what I’ve learned….that it takes courage, not bravery, but courage to play taiko, to be yourself, all of yourself and put yourself out there, no matter how many hours you’ve played, or who you’ve studied with. And I’m going to adopt the same attitude with this. I’ve spent the last 3 days, full days, preparing myself to start writing what I’m going to say…reading everything again, watching footage, re-writing notes, and at the end of the afternoon today I actually spent a few minutes working out how long it would take me to pay back the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. To me it seemed that it might be easier to do that than to commit to paper what is still such initial thoughts. Apart from the fact it would take me a very long time, I knew I was just putting off what I actually am really looking forward to doing…making a statement that some people might not agree with, but making it because it’s how I feel, and I want to share it with others, I want to share what I’ve found and what I think as it might be of some use.
I don’t like that I thought of the way out. It’s like my first reaction to soloing in taiko…to run away. But sticking at it, actually finding out how to say what I want to say, finding out how to play what I want to play…that’s the real reason for doing it, not the result. I was reading a bit of The Alchemist today (procrastination at its best) and this quote summed up how I felt today, (albeit rather over the top):
“Before a dream is realised the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way…it’s the point at which as we say in the desert, one dies of thirst just as the palm tress have appeared on the horizon.” Paolo Cohelo.
I’ve done the work, I’ve been on the trip…I can’t give up just as I’m about to get to the good stuff.
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