🗓️ THURSDAY, MARCH 18 | 7:30 PM
đź“ŤBROWNING CENTER AT WSU
San Jose Taiko in Ogden. Fourteen performers. Drums taller than the people playing them. Choreography so precise it looks like the sticks are dancing on their own.
Founded in 1973 in the heart of San Jose’s Japantown, San Jose Taiko was only the third kumidaiko ensemble formed outside of Japan. What started as a cultural reclamation project by young Japanese American activists has become one of the most celebrated percussion ensembles in the world. They’re recipients of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship, Japan’s Foreign Minister’s Commendation, and a standing invitation to Carnegie Hall.
This is not a drum circle. It’s closer to Cirque du Soleil with drumsticks. Ninety minutes of synchronized movement, athletic precision, and rhythms that draw from Japanese, African, Brazilian, Latin, and jazz traditions. The performers don’t just play the drums. They leap, spin, and strike with a physicality that turns the stage into a living instrument. If you loved Cirque Mechanics or Peking Acrobats at Onstage Ogden, this is the next step in that experience.
San Jose Taiko needs no translation. No subtitles. No program notes. Kids feel the beat in their bones. Adults find themselves holding their breath through a solo and then exhaling into a standing ovation. Presenters across the country call them “dream-come-true fabulous” and “never less than dazzling.” One venue said the show was “the talk of the town for weeks.”
San Jose Taiko in Ogden plays Austad Auditorium at Weber State University on Thursday, March 18 at 7:30 PM.Â
San Jose Taiko will also offer a Student Matinee performance the morning of March 18. Find more details here.
