Communities

What communities are you a part of?

I would like people to think about what they mean when they invoke that word, "community". I hear a lot of talk about the taiko community, the North American taiko community, the Japanese-American community, etc. People often refer to themselves as a part of a community, but when are you truly a part of something?

If I buy a taiko online and practice on my own, how is that part of any community? Does the love of playing taiko automatically enroll me? If someone plays taiko, when are they a part of the taiko community? Or do they need to somehow get involved and/or contribute to that community to be a part of it?

If someone is born into an ethnic group, does that make them part of that community? What if they identify with another culture altogether? Which community (or communities) do they belong to? Or is it simply a matter of them saying "I choose this one, therefore I belong here"?

The other aspect to community is identifying which communities you could be involved in. As taiko players, we tend to focus too much on the above three communities: "taiko", "NA taiko", and "J-A". There's nothing wrong with those, but what about local arts communities? Local music communities? Non-profit communities? Others? It's not that we have to be active in every community possible, but more about realizing that there might be a larger overlap than we're immediately aware of.

Ultimately, community is what you make of it. Just give the concept some thought before you throw it out there too casually!