ETE21+1: That’s a wrap!

Annick Robberecht:
Kuchi shōga for 3 drums

Annick bumped into taiko by accident and was hooked from her very first hit on a drum.  “I found something I didn’t know I was looking for” she always says.  From there, she took the ‘full-option’ taiko experience.  She started as a student at the Araumi Daiko Academy, attended masterclasses in Europe and Japan, performed on stages ranging from fancy fairs to stately theaters and organized taiko ranging from small workshops to international tours.  Recently, she started her own taiko group ‘Yorokai’ to fulfill her mission even more: sharing the magic of drumming, with as many as possible!

Resources: 3D-KS Diagram
Contact: info@yorokai.com

Benni Haas:
Karate

Coming soon…
Contact: email@bennihaas.de

Chiara Codetta:
Risotto Taiko Master

Coming soon…

Resources: Workshop handout, PDF slides
Contact: khilibe@gmail.com

Chikako Kikuma:
Futari-uchi

Im Jahr 2005 entdeckte ich die Faszination des japanischen Trommeln neu, als ich eine Vorführung der deutschen Trommelgruppe “Tentekko Taiko” sah.
So begann ich, in Deutschland japanisches Trommeln zu lernen.
Von 2006 bis 2016 war ich Mitglied der “Tentekko Taiko”
Seit 2016 bin ich in der Leitungsposition der Trommelgruppe “Aman-Djaku”.
Ich bin außerdem Mitglied der japanischen Musikgruppe “Miyabi”, und noch auf der Reise ‘Faszination Taiko Trommeln’.

Resources: Information and notation, Video (with flute and shinobue)

Egon Guilliams:
Building your tribe

At the age of 7 Egon started as a gymnast, starting to teach gymnastics to toddlers at the age of 14, later coaching competition gymnast at international levels. 
A demanding day job forced him to stop gymnastics around his 40’s, leaving a gap – an extinguishing flame of joy and coaching.   Around his 50’s he was ‘exposed’ to taiko, from the first hit he was hooked; it revived the fading flame of joy and bonding.
He started as a student at the Araumi Daiko Academy, attended many masterclasses in Europe, Japan and performed on various stages.   Recently, as a cofounder of Yorokai, he is ‘all-in’ – sharing the wonderful magic of taiko drumming.

Erwin Oudshoorn:
Yurumi-daho, Taiko Essence

Erwin Oudshoorn has been trained by the world renowned drummers of KODÕ.
Since 1993 he has been performing percussion concerts all over the world with Circle Percussion. Over time, he started sharing this experience through his self-developed Wadaiko workshops and trainings.
With his energetic and relaxed style of playing, in combination with his seemingly natural and casual way of teaching, Erwin delivers a great taiko training and an intense experience. He always knows how to find ways to make you rise above yourself.

Resources: Introduction to ‘Taiko Essence’
Contact: erwin@taiko-essence.com

Folke Schönhoff:
Inside Kion and Tawoo

Mesmerized by the Taiko performance at a cherry-blossom festival in Hamburg, Folke started playing Taiko back in 2009. After being the master of ceremonies at a Taiko anniversary concert with several Taiko groups in Hamburg, he got to know Kion Dojo and joined them in 2014, being fascinated by their energetic style of drumming.
Folke loves to participate in promoting Taiko and its community by attending festivals and supporting projects or any process helping to connect the European taikonauts.

Resources:
Excerpt from the book “Music Mavens – 15 Women of Note in the Industry” by Ashley Walker and Maureen Charles (Chapter on Kaoly Asano)
Order the book
Session script

Ingmar Kikat:
Natural taiko flow

Ingmar first started with learning classical percussion and was a member of rock bands, youth orchestras and percussion ensembles. On his first trip to Japan in 1998 he got in touch with taiko for the first time. From 2001 he began spreading taiko in northern Germany with the first taiko group from Hamburg, Tengu Daiko.
After living in Japan 2004-2005 and studying with Tawoo Dojo & GOCOO in Tokyo, Ingmar founded his own school Kion Dojo in 2006.
Besides teaching in Hamburg and in Germany, Ingmar has also been giving workshops in various countries in Europe, the USA and Japan.
Taiko fascinated Ingmar from early on, because it is challenging on various levels and it brings people together!

