If you are having difficulty viewing this message, you can view the graphics version online at http://www.etaiko.org/news.htm.   Newsletter - August 2010   Next free lecture and hands-on demonstration: August 27 Taiko: What is it? Come find out at our free lecture and participatory demonstration on Friday, August 27 at 7pm. Please RSVP by email to info@etaiko.org. If you've ever wanted to know what it feels like to play the big drums, this is your chance!   New classes starting September 2 and 4 Classes for beginners are held every Thursday from 7pm to 9pm and Saturday from 2pm to 4pm. We accept new students on the first Thursday and Saturday of each month. Please check the schedule below and go to the Classes page on our web site for complete and updated information.   New students are required to attend an orientation a half an hour before the first class. The class is $15 plus a one-time $5 registration fee (cash or check only, includes Member Handbook). Please email to let us know you're coming before attending your first class, and have a look at the new Frequently Asked Questions page on our web site.   Kids' classes coming up in September We are delighted to offer classes for kids 8 to 12 years old! Instructor Echo Costanzo holds classes every Saturday from 9:45am to 10:35am. Students will learn basic rhythms, forms, principles and a song to perform.   New students will be accepted on September 4 and October 2. New students must attend a registration and orientation session at 9:30am before their first class. Each class is $10 plus a one-time $5 registration fee (cash or check only, no debit or credit cards). Multi-class discount cards (5/$45 and 10/$80) are available. Please email info@etaiko.org to reserve a space.   Upcoming performances Sunday, August 29 We will play at 3:30pm at the Oakland Chinatown StreetFest, an annual celebration of the tastes and traditions of Asia.   Saturday, September 11 We will perform at 10:15am at the SF Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk®, the nation's largest Memory Walk raising funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. Join us at Mission Creek Park, 290 Channel Street in San Francisco.   Sunday, September 12 Emeryville Taiko will be performing at the 36th annual Solano Stroll, which organizers call "the East Bay's largest street festival." This year we will be taking part in the parade that kicks off the festival at 10am, and we will be playing 15 minute sets on the Avenue at 1 (kids' show), 3, and 5pm.   Sunday, September 26 Emeryville Taiko will be return to the 14th annual Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival, a weekend of world-class dragon boat racing, spectacular cultural performances, and fun-filled activities for the whole family at the largest competitive dragon boat festival in the United States. We will be taking the stage on Treasure Island at 3:30pm.   Meet the Student: Heidi Rayher Photo by Richard Man Emeryville Taiko: How long have you been playing taiko?   Heidi: I started last October, so it's getting close to one year!   ET: How did you discover Emeryville Taiko?   Heidi: About a year and a half ago I saw a small group of taiko players doing a show in Japantown and I knew I HAD to do this! I looked it up online to find an East Bay location and I discovered ET, but that was during the time that the group was in transition - there were no classes being offered to new students due to ET not having a permanent home. I looked it up just a few months after that and discovered the new location at 47th and San Pablo. And the rest is history.   ET: You previously had a career as a dancer. Will you please tell us about that?   Heidi: I started taking ballet classes when I was 3 years old. By middle school I was in classes 5 nights a week in addition to frequent rehearsals and performances. In high school I went to a boarding school for professional dance training. I was living in a dorm away from home and training extensively for over 8 hours each day. During that time, I changed my dance focus from ballet to modern dance. After school I had a career in modern dance for several years, but professional dance salary isn't really a sustainable living so I was balancing the dance classes, rehearsals and performances with work at a local health food store. This is what eventually led to my current career in sustainable agriculture.   ET: How does your dance background affect your drumming?   Heidi: I think it helps immeasurably, but not necessarily in the way you might expect. While it does help me feel comfortable with body movements, I think the real benefit is understanding the counting of music. This helps me stay relatively consistent in rhythm as well as being able to hear the nuances of more complicated sequences. Another benefit is also the way my body can remember the songs. Once I've played a song many times and know it really well, it goes to 'muscle memory'. It's like I don't have to think about it because my body will just know what to do.   ET: You said you have a career in sustainable agriculture. What do you do?   Heidi: I'm the team lead for the Regional Buying Team for produce and floral items in all Northern California Whole Foods Markets. Whole Foods is a mission-driven company with really great core values. I have worked there for 14 years and I am proud to do it. I work at the regional distribution center and I help coordinate consolidated buying for all stores as well as facilitate relationships between growers and stores directly. I love the challenges of inventory management, logistics and staying up with market conditions and costs. But mostly I am very passionate about sustainable agriculture. I am lucky enough to be able to visit farms all over the region and have many great friends who are farmers. I love the people and the product that I work with.   ET: What else do you do with your time?   Heidi: I'm a Mommy to the most amazing kid I know: my son Phoenix, who just turned 7 a few weeks ago. And I've been married for 18 years. My husband is a musician and a chef (so I get the food and he cooks it!). I sometimes noodle around on the bass guitar playing reggae music. And I love hanging out with good friends. All those things keep me pretty busy all the time!   ET: You're kind of like ET's social coordinator. You've planned events to get the students together as a community outside of the dojo. What inspired you to do that?   Heidi: I have always been a very social person. I've been dubbed the 'cruise director' in a couple of different circles of friends. I really like getting people together and seeing everyone have a good time. I also like learning new things about people. When we get together, we become a stronger and more supportive group. I just enjoy it.   ET: Thanks for doing it. We really appreciate it. So, do you have an ET story you'd like to share or anything else you'd like to say?   Heidi: Well, I guess I just want to say how happy I am to have found ET. Everyone is so friendly and helpful and we are darn good taiko players! I love Sensei's ability to teach various levels of students in the same class and not make anyone feel left out of the learning and growing process. It's a great environment and I have also made some really good friends here!   Recent performances Yerba Buena Gardens Festival We had the honor of playing a noontime concert at Yerba Buena Gardens, sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco. A very receptive crowd of several hundred downtown office workers, families, and music aficionados gathered in the park to watch us. After our performance we invited the audience to join us onstage, and a few dozen volunteers young and old got their first taste of taiko. Their grins told us they liked it!   Berkeley Kite Festival We participated in an amazing event with beautiful kites made by hand with paper and bamboo from Japan, and unbelievable aerobatic kite flying. At the festival ET accompanied the contingent from Japan in a parade with a commemorative Japanese kite honoring the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin Maru, the first Japanese boat to land on the shores of the US. We then played our drums as part of a Japanese-style kite fighting contest. All around us were huge kites filling the sky as well as kites performing both solo and team stunts.   Diablo Japanese American Summer Festival, Concord The warm sun and 82-degree weather made us feel like we'd finally found summer after weeks lost in the Bay Area fog. We set up stage under the elegant wooden pavilion on the fairgrounds of the Diablo Japanese American Club. The performance went very well. Hachijo was tight and precise. We tore into Masaru at a brisk performance tempo. Then we played Umi Matsuri, boisterously calling out "Dokkoi sho." A few audience members even joined in! We ended with Saidai. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious meal of teriyaki chicken and a performance by Tatsumaki Taiko from Berkeley, including the impressive song Yatai Bayashi, which features a fierce seated playing style and rapid-fire shime passages. Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Photos by Richard Man Berkeley Kite Festival Photos by Echo Costanzo Concord Summer Festival Photo by Susan Nishizaka Welcome new students We would like to welcome our new students to the Beginning 1 classes:   Corelle, Debbie, Judge, John, Karen, Kathy and Meaba   Thank you for bringing your energy and inspiration to the group!   Class schedule Beginning 1 classes: Thursdays 7pm to 9pm, Saturdays 2pm to 4pm New students accepted September 2 at 6:30pm and September 4 at 1:30pm   Beginning 2 classes: Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm, Saturdays 11am to 1pm Intermediate classes: Mondays 7pm to 9pm, Wednesdays 7pm to 9pm   Classes are held at: Emery Secondary School Shop B 1100 47th Street at San Pablo Avenue Emeryville, CA 94608   Our classes are in the Shop B space on the northwest corner of the San Pablo/47th Street intersection. There is plenty of parking along 47th Street west of San Pablo. Enter through the big roll-up steel door on 47th. Click here for a map and directions.   Support us Emeryville Taiko is a San Francisco Bay Area taiko group providing traditional Japanese drumming classes and performances. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible and your financial support is appreciated. You can donate online at our website.