Nicole Sees: Taiko Project at the Redlands Bowl

When my husband and I first moved to Redlands, I was really excited about all of the great things the city had to offer. Redlands is referred to as the "Jewel of the Inland Empire". We moved to the Californian desert from lush and green Western Washington. So to say that Redlands is the best part of...well, let's just say, a place that is overall lacking in natural beauty, is not saying much. But Redlands really does seems to emphasize and lift up its community more than some of the other cities nearby, which was one of the major draws for us choosing a temporary home.

Once we signed our lease, I immediately got to work finding things for us to do in the city. I was looking forward to getting my Redlands library car, going to the weekly night market downtown, seeing plays at the community theater, and visiting the historic museums around town. With my husband in dental school, we talked a lot about doing all of these things once he started his third year. Dental school is typically very information-heavy the first two years, and clinically-focused the third and fourth years. So the idea was, after Spring 2020 when my husband finished his second year, we would have a lot more free time. Well, you know what happens right around that time, so our chance to do these things safely had to be delayed.

As nearly 70% of people 12 and up in Redlands have been vaccinated, ourselves included, we decided to venture out and finally do one of those "third year" activities (now, however, in the fourth year). The city is hosting a free summer concert series at the Redlands Bowl, a large outdoor amphitheater a mile or so from our house. Last week, they had Taiko Project (a taiko group from LA) perform, and I really wanted for us to see them. So I made some onigiri (rice balls) with leftover chicken salad as filling, and packed a mini mid-concert picnic for the two of us.

Taiko are Japanese drums, but taiko performance is part drumming, part shouting, and part dancing. The performers do a lot of precise and synchronized movements, sometimes weaving in and out of each other's paths. I remember doing a day-long taiko workshop when I was younger and into percussion, but my husband had never seen taiko before. He's part Taiwanese and I'm half Japanese, and we love sharing different aspects of our cultures with each other whenever we can.

It was definitely a surreal feeling to be around a large group of people again. Pair that with the synchronicity of the drum beats, and the experience was somewhat mesmerizing. My favorite parts of this performance were the songs featuring harmonic vocals and other instruments, like the koto. Their merging of modern musical influence with traditional practices reflected how Japanese Americans incorporate their own recent experiences with those of our ancestors. What results is something new, yet nostalgic.