The new Winter 2023 Katsugi Okedo practice series with Eri Uchida is for subscribers only. Sign up for kaDON to access registration form.

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Instructor:

A professional taiko performer in Japan for over 10 years, Eri Uchida was immediately touched by the strong connection that taiko had on the community when she watched the taiko performances at San Jose Obon in the USA. As a performing member of KODO, she was aware of the power of taiko on stage, but this experience revealed to her that taiko carried potential beyond being simply a musical instrument. Eri wanted to further explore the question of “Why does taiko make us feel so fulfilled?” With this in mind and in collaboration with Sydney Shiroyama (Occupational Therapist), Eri came up with TaikoIN’, a concept that would explore 4 intentions (interconnected, in the moment, inspiring, inclusive) to grow an accepting community rooted in the philosophy and practice of taiko.

As an instructor, Eri has broken down all she has learned as a professional taiko player into the most basic elements in order to make it more accessible and shareable for taiko learners. Her goal is to help people discover and develop the unique abilities that they already possess. Thus, many students value her teaching style because of her ability to communicate concepts in a way that is more hands-on and easy to absorb. In 2020, Eri was one of the first kaDON LIVE instructors and taught these holistic concepts entirely on-line to students from all over the globe.

Find out more and follow Eri at:
Web Site:  https://www.taiko-in.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/euchida/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taikoin/
Email: eri@taiko-in.com


Practice Series Description:

This practice series is designed to help students maximize consistent practice with the eye of a professional instructor. Each session will be 1.5 hours. Content may vary based on students’ needs, but for the first few sessions, the first 30 minutes will focus on fine-tuning basics and derive concepts from Eri’s kaDON Katsugi course. Then, the following hour will be a mixture of advanced focus and introduction to the katsugi okedo portion of Eri and Shoji’s collaborative piece, “Summer Song.”

This format will allow new members to join the series and advanced members to start getting new material. Best of all, there should be more katsugi okedo play overall. Q&A sessions can be as needed.

Requirement for this practice series is to be a kaDON subscriber because Eri wants to make sure students have watched her Katsugi Basics series and be able to refer back to her kaDON course during the sessions. As this is a practice series, attendees need to have taken her basics course first for this to be beneficial.

 

 

Question: “Do I need to have an okedo?” NO. Here is a manual of some at-home options that you can make: At-Home Katsugi Okedo Substitutes 

At-Home Katsugi Okedo Substitutes

This workshop is open to ALL skill levels, as long as you are a subscriber and have completed Eri’s kaDON Course on Katsugi Basics. The basics are very important for any level of taiko playing and are the key inspiration for deepening your expression on the okedo.

Schedule (Thursdays in Pacific time zone)

January 5
January 19
February 2
February 9
February 16
March 9

All sessions are 1.5 hours in duration starting at:

5:00 p.m. (Los Angeles)
6:00 p.m. (Denver)
7:00 p.m. (Chicago)
8:00 p.m. (Toronto/New York)

The next day for the following cities (note these times may shift due to Daylight Savings in the USA):

1:00 a.m. (London)
2:00 a.m. (Madrid)
9:00 a.m. (Tokyo)

What do I need?
  • Some space to move your body and Okedo
  • Okedo or Substitute Okedo (at-home suggestions will be provided soon)
  • Bachi for Okedo – generally thinner and lighter than chudaiko bachi (kaDON Katsugi Bachi are available for purchase)
  • Strap to carry your okedo 
  • Pillow or cushion
  • Device to connect to zoom

Optional, but recommended

  • Big gym ball, the size that you can sit on and bounce (Highly recommended for understanding body groove!)
  • Tennis ball
  • Water
  • Pen and paper for note taking (optional)

Important Notes

  • Each live class is recorded (instructor view only) and is shared with the registrants
  • The class is 1.5 hours long beginning with basics review and second half consisting of advanced material/piece introduction. Students may join from the beginning or join 30 minutes in as well.
How do I register?

The new Katsugi Okedo practice series with Eri Uchida is for subscribers only. Sign up for kaDON to access registration form.

Sign up now