The drum steals the show

Armed with dozens of different drums, the musicians on stage created an unusual theatrical show — a mix of avant-garde music with elements of folk dance. Each participant of the Japanese Drummers Show was a virtuoso. As the musicians themselves said, they have trainings and rehearsals every day because playing the drums is far more difficult than it may seem at first sight. The sound of Yamato drums can be compared with human heart’s beating. The show’s main hero was a Japanese drum Wadaiko. It is an old instrument made of skin and bark of ancient Japanese trees, which is why the sound it makes is very loud. Musicians treat each instrument very carefully: some of them because they made them themselves, and also because some of the unique drums are over three thousand years old. The artistic director of Yamato Masa Ogawa founded the band in 1993, and since then the drummers have been going on tours all over the world. International fame came to the group after their triumphant performance at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998, where they received one of the festival’s main awards — the Spirit of the Fringe Award. Now the drummers have millions of fans in different countries, all of whom appreciate the musicians’ unique approach to Japan’s traditional theatrical and musical heritage. By now the drummers have become not simply an ensemble but a real family — a traveling brotherhood of drummers. Their program includes ultramodern, high-tech light and acoustic equipment that fascinates the audience from the first minutes. Their crowds watch the show in one breath. Ukrainians will be able to see it on November 22 in the Palace Ukraina. Those who have once been at the Japanese Drummers Show will never forget it.