The past year has been exciting for us in Aber Taiko. A year ago it seemed that Covid had overtaken important things in our lives, we were only just getting back to somewhat regular practice but the future for us as a Taiko group was not clear at all. We had no gigs in sight, we had not played regularly together and our repertoire was nestled in our brains and bodies, dormant.
We had then made the decision to invite new people to try out practicing with us with the idea that while for some the pandemic made Taiko harder to commit to, maybe for others this would be just the time to try something new.
This was a critical point in our journey as a group – and proved to pick us all up, shake the cobwebs, and got us to commit again to regular Taiko practice.
Several people started out, and 3 of them have now joined us as members, practicing regularly and learning our repertoire in the speed of light. Gig and workshop invitations dropped in our email and we had produced our own gig to show off our new members to friends and family in Singleton Park.
And now, a year has passed and we are ready again to welcome new people to join us.
So here is our offer: we are opening up the first hour of our Taiko practice sessions (Thursdays 6:45 – 8:00pm) from the 13th Oct till the end of October. Leave your worries at the door and join the fun! Connect to your body, get fit, be musical, be loud, and meet new people. We will teach the basics starting with how to stand, how to hold the drumsticks and how to hit the drum. Then there will be rhythms and movement and all the fun things. If you are 16 or older, you are welcome!! These 3 sessions in October will be stand-alone ones, you can come to any or all of them.
At the end of October you can decide if you want to come regularly, and then in November we will start learning a new piece together and each practice session will build on those before it.
To join the October practices you will need to:
- Book your place in advance, (£7 per session, £5 concessions), as you go (email aber.taiko@gmail.com for details).
- Bring your own ear plugs: the drums are big and LOUD.
- Be able to be active for the hour, albeit listening to your body and taking care of your well-being while we practice. Taiko drumming is a physical activity which can be intense at times.
- Agree to adhere to our COVID19 safety measures and not attend with any COVID19/influenza symptoms (if unable to arrive due to COVID19 you will be refunded). Whatever else we do, we keep 3 doors open to allow fresh air and take regular breaks to go outside.
We will supply all drums and sticks (bachi).
