"Thunderbolt from Taiwan:" The Ten-Drum Art Percussion Performance at Spreckels Organ Pavilion
Diana Wu

It was a cool Wednesday afternoon, and Balboa Park's regular visitors walked around that night expecting their usual quiet and routine stroll. What they didn't know was that tonight was going to be different. Powerfully different. A crowd was beginning to grow in the seats of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and if this weren't enough to draw curiosity from other people strolling by, the grand sight of large, beautifully crafted drums standing silently on stage certainly caught their attention. But these majestic percussion instruments would not stay silent for very long.

It was the middle of Taiwanese American Heritage Week and as a way to promote Taiwanese culture, the world-renown Ten Drum Art Percussion group of Tainan, Taiwan had come to the United States to give a national tour and so the Taiwanese American Community Center of San Diego invited them to perform for the local San Diego community as well. The night kicked off with Ted Fan, the director of the TACC, giving a few words and introducing a couple VIP guests for the night. After introductions and proclamations were made, he handed the mic to the MC of the night, Diana Wu, director of TACC's very own Naruwan Taiko, and she promptly got the show started and introduced the first piece of the night.

Ranging from ages 12-26, the performers walked out, clad in unique drumming attire and stood next to their respective drums, staring silently into the audience. The crowd stared right back, unsure of what to expect as the silence seemed to become more and more overwhelming. Suddenly, as if someone had just lit a spark, the performers, sticks in hand, lunged into their drums, producing a thunderous burst of sound and energy that filled the pavilion and its audience members. More and more casual strollers walked by to see what was going on and more and more of them sat down to join and soak in the deep resonating booms of the drums.

It has been said that people are drawn to the sounds of drums because it is most similar to the sound we hear as babies in our mothers' womb, comforted by her heartbeat. It is because of this that people are naturally drawn to the booming sound of drums, and tonight was no exception as throughout the performance, people continued to be drawn into the pavilion by the performance. Coupled with the athleticism and martial art-like choreography, the young drummers of Ten Drum lit up the stage with their energetic movements even as the sun began to set and night began to take the sky.

Having played a total of 11 pieces that night (with the last two being their encore pieces