MUSIC

The Grand 1894 Opera House presents TAO – The Martial Art of Drumming, Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 8pm.

The worldwide sensation Tao – The Martial Art of Drumming comes to The Grand 1894 Opera House with one impressive performance on Saturday, February 27, at 8 pm. Powerful athletic bodies and contemporary costumes meet explosive Taiko drumming and innovative choreography in this show that has critics waxing lyrical about Tao’s extraordinary precision, energy, and stamina.

Sponsored in part by Texas Commission on Arts and Mid America Arts Alliance, Tao has proven that modern entertainment - based on the traditional art of Japanese drumming - has massive international appeal.

With hundreds of sold-out shows and more than a million spectators, this Japanese spectacular - featuring unrivalled drumming and martial arts mastery - create an unforgettable performance. The stars of Tao live and train (said to consist of 14 hour- per-day regiments) at a compound in the mountains of Japan - reaching the highest level of virtuosity only after years of intensive study. However, these performers each bring nontraditional flair to the group by drawing on their diverse backgrounds: One as a hard rock musician, another a gymnast, and yet another as a composer. They offer a young and vibrantly modern take on a traditional art form.

The incomparable quality and pure unadulterated power and spectacle of the drummers perfectly blends the ancient traditions of Taiko Drumming with the innovative and flawlessly choreographed production values of contemporary Japanese excellence. The young drummers beat their huge drums with outstanding precision, vehemence and persistency on their Wadaiko Drums, which have a circumference of up to 5 1/2 feet and can weigh over 850 pounds. "Spectacular percussive, visually compelling, and elementally energizing… precisely choreographed and athletically executed… as strange and beautiful as a dream," says the UK Independent.

You won't want to miss this ingenious combination of explosive percussion and timeless rituals - all onstage at The Grand!