Well, that was a long trip. A lot of performing and teaching, a good deal of driving, many new people to talk to, and holy crap did we eat!
Having so many people in and out for performances makes for a logistics jumble, but it meant more refreshed people coming in more often, which is good. Not a lot of mishaps on stage this round, which is great considering how long we were out. The biggest was probably the lights shorting out during intermission, but that was nobody's fault - and better they went nuts during intermission rather than during the show!
The highlight for me was definitely the workshop tour. Three completely different groups with three totally different Missions as well as compositions. It made me appreciate even more what I have here, but the best part was seeing how much people were able to take from what we offered. Each group had different needs and each person had different "lightbulb moments" of discovery and realization.
We got really lucky, weather-wise. Going back East after some serious snow and storms was a bit worrying, but we only had to deal with some cold and wind a few days, light snow maybe twice, and some rain on a couple of days. It could have made things miserable for us and our audiences otherwise!
Our homestay hosts were incredibly generous and made the workshop tour possible. We were fed well by them and by taiko friends we met up with on the way. As always, food is how taiko people bond when they're not playing taiko!
And as for food, I don't know if I can top that one Soul Food buffet I found in Newark, NJ. I can't think of another restaurant I want to go back to as much as that one, tour or otherwise. And to think I stumbled across it by accident? 'Twas a good day.
I felt like I got better as a performer on this run, realizing how to make a few parts easier, recognizing some techniques I can improve on, and a couple of improvements in my solos. Some of this I'll blog about later, if it seems like a good post.
Now we're going into our festival season as the weather warms up, and I have some song ideas I hope to tackle - and maybe actually compose something, finally...
Thanks for everyone who followed along for the past month!
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