And now for something completely different.....
Ever since I saw Michael Palin visit the group Kodo in Japan as part of his Full Circle trip, I have had an interest in Japanaese Taiko Drumming. Over the years, I have seen several groups in concert, in particlar the UK based Mugenkyo, who I have seen probably once a year for nearly 10 years. Anyway, at one of their concerts, their leader Neil mentioned that the group run weekend workshops in a training centre in Lanarkshire. I mentoned this back home and I was given permission (!) to sign up. So in 2010, I actually went on 3 weekends, and thoroughly enjoyed myself! On the third weekend, I was given an e:mail address of a group based in York, so just before Christmas 2010, I went along to one of their practice sessions. Since then, I have practised with them on a weekly basis, and had some great experiences performing over the last year: - at the York Railway Museum over Easter 2011, as part of the Japanese fortnight, celebrating the arrival of the Shincasen train at the museum - at ...