Tampa Taiko Traditional Japanese Performing Arts

Development of cultural awareness has become much more important as our community populations become more diverse, and there is a need to counter the rudeness, discrimination and isolation that most all people encounter on a daily basis.

All of Tampa Taiko’s performances are modeled on celebrations, such as Chinese New Year and Matsuri Festivals that are so popular across Asia. For our Chinese New Year concert, we include a traditional Lion Dance performance to go with music on instruments such as the bamboo flute, gongs, cymbals, and our big drums.

For centuries, New Year Day was celebrated across Asia in accordance with the Lunar Calendar. Although the Japanese adjusted their observance to January 1st (in 1873), the celebration of the traditional Japanese New Year is still marked on the same day as the contemporary Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese New Years.

Lion Dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese traditional, cultural events. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honor VIPs the community.

The Chinese Lion Dance is a 3000-year-old Chinese tradition that symbolizes prosperity, luck and happiness. According to legends, the dance tells about a creature that threatened villagers with thunder, lightning and rain. However, the aftermath was a tremendous harvest so the dance is performed with the thundering sounds of drums, cymbals and gongs.