©Daniel Torres

KWTC is pleased to announce 2.5-hour Workshop with Chieko Kojima!

Date: Feb 6th Tuesday
Time: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Fee $60 per participant
Topics*:

• Hana Hachijo - One of the keys to the beauty of Japanese traditional dance and taiko lies in having the body appear natural and poised while maintaining a most unnatural and strenuous position. Open to both female and male performers, in this workshop participants learn how to push their bodies’ strength and endurance to the limit while never sacrificing any suppleness or grace.  This powerful and very beautiful drumming style was made famous by Chieko’s performance of Hana Hachijo often performed on Kodo’s stage. Most of the techniques touched upon can be directly applied to more masculine drumming styles as well to develop better body movement and control in general.

OR

• Traditional Japanese Dance - Chieko gives instruction in fundamental body movement in Japanese dance by adopting various Japanese traditional folk dances as well as her own creation entitled Yoi no Yunzuru, a slow and languid dance piece, like floating on waves. Chieko also works on freeing the participant’s minds and bodies of inhibition through playful improvisational dance.

*The contents of this workshop will be determined by the interest of participants.

Please email info@taikonyc.com for questions.

Chieko Kojima first encountered Japanese folk dancing when she moved to Sado to join Sado no Kuni Ondekoza in 1976. She went on to become one of Kodo’s founding members in 1981. In addition to her work with Kodo, she also has an active solo career that is perhaps best characterized by her ongoing project, “Yukiai,” where she seeks out new encounters and collaborations with artists and taiko groups within Japan and throughout the world. Kojima is known for her original dancing style during Kodo’s taiko-based performances, which is best exemplified by her vivid portrayal of the goddess Ameno-uzume in the first season of “Amaterasu” in 2006. She became a Kodo Distinguished Member in 2012, and was the director of the annual concert series “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island” for four years, starting from its inaugural season that same year. She continues to ambitiously broaden her expressive outlets, as demonstrated by her recent productions based on the “Tales of Dojoji,” which then became the inspiration for her first photo book, ” Kasane no Kiyohime Monogatari: The Myriad Layers of Kiyohime,” a unique work created with photographer Maiko Miyagawa and released in 2015. Website.