Hello Friends and Family,
Link to this year's index by clicking here.
Asian Festival, Part 1 |
Yesterday, I attended the Asian Festival held at Heritage Park in Phoenix. This park contains a number of homes that date from the late 1800s which have been restored and re-purposed. Pictured here is the largest structure, The Rosson House, which is open for tours and which can be rented for weddings and other functions. |
In fact, I have not yet eaten there because they do not accept reservations thus patrons begin lining up before they open at 5:00 PM. Standing in the hot Phoenix sun to taste pizza (albeit a great pizza) is not something I would enjoy doing — and I know that I could never convince Mizuki to join me. So I guess I'll have to try it as a single before summer. |
But it is a lovely setting with former homes and other buildings that now house other restaurants, museums and park offices. As I was admiring the orchid tree next door to Pizzeria Bianco (that building is their bar), I encountered a young man who said this area was a real neighborhood that his grandmother used to walk through all the time. He even went to school a block or two away. |
However, I was not here just to admire the infrastructure but to see culture. One of the treats that was advertised were the Taiko Drummers. When I arrived, the drums were stacked by the stage — which gave me an opportunity to examine them up close and take a few photos. |
I later learned that most of their drums (and the best drums available) come from Japan. No surprise there. They are fashioned out of a single piece of a wood that has been hollowed out. The preferred wood is Keyaki — chosen because of density and beautiful grain. They told us that drum makers have their own forests and, for every tree they harvest, they plant a replacement — which they will never see made into a drum but whose successors will. |
The drum head is cowhide which has been stretched and nailed (look at the size of those nails) to the side. Drums come in various sizes — the size determines the tone — and it cannot be tuned. |
Seated in front are the drummers who provide the beat for the others (like the conductor of an orchestra provides the beat with a baton). That is sufficient for the drummers to synchronize their hits very precisely — with the result that you feel as much as you hear. Awesome. |
This is a close-up of the real lead drummer. He sure looks the part, doesn't he. |
There were both males and females... |
young and old. Asian and not. But they all had great enthusiasm for the drums — and, for one number, the flute. |
This little guy is part of the school. And would you believe he is four years old? And he was good! He was right on the beat with the rest of the troupe. A taiko star in the making! |
There was more to see and capture besides the taiko performance — but I will save the rest for next week. |
Meanwhile, for those of you who have never seen a taiko drum performance, here is a YouTube video of a very high energy show — although you will notice it starts slowly and builds in intensity. Note that each troupe and each "song" is a bit different so this is not exactly what I saw yesterday — although the energy was similar. |
Life is good.
Aloha,
B. David