Contact: info@kion-dojo.de

Jonathan Kirby:
Thoughts of the future of taiko in Europe

As founder and artistic director, Jonathan has led Kagemusha Taiko for more than 20 years, performing with his group in Europe, USA and Japan.
In the UK, Jonathan has led the drive for taiko to become established in schools.  This involved the development of taiko curriculum, creation of beginner-level repertoire, and an extensive teacher-training programme, all designed to be appropriate for the cultural context of the UK.  He has published a series of books and training videos including “Teaching Taiko: Principles and Practice” (2009), “Jonathan Kirby’s Taiko Drumming Book” (2011) and “Taiko for Schools: Fundamentals” (2018) which have sold worldwide.
In 2005, Jonathan created the 1st UK Taiko Festival, with a focus on celebration, not competition.  By bringing people together physically, the UKTF has also helped create a sense of taiko community in the UK. Growing year by year, the UKTF attracted groups from mainland Europe, and from USA and Japan as well.
In 2016, Jonathan created and directed the 1st European Taiko Conference.   The first ETC was a catalyst for many subsequent taiko events in Europe, and was repeated in the UK (2017) and in Germany (2018 and 2019).
The story of the development of Jonathan’s taiko principles and practice is told in his book: “The Way of the Drum – taiko without borders”.

Resources: Powerpoint presentation

Lucy Thomas:
Lunacy

Lucy has been playing taiko for 12 years and is an instructor at Taiko South West’s Taiko Centre in Devon, England where she teaches regular classes and workshops as well as being a member of the main performing group, Tano Taiko.
For more than a decade, Lucy has made the most of what the amazing taiko community has to offer and participated in events, workshops and intensives all over the world including the World Taiko Gathering in 2014, several North American Taiko Conferences, as well as European Taiko Concert Nights in Dusseldorf, Germany. In September 2018, Lucy was one of only six taiko artists who participated in the pilot programme “Roots of Kodo” (organised by Eri Uchida) which took place on Sado Island in Japan.
Known for helping organise and run events such as the European Taiko Conference since its inception, as well as four UK Taiko Festivals, Lucy’s attention to detail and clear communication has transferred over to developing effective and engaging teaching skills, during the global pandemic Lucy has developed exciting and challenging drills as well as creating new taiko pieces that are well and truly unique to Lucy and her style of teaching.
‘Lunacy’ was written during England’s first lockdown as a reflection of how crazy those isolating times were. It had its global debut online as a kaDON live series in Spring 2021, (Lucy was the first European instructor), and for ETE21+1 Lucy ran ‘Elements of Lunacy’ where participants got to learn A, B, C & D from the piece. Should anyone want to learn more about what Lucy can offer, or find out about how they can learn ‘Lunacy’ (or any of her other drills) please email Lucy at lucyttaiko@gmail.com. Lucy is happy to travel to teach, as long as there’s good beer!

Contact: lucyttaiko@gmail.com

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Maria Carpanzano:
Choreographed loops

TaikoMama is short for the Japanese expression Taiko Sono Mama, ‘the drum as it is’. I met taiko in the 90s in Rome with Rita Superbi, and then I graduated in Japanese language and started working as a translator. It took me 20 years to understand that my life should be made of taiko only! Ten years ago I founded a cultural association in the south of France, TaikoMama. I have had a group, Les Taikologues, and a duo with Thierry Klein. At present I play alone, and most of my activities are workshops in schools and Companies.
I would like to organise, here in the Mediterranean, holidays by the sea where all of us taiko players spend the morning playing, the afternoon on the beach and the evening getting drunk of music and dance! Please send your ideas to info@taikomama.com. The starting idea is: using at the best the days you all european taiko players are here to give as many concerts as possible in the area, spreading the taiko happiness (and also recovering part of the expenses!).

