FIERCE CREATURES The dancer-musicians of TAO get high and pound hard.

Photo: Courtesy of TAO

The Japanese drum ensemble TAO has been gaining fans across the globe with a powerful, dynamic and unique presentation that uses and transcends wadaiko and taiko, dancelike forms of traditional Japanese drumming. The group performs at the Harris Theater Friday 23 as part of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Global Rhythms festival. We caught up with founder and director Fujitaka Ikuo via e-mail, while the company was in the midst of its international tour, to learn what makes TAO so special. The group’s ensemble ethos is so strong, they asked that we credit the company as a whole for the answers to our questions.

How did TAO get started?
Our group was formed 14 years ago in 1993. We didn’t want to be “just another” Japanese drumming group doing performances and onstage editions of traditional entertainment. We wanted to make a show that would be accepted worldwide, so we gathered the most expressive and professional taiko players from all over Japan and formed our group.

How is TAO different from other Japanese drumming groups?
The defining characteristic of TAO is the way that it is uses the taiko—a traditional instrument—to create highly original songs and musical productions that go beyond tradition. TAO’s goal is not to sustain traditional culture but to make use of the possibilities of the taiko in creating new music and genuinely innovative entertainment. Hence, compared to Kodo [a Japanese taiko group founded in 1981] that stresses the preservation of traditional culture, TAO is fundamentally different in that it puts the creation of high-quality entertainment first.

Tell us about the show you’re bringing to Chicago.
The theme of our performance this time is “Sublime, Soul-touching DA.” After starting our world tour and receiving praise in various countries, we felt it was time to take another look at ourselves. The simple theme of this performance grew from returning to our roots. This performance expresses the daily episodes of disciplined drummers whose one wish is to create soul-stirring taiko that will permeate the heart.

What are your biggest influences?
Our single biggest source of influence in terms of music, performing arts, acting and stage techniques is Cirque du Soleil. Once every year, our director sends each member of TAO—including the management staff—to Las Vegas. There, we view various world-class shows, study their design and the way the performers capture the hearts of the people in the audience. We also listen to a broad range of musical genres, from classical music and jazz to rock, pop, R&B and soul, to weave diverse rhythms into our songs and to enhance their depth.

How do you all train for your superphysical performances?
We run 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) and carry out muscle training each morning, subsequently dedicating up to four hours to uninterrupted pounding of the taiko drum. This intense and continuous beating of the drum is essential for building muscles and mental strengths that other forms of practice cannot cultivate. Furthermore, we devote our bodies and souls as much to our rehearsals as we do to our shows, to ensure TAO performers will be perfectly in tune with each other when it comes time to go before a live audience.   

What is TAO trying to communicate to the audience?
We are touched by the miracles of nature, magnificent mountains, the voice of the wind, the shining stars, the sunrise over the dawn sky and the eye-catching blue of the sky. We try to express this in our music. People in their modern lives are forgetting to notice the impressive landscapes around them. We hope to remind people of the things that they are starting to forget.

TAO beats a path to the Harris Theater Friday 23 to Sunday 25.