Drum Tao, a Japanese drum and dance ensemble, came to the Luhrs Performing Arts Center on Tuesday night and wowed the audience with their remarkable talent. 11 performers played various instruments: taiko drums, shinobue, koto and syamisen.
The show took an intermission, which split up the two parts to the show exceptionally. The first half focused on the traditional style of Japanese music, while the second half incorporated modern dance music playing in the background in a way to mix both genres. Hearing both genres at once was very unusual and I found to be off-putting, but this bold attempt made their artwork intriguing.
For most of the time, some of the performers wore shiny costumes that captured and reflected the lighting well. The lighting technician, Ryo Harada, knew what they were doing. The lighting really illuminated this experience.
In the second half, the male performers were shirtless towards the end of the show. I could not help but notice the squeals of excitement coming from audience members around me. I loved how you were able to feel each beat from the drums in your chest. The drums working simultaneously with the other instruments created this beautiful melody.
These skilled performers were Kiyoko Aito, Shoko Sakaguchi, Taro Harasaki, Yoshinori Suito, Keisuke Yamamoto, Masanori Takayama, Tatsunori Yamaguchi, Shinya Kiyota, Soshiro Fukumizu, Taketora Mitsuo, and Yutaka Kawasaki.
The show begun at 7:30 p.m. and lasted for two hours. Student rush tickets were sold for $15. Their DVDs and merchandise were available for audience members to purchase.
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