CerritosInk

Reviews of shows from the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and other local venues published by the Los Cerritos Community News. The writer and paper are in their twentieth year of covering these events.

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Location: Fear City, Ca., United States

"My name is Addison DeWitt. My native habitat is the theater. In it I toil not, neither do I spin. I am a critic and commentator. I am essential to the theatre - as ants to a picnic, as the boll weevil to a cotton field." George Sanders in "All About Eve"

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Shidara March 28, 2008


To the Mountaintop with Shidara at Cerritos

By Glen Creason


The Taiko group Shidara visited the Performing Arts Center on Friday and brought with them an entire region of Japanese history and folklore. Their show “Heart of the Immortal Mountain” is an attempt to preserve these ancient traditions of the bucolic region of Okumikawa with music, dance and the thunder of taiko, one of the most powerful musical forms on earth. They hail from the rural climes of Toei where they live and train together in complete dedication to this art. Shidara loosely translated means a group of people with a strong will to succeed and persevere. This they did and more at this weekend show with passion and intensity hard to match in other genres. The creative force behind the group is a woman named Chabo who composes much of the music, is the artistic director and performer. This is not music to be taken lightly and it requires complete dedication and exhausting rehearsal and preparation. The packed house at the Center met each segment with encouragement and great appreciation that drove the musicians to greater heights which sometimes seems impossible when all the drums are working together, the eleven musicians playing as one, all 3,000 pounds of percussion on stage at once .
The riveting “Murasamenone” opened the show with just two joyful ladies played small drums (shime-daiko) creating the sound of heavy rain in the forest. Many of the pieces mirrored states of nature with an underlying philosophical commentary connecting man to nature. This was especially evident in the fascinating “Kazenomichi” which followed the wind through grass and trees but suggested the quest of mankind making choices and following roads not taken. It began with just two flutes and built into a huge, percussive wave that engulfed the audience in contemplative, then elevated pulses. “Niebuchi” finished the first half with a truly grand finish, every drum driving in astounding synchronicity, starting like drops of water turning into a rushing river of sound that might uproot boulders along the river bed.
The second half alternated between these thoughtful pieces like “Koganenokaze” with the three “shakuhachi” flutes playing a haunting melody, conjuring up the fields ripe for harvest resting and waving in the gentle breeze and the wildly energetic “Hono Kuni” which brought into play the magnificent “odaiko” drum which booms a bass foundation that reverberates through the entire piece and auditorium. “Tonbi” had a completely mesmerizing sound following a hawk’s circles in the wind, riding around the concert hall on sonic path that was almost visual in its execution. The flute became the hawk’s path and the six drums in pristine harmony formed an entire sky of sound. The following “Hono Kuni” left the already fevered audience in a state of taiko-awe which continued for the final piece “Hana Matsuri” which recreated the harvest festival of their region and brought scores of delighted concert-goers up onto the stage for dances, drumming and wide smiles of taiko-joy. Shidara had indeed, brought the heart of he Immortal Mountain to a hall in Southern California as several thousand Americans stepped the light fantastic for a Japanese harvest in a Toei.

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

hi glen, this is kristy oshiro, assistant road manager for shidara. thanks so much for your review. i have one error to point out that should be corrected. the leader of shidara, Chabo, is a woman. also with your permission, i'd like to post a copy of your corrected review on shidara's myspace page.

2:05 AM  
Blogger Glen Creason said...

Dear Kristy:

So sorry about the typo and it has been corrected. I would be happy to have the review on the Sidhara myspace. I only wish I was a little more schooled on the art form. We enjoyed the show very much as did everyone at Cerritos that night.

7:09 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

thanks glen!

please visit shidara's myspace page: www.myspace.com/shidaradrums. your wonderful review has been posted on the main profile with a link to cerritosink. thank you so much for coming to the show!

would it be okay for shidara to use your review for grant writing purposes? if so, we'll need to know your job title and how you're affiliated with the cerritos center and or cerritosink. thanks again.

8:32 PM  
Blogger Glen Creason said...

Dear Kristy:

You are more than welcome to use the review for any purpose. My title is Entertainment Staff writer for the Los Cerritos Community News. The hard copy of the paper will be out on Friday of this week and if you need a tear sheet you can provide a mailing address and we will get you one.

10:30 AM  

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