Resources: Marilina offers a series of Zoom sessions for those who would like more
Contact: info@taikomama.com

Monica Vedia:
Tips for special-needs groups

I’m a professional actress of the scenic arts, specializing in corporal expression, dance, gestural theater and improvisation. I discovered Taiko in 2003 in Japan. Since then I haven’t stopped using it and growing with it. Three years ago, I began the adventure of creating my own taiko school and company named TaikoMon. The latest project I’ve developed with TaikoMon is oriented towards special needs groups, focusing on autism children and hearing impaired.

Resources: Workshop diagram 1, Workshop diagram 2
Contact: contacto@taikomon.com

Nitay Zelniker:
Taiko Life Israel principles

Nitay Zelniker, founder of Taiko Life, trained with
leading groups in Taiwan and Japan for numerous
years. Nitay was inspired to play the giant taiko by a
movie which revealed to him that this was the
instrument he was destined to play. This revelation
brought him to embark on an extraordinary journey
which took him to the mountains of Taipei, home to the dojo of the infamous Taiwanese taiko drumming group U-Theatre, known for their training in zen drumming, martial arts and meditation. Having to persevere through many trials, he was accepted to the group and permitted to join their training, and remained to study with them for a number of years. After Taiwan Nitay relocated to Japan to study taiko drumming with various drumming groups in Japan. After five years of training, Nitay returned to Israel and founded Taiko Life Israel.

Resources: Full bio
Contact: taikolife.il@gmail.com

Oliver Boldt:
Dynamics drills

Oliver’s musical journey began with playing Didgeridoo and Djembe. In the late 1990s he started playing taiko, building his own drums to do so. After a few years he started teaching taiko and was the (co-)founder of the performing group “Yo Bachi Daiko”. Composing original songs became a focus and led to the performance of their ‘Momentum’ concert programme. Building taiko drums was always going on, and he has also made drums for other groups on request. In 2021 he (co-)launched the taiko-making-service ‘mytaikodrum.eu’.

Resources: Workshop notation
Contact: taiko@oliver-boldt.de

Oliver Reichelt:
Ma / Make an Impact

Oliver has studied Japanology to better understand the Japanese Arts, including Nō theatre, Tea Ceremony, Archery and the Sword. He is a Waldorf Class teacher and has taught Taiko for about 17 years. He has gathered techniques from teachers like Katsuji Kondo, Kaoru Watanabe Taishi Yamabe, at Ôsuwa Daiko and Ôedo Sukeroku on regular visits to Japan over the last 20 years.

Contact: oliverreichelt@yahoo.com

Patricia Schelekens:
Rainbow Bridge

About 11 years ago Patricia started co-incidentally with taiko… and felt so happy to be together with others to play en enjoy sound & movement. She was a student at AraUmi/Feniks, made visits to Japan at Wadaiko Tokara and followed many workshops with Japanese or American or European sensei in her own country, Belgium but also in Germany, Holland, France and Hungary. 
Later Patricia joined InnerDrum and Yorokai to keep on going with taiko in a more community atmosphere. As founder of the taiko coaching team for 50-plus taiko students, Gin no Piyoko (free translated as Silver Chickens, a metaphor for Eternal Students) Patricia and her co-founder Lode, organises taiko workshops and gatherings with international taiko teachers, to encourage all kind of ages and/or levels… and also to keep on moving after the age of 50-plus! 
In Aichi village (Japan) her dream since 2012, the “Taiko Peace Project” was born in 2014. Since then, her team of volunteers with different levels and taikogroups in Belgium perform to support various Peace related events, with highlight : taiko pop ups in different cities during International Day of Peace on September 21′.
Also, the “Ladies First Project” born in 2019, with only female composers’ taiko repertoire, took already attention of female related events as International Woman Day (March 8′) This “joseî yusèn” project is not a “woke” or “me-to” event but aims to honour all womans creativity in a mixed & gender friendly way  … 
Hoping that all taiko players who are also as we are “not stage animals” but also are keen on taiko playing, find their “niche” to keep on going and spreading the joy of being strong together!

