Celebrating 30 Years!
Vancouver Taiko Society is pleased to present an evening concert of new work by seven local taiko groups: Chibi Taiko, Dahaza, Katari Taiko, Onibana Taiko, Sansho Daiko, Sawagi Taiko and Vancouver Okinawa Taiko at Performance Works on Granville Island on Sunday evening, November 3.
Echoes: Celebrating 45 years of Taiko in Canada acknowledges and celebrates the deep roots of taiko in Vancouver, the birthplace of taiko in Canada and will honour our Japanese Canadian history of struggle, resilience, social activism and joy.
With support from the Japanese Canadian Legacies Community Fund, seven commissioned taiko works, each created and developed by a local taiko group, will reflect upon the diversity of taiko that has flourished in Vancouver since taking root in 1979 at Oppenheimer Park in Paueru Gai, the home of the legendary Asahi baseball team.
Just as the Asahi provided a point of pride for the pre-war JC community, Katari Taiko and all the groups that came after provided a soundtrack for the community resurgence following the 1977 Japanese Canadian Centennial.
Taiko has grown and flourished in Vancouver, becoming a diverse, socially-engaged and intertwined community, with strong representation from children to seniors, from all genders and identities including 2SLGBTQAI+ and different heritages.
According to taiko leaders from across Canada and the US, Vancouver’s taiko community is unusually cohesive, with VTS providing an umbrella for collaborative ventures by local groups. For this concert, over 60 taiko drummers and performers are gathering to present and share their music.
The new works will express creative renewal, our shared legacies and dreams for the future. We acknowledge our wartime relatives that worked together to rebuild community in ghost towns and empty fields, living in exile but always in hope.
This raw spirit of the taiko –choreographed drumbeats played with heart and purpose – honours our ancestors, a reminder of the ceremonial roots of the taiko form.
Come celebrate with us on November 3rd at the warm and friendly Performance Works on Granville Island. This will be a relaxed performance. Pauses between each set will enable the performers to move on and off stage with ease and for audience members to stretch, get a beverage or snack or read a complimentary, commemorative program.