Taiko Connections

The other evening, Alette and I went to Queen's Hall to watch the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers. It was a great performance, but also presented a number of interesting connections for me. As a performance, it was quite similar to Stomp, which we went to see in New York City a few years ago. Not that surprising I suppose, since both are percussion performances. Taiko drumming relies solely on, well, taiko drums (which, if you read the link, is redundant since 'taiko' actually means a Japanese drum). And if I remember correctly, Stomp relies on pretty much anything that makes noise (including a lot of garbage cans).

But there were other connections for me as well. Complementing the drumming was also some very good dance performance by Lale Sayoko. And Lale strongly reminded me of Inara, the "companion" from the tv series Firefly and movie Serenity. It might have been her variety of dresses, or perhaps a link with the oriental back-story in Firefly.

One of the taiko drummers, Teresa Brookes, strongly reminded me of Uma Thurman in her role as Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill. If you've seen the movie, don't worry, there was no sword play at the performance, only drumming. I think it was Teresa's stature and strength, and the way she carried herself on the stage. The blonde hair helped too.
On a final note, Queen's Hall serves up some good local beer from Williams Brothers Brewing. They serve from kegs, rather than casks, but I found it to be quite tasty. There's no real connection here. I just liked the beer.