BURLINGTON TAIKO DRUMMERS will do a series of free shows and workshops, plus a parade, in Middlebury at the end of September. Photo by Ally Cady
Come out to hear the taiko drums at a series of free shows, workshops and a parade at the end of this month!
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Middlebury College’s Mahaney Arts Center will present Burlington Taiko in a residency designed to invigorate body and spirit, bridge international cultures, and rebuild the sense of community that was diminished during the pandemic.
A weeklong residency will include workshops for area schoolchildren from Middlebury Union High School, Mary Hogan Elementary School, and Aurora Preschool; and community members. The week will culminate in a series of free, outdoor performances on the afternoons of Friday, September 30, and Saturday, October 1, on the back lawn of the Mahaney Arts Center. Friday’s event will kick off with a parade! All events are free and open to the public, and will take place rain or shine.
Since 1987, Burlington Taiko has been mesmerizing audiences with the powerful, spellbinding, and propulsive sounds of the Taiko drums. Burlington Taiko Group estimates it has introduced over half a million people to the power of Taiko via performances from the Boston Marathon to Burlington’s First Night to the Black Ships Festival in Newport, RI, and more.
Residency Events Open to the Public
All events are free and will take place outdoors, rain or shine. In the case of severe weather, events will be moved indoors to the MAC Dance Theatre.
Thursday, September 29
Movement Matters: Burlington Taiko
4:30-6:00 PM, MAC Plaza. Severe weather location: MAC, Dance Theatre
Join Burlington Taiko Founder and Artistic Director Stuart Paton for an exciting workshop about the Japanese art form of Taiko. Participants and spectators welcome. Those wishing to participate should wear loose-fitting exercise clothes suitable for outdoors. All equipment is provided. No previous experience is necessary. Rain or shine.
Free
Friday, September 30, 2022
Burlington Taiko: Japanese Lion Dance and Parade
3:30 PM, McCullough Student Center
Burlington Taiko leads a parade of Taiko music and a Japanese Lion Dance, starting at the center of campus and leading the crowd to the MAC’s back lawn for free, outdoor performances at 4:30 and 5:30 PM. All ages. Rain or shine.
Free
Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, 2022
Burlington Taiko: Public Performances
4:30 and 5:30 PM Friday; 2:00 and 3:00 Saturday, MAC plaza and back lawn. Severe weather location: MAC, Dance Theatre
Burlington Taiko performs two half-hour sets on the MAC’s back lawn each afternoon, followed by a Q&A with the artists. Come early on Friday to follow a parade from the center of campus starting at 3:30 PM. All ages. Rain or shine.
Free
All events are open to audiences from both on- and off-campus, with campus-wide health protocols in place: vaccinations and boosters required (or valid medical or religious exemptions); masks optional (except under certain conditions) but welcome. Read more>> The Mahaney Center is located on the campus of Middlebury College, at 72 Porter Field Road, just off Route 30 south/S. Main Street. Free parking is available curbside on Rt. 30 or in the MAC parking lot.
Burlington Taiko’s residency is funded in part by the Middlebury Arts Council, and by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
Events are subject to change. Audiences can visit the Arts at Middlebury website (www.middlebury.edu/arts), call 802-443-MIDD (6433) or email mac@middlebury.edu for updates.