Resources: Workshop handout

Romina Taverna:
Body as a tool

Coming soon…

Contact: info@zendaiko.com

Silke Hanzen:
YAKUDO core elements

My Taiko-journey started more than 20 years ago as member of Tentekko-Taiko, one of the first Taiko-groups in Germany. Since 2012 I am teaching children and adults always in various formats. My TaikoSessions are focussed on creativity and joy and I’m leading workshop-series for ambitious „Taiko-Streber“. Together with Benni Haas we perform as TaikoDuo or collaborate with other groups and artists. Always looking for the next challenges and full of visions it’s a matter of heart for me, to create opportunities, where Taikoplayer can connect, learn, grow.

Resources: YAKUDO information and learning resources
Contact: siha75@gmx.de

Wendy Gertjejanssen:
Powers of Taiko

Minding her own business, Wendy was getting a doctorate in European history and homeschooling her kids when taiko fell into her life shortly before her fiftieth birthday. Within weeks she was in a class, had ordered a drum, and was figuring out travel plans for workshops. In 2019 her two passions of Europe and taiko were united, and in 2021 she started the project Powers of Taiko to learn more about how taiko has changed or influenced other people’s lives.

POWERS of TAIKO
As a person who came to taiko later in life, I have marveled at how much it helped me heal my past trauma. In the first few years of playing taiko I had more breakthrough episodes than I had in the previous decade, despite having actively worked on myself since 1990. Perhaps another hobby may have healed me as much, but I think taiko is somehow special. This is what led me to solicit others to tell their stories about taiko and how it has affected their lives.
With the enthusiasm of others, the Powers of Taiko questionnaire has been translated into several languages. I will share with others who are working on similar topics, and the data from the Powers of Taiko questionnaires will be available publicly.

Resources: Powers of Taiko website

Taiko Community Alliance (remote)

Coming soon…

Resources: Video recorded for us by Kristina Mcgaha and Joshua Yoon. Video transcript.

2taiko (UK/FR)
Aman Djaku (DE)
ASANO TAIKO U.S., Inc. (US)
Circle Percussion (NL)
Cuttify (DE)
DENKYO Taiko Dojo (UA)
Florian Langmaack (DE)
Fulda Taiko Dojo (DE)
Iki-iki TAIKO (DE)
Isabel Romeo Taiko (ES)
Issho Daiko (ES)
kaDON (US)
Kagemusha Taiko (UK)
KAISER DRUMS (DE)
Kaoly Asano (JP)
KAON Taiko (NL)
Katsuji Kondo (JP)
KION Dojo (DE)
Michelle Fujii (US)
MIYABI (DE)
Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten (JP)
MUNEDAIKO (IT)
Munz & Simonsen (DE)
Oliver Boldt Taiko (DE)
Painted X-Ray (UK)
Quelli del Taiko (IT)
Respighi Drums (IT)
Sakura no ki Taiko (DE)
Sanbiki no Taikouchi (IT)
Sandaiko (DE)

Sayurishindo (IT)
Shamisen Berlin e.V. (DE)
Shinsei Taiko (IT)
Shoji Kameda (US)
Shoshin Taiko Dojo (UK)
TAIKO BASTARDS (DE/BE)
Taiko Community Alliance (US)
Taiko Heidelberg (DE)
Taiko Lecco (IT)
Taiko Life Israel (IL)
Taiko Mama (FR)
Taiko Peace Project (BE)
Taiko West (UK)
TaikoDuo (DE)
TaikoMon (ES)
Tama Daiko (DE)
Tano Taiko (UK)
Tengu Daiko (DE)
TENTEKKO (DE)
The Asano Foundation for Taiko Culture Research (JP)
Tsuchigumo Daiko (UK)
Wadaiko MAKOTO (FR)
WADOKYO (DE)
WAKIYA (DE)
Yo Bachi Daiko (DE)
Yorokai (BE)
Yuta Kato (US)
Zendaiko (ES/AR/DE)