Rhythmix
at Marin Juvenile Hall, San Rafael
Carolyn Brandy, Janet Koike and Tina (Bean) Blaine are three stunning artists who combine
the art and cultural history of Japanese Taiko drumming with Middle Eastern, African and
Afro-Cuban percussion to create a performance and teaching experience for young people.
The teenagers at Marin Juvenile Hall approached them with their social masks in place, faces
impassive, arms folded, heads slightly bent, looking up from under skeptical brows.
The distance between audience and performer was shattered immediately by the powerful
drumming and compelling personalities of these three women who, between them, have 70
years of musicianship.
By the second number and after the introduction of the dozens of instruments, many handmade,
adorning the performance area, bodies were upright, faces and mouths open, even a hand
raised to ask "How long did it take you to make that?"  When the time came to ask for
participants to come up from the audience, more than half the group volunteered to create
a polyrhythmic number all their own. The institutional staff broke out the polaroid cameras
to take commemorative pictures for the teens to keep. By the final number which features
Janet Koike playing the taiko drums while she jumps, spins and tosses the taiko sticks,
there was no reserve, only mutual appreciation.
Carole Robinson
Program Coordinator
Bread & Roses
Photos by Amy Carr
Archived Essence Stories |
