Next Generation Remix Concert

This past Saturday we got to perform at the JACCC Plaza in Little Tokyo for the sixth annual Next Generation Remix, a free outdoor concert presented by the Nikkei Federation and produced by our good friend, Kisa Ito (check out the trailer here)! The line-up also featured many talented Asian American artists such as Kacie Yoshida, Sibrian, EyeASage, Bambu, and American Idol finalist Camile Velasco. I especially liked the smooth hip-hop beats of Bambu and the soulful singing of Camile Velasco. They both had so much energy and really got the crowd going! There was also a raffle and Jenny & Tomomi were lucky enough to win a couple prizes!!

Since this event was apart of Nisei Week, throughout the concert there were booths all along the plaza perimeter selling okonomiyaki, shaved ice, and grilled corn, among many other tasty treats. I got a HUGE green tea shaved ice with azuki beans and condensed milk...YUMMM!!

It was a really fun night and we're glad to have been apart of the show. Congratulations to Kisa for doing such a wonderful job running the event!

Here are a few video clips from the performance:

Here We Go Now

Expanding

Lava Cool

Congratulations Supreme Master TV!!

Last Sunday, Maz, Darren, Kevin, Brian, Liz & Jen helped Supreme Master TV celebrate at their 3rd anniversary Concert: Rejoicing in our Green Planet and Peaceful Life. Supreme Master TV is a broadcast station that tries to bring nobility & spirituality to their viewers' lives through programs that promote living green, healthy, and compassionately. They even served a vegan menu where we got to enjoy some vegan sandwiches & vegan cupcakes while we waited...yum!

TAIKOPROJECT was the opening act of the Concert and was later followed by other performances with Korean Court & Thai dancers. At the end, we received gift bags that included Supreme Master TV shirts, hats & books. You just might see Kevin or Brian out one day sporting their new Supreme Master TV hats =)
The Concert is scheduled to air on September 7th in the U.S.

Studio Search...

Hi everyone (or whoever actually reads this besides TP members)...

Just thought I'd post something since it's been awhile since I've posted. As some of you may know, we've been searching for a warehouse for the past 6 months or so, in order to expand our capacity as a non-profit organization, to offer more classes, and to create a kick-ass taiko rehearsal studio with mirrors, stage flooring, and for once, ample storage space and organization for our bulky and ever-growing inventory of equipment.

After much searching and driving around sketchy industrial neighborhoods for a few months, I finally found what I think may be the warehouse for us. We have come close with three other warehouses, but they didn't come together for various reasons...the first one, the owner backed out because he thought we'd be too loud for neighboring tenants, the second, just seemed too close to residential areas, and the third fell through because of lease negotiations with the owner.

Well, here we are several months later, and we may have found the warehouse for us...the only thing is, that it is in Long Beach. Since half of the TP cast is from Orange County, we hear cheers from them about the move. For us LA folks, well, it just means we now have a longer drive, but it's a small sacrifice for what will hopefully be our new space, and Southern California's only dedicated taiko studio. If all goes well, in a few weeks, we'll be signed off on leases and moving into a 3,200 square feet warehouse down in Long Beach, and getting it set up to be an amazing space.

More news to come! It's an exciting time, and we couldn't have gotten this far without your support!

Bryan

LA Tap Fest!

Last Saturday, TAIKOPROJECT went to Central LA Area New High School #9 to accompany tap dancers during their opening number for the Los Angeles Tap Fest! This new high school is beautiful and the theater is amazing. The architecture is modern and it's hard to believe that it's even a high school at all!

The piece we were in was part of a documentary that followed tap dancers from around the world and to follow their tap dreams. We accompanied Chloe Arnold, the festival's co-director and awesome tap dancer, and 4 tap dancers from Japan. We were there to recreate a piece they performed in Tokyo. We also saw the festival's director, Jason Samuels Smith, and many others dance. There were these little kids who were tearing up the stage, too. Awesome!!

Maz, Jen, Brian, Courtney, and I had a fun time performing with Kris Bergstrom!! Yup, he came with us to this gig and I think he even got tap pointers from the dancers! Who knows... maybe he'll bust out a tap solo some time soon! hehe!!

:)

-Yuri

2009 North American Taiko Conference

Last week TAIKOPROJECT took part in the 2009 North American Taiko Conference! The conference returned to LA this year and was hosted by the JACCC (www.jaccc.org). This was my first time attending conference so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was pretty much an amazing few days of everything and everyone taiko! I had the privilege of helping Byron and Kevin out with the Omiyage workshop on Saturday. For the first two hours we split our group up into two groups. Byron took one group to teach the chu part and Kevin and I took the other for the set part. In the beginning, I was really nervous because it was my first time teaching a workshop, and I was wondering how we were going to teach omiyage in just two hours. After seeing how quickly the participants were learning, I soon realized that learning how to play omiyage in two hours is possible! For the last portion of the workshop, we got back into one group and played Omiyage together. I was truly amazed at how enthusiastic everyone was about learning this piece and how fast they learned it as well. I was so happy I was able to take part in the taiko conference this year! The only regret I have is that I did not attend as a participant. Next time i will definitely be signing up as a participant!

~Jenny~