The East Wayne Street Center has been serving Fort Wayne for over 45 years striving to improve the overall living conditions for families whose income is below poverty level. Programs offered at EWSC include Family Literacy, Project Solve, Head Start, Food Bank and Family Mentoring.  The center is also home to the Sports Academic Consortium, a program geared toward developing student athletes into top academic performers as well.   Fort Wayne Taiko will perform between 7:15-7:35.  Follow the link to learn more about East Wayne Street Center     http://ewscenter.org//about.html

Have you ever wanted to get a chance to play the taiko drums? Here is an opportunity for you.  A few members of Fort Wayne Taiko will be at the Avilla Library to do a lecture/demonstration on Wednesday July20th at 6PM    Come and experience the  drums and learn some of the basic elements of taiko.

 Join FW Taiko in Kendallville this Saturday, June 18th, at 10:30 am as we perform and invite audience members to join us on-stage to play the drums and to explore stance, strike and rhythms.  Come see us at the Childrens Stage, Main St. Kendallville, IN.

 Three Rivers Festival is just around the corner and so is another opportunity to see FW Taiko up close and personal  at  1PM on  Saturday July 9th in Freimann Square.  Meet us at the corner of Main and Clinton; follow the sound of the  drums if you don’t see us.

  http://www.trfonline.org/

A Taste of the Arts is back in full force with an outstanding line-up of entertainment, food and activities to thrill people of all ages.  Your greatest challenge will be in choosing which event to  attend. Plan on spending the day and enjoying the amazing and diverse talent Fort Wayne has to offer.

Join Ft. Wayne Taiko at the Freimann Square performance stage at 1:30PM on Saturday August 27th for a powerful and energetic taiko performance in full festival style.  Follow the link below and select the entertainement tab for the full schedule of activities and their locations.

http://www.tasteoftheartsfortwayne.org/index.php

2010 Knock on Wood

Ft. Wayne Taiko invites you to our annual Knock on Wood Performance to be held at the  Allen County Main Public Library Auditorium!  Advance tickets are $12 Adults and $10 for children 12 and under.  Tickets at the Door are $15 Adults and $12 for children. Call the Dance Collective at 424-6574.

Kris with practice pad

Kris Bergstrom, of On Ensemble, developed this 30-day program to improve shime daiko skills.  This program involves daily practice on shime or practice pad.  It increases in difficulty and goes on for 30 days straight.  We are more than halfway through and I am struggling to keep up the daily practice. Kris does support and encourage us through e -mails and videos but it is hard! Some of the drills are easy, some I am unable to do.  I am grateful that the program is almost over and wondering what the goal is and how I will be better.

The Fort Wayne Dance Collective (FWDC) is pleased to present Fort Wayne Taiko’s fourth annual Knock on Wood performance on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 7 p.m. The performance will be held at the Allen County Pubic Library’s theatre, located at the main library at 900 Library Plaza in downtown Fort Wayne.

Knock on Wood will feature a playful collage of sound and images performed by a diverse group of local talent. The collection of songs will include traditional and contemporary taiko drumming pieces as well as original compositions featuring chants, body percussion, language and dance.

Pre-sale tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students 12 and under. At the door, adult tickets are $15 and children tickets are $12. Call the Fort Wayne Dance Collective at 424-6574 for tickets or information.

Taiko, which means “big drum,” is a drumming and movement form based on Japanese tradition. Taiko is played on big drums, skinned both ends and placed in vertical, horizontal and diagonal positions. In taiko, the movement is as important as the rhythm–drummers play rhythms with sticks using choreographed arm movements and/or while ”dancing” from drum to drum.

Fort Wayne Taiko, the only performing taiko group in Indiana, has provided Northeast/Central Indiana with taiko performances and instruction since 2000. Fort Wayne Taiko members have studied with Japanese taiko masters in California and have brought guest taiko drummers to Fort Wayne to teach skills and repertory to local drummers. A program of the Fort Wayne Dance Collective, Fort Wayne Taiko honors the tradition of taiko as it equally strives to integrate taiko with other art forms to create experimental performance art. Weekly taiko classes are offered at the Fort Wayne Dance Collective. Children’s classes, outreach programs and performances are available upon request. For more info, go to their website, FWTaiko.org. To see several photos from recent FW Taiko shows, including Knock on Wood 2008, see below.

Fort Wayne Taiko is a program of the Fort Wayne Dance Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. FWDC receives funding from Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Partial funding for this event provided by the Downtown Improvement District.

Last years performance at West Central has been so talked about among the drummers that everyone wants to perform this year.  The setting, the atmosphere of community and the audience joining in were incredibly fun and what keeps us coming back for more. We will be performing Sunday on Union St. between Wayne and Berry, right in the midst of the popular West Central Home Tour.  We will be performing at lunchtime from 12:00-12:30. Its the perfect time to sit under the many mature trees and relax and have lunch or just let the spirit of the Arts Fest inspire you to imagine the people and social gatherings that took place in this beautiful neighborhood through the years. 

Our summer wouldn’t be complete without a performance at A Taste of the Arts!  This unique event is a great way to spend the day so block off the day to treat yourself.  Fort Wayne Taiko will be performing  from 1:00-1:30 PM at the plaza and always look forward to seeing and talking to our audience. 

 http://www.tasteoftheartsfortwayne.org/