Celebrating Japanese performance

Although no audience participation is required, it will be tough to sit still while witnessing the energy on display in Professors Larry Kominz and Wynn Kiyama’s upcoming Japanese arts showcase, “Drama! Dance! Drums!”

This Sunday, a commemoration of past and present Japanese music, art and theater will take place in Portland State’s Lincoln Performance Hall. The celebratory event will be split into two parts: a traditional taiko concert led by Kiyama, a professor of music, and a performance of the kabuki play The Medicine Peddler, directed by Japanese Professor Larry Kominz.

“I love working with students on projects like this,” Kominz said. “Kabuki is very challenging to learn and to perform, but the process is a lot of fun for everyone involved, including the musicians, actors, dancers and prop and costume makers.”

Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese dance-drama known for its stylized, exaggerated movements, costumes and make-up. Kabuki has been performed since the 17th century and has since progressed into a more modern theatrical feel.

Kominz has been working at PSU since 1984. He received his doctorate in Japanese literature from Columbia University and specializes in Japanese theater and drama.

“We are creating an exciting and beautiful world of make-believe, sort of like being in the cast that creates the film version of The Lord of the Rings,” Kominz said. “It’s hard work, and it’s time consuming, but the result is magical, and you feel good the whole time you’re working on it because everyone is sharing in making magic.”

The Medicine Peddler is a 35-minute, one-act kabuki play that follows a young samurai—played by Jayne Stevens—who seeks revenge on the man who savagely killed his father 18 years prior. In order to gain access to the heavily guarded murderer, the samurai disguises himself as a medicine peddler and attends a New Year’s party, where he encounters his lover, a courtesan and a handful other obstacles between him and his enemy.

The play was translated and published by Kominz in 2002.

“The play is brocade of music, dance, acting, gorgeous costumes, wigs and extravagant make-up,” Kominz said. “All of the song and instrumental accompaniment is live, played by authentic instruments and sung in English. This is the first time a totally live musical accompaniment has been done by college students performing kabuki at a mainland U.S. university.”

Before the kabuki play, however, Kiyama and the PSU Taiko Ensemble take the stage for a showcase that also happens to be their debut.

“Since I’ve joined PSU’s Taiko Ensemble, I’ve gotten the chance to look at music and rhythm in a more physical sense, which requires not only a heightened degree of sensing my body in space to produce a focused and efficient effort, but also a greater musical creativity,” said Keahi Horowitz, a music junior and member of the group.

Taiko is a type of Japanese drum and also refers to the action of drumming. It has been practiced in Japan for more than 2,000 years and was made popular in 1951 by Daihachi Oguchi. Though originally used to motivate and signal feudal Japanese troops, taiko ensembles have become popularized and now exist worldwide.

In addition to being drawn to taiko music, Horowitz finds motivation in Kiyama’s artistic direction.

“Working with Professor Kiyama has been educational, engaging and sometimes downright exhausting,” Horowitz said. “His constant flow of teaching and practicing rhythms, which we all must memorize by rote, pushes us to learn on the spot both the various rhythms and various forms of playing the taiko while also building the sheer stamina required to perform all the repertoire.”

“Wynn is a wonderful professor who creates a fun and peaceful atmosphere out of a very loud and chaotic setting,” senior Jonah Majure said. “He and his wife, Traci, are definitely experts at teaching taiko and creating a worry-free environment where we’re not afraid to yell, be silly and get sweaty.”

Majure is one of several students who will be breaking from the ensemble during the June 10 showcase to perform as a soloist.

“My roommate and I will be presenting a piece that we have been working on, perfecting and performing for the past few months that’s pretty cool,” Majure added. “It has a polyrhythmic gi that isn’t your typical shime playing style.”

Kiyama has been at PSU since fall 2010. He started playing taiko as a teenager with the San Jose Junior Taiko Group in San Jose, Calif., and later played with Soh Daiko in New York City. He also studied in Tokyo with Kiyonari Tosha of the Nihon Taiko Dojo. He began planning to form an ensemble at PSU after that.

“I met Larry soon after I arrived at PSU, and we found we had much in common,” Kiyama said. “We started talking about a collaboration almost immediately.”

The taiko group, which meets once a week, is open to both music majors and non-majors and does not require an audition. As for why he believes taiko has stuck around at PSU, Kiyama has a simple explanation: “Once you start playing taiko, it’s difficult to stop.”

“Drama! Dance! Drums!” is open to the public. Tickets are available at the PSU Box Office or Ticketmaster and cost just $8 for students.

“This show will give PSU students more bang for their buck than any entertainment in Portland,” Kominz said. “Taiko offers exciting, vibrant, heart-pounding drumming that is second to none in the world of percussion, and The Medicine Peddler is one of the most popular in kabuki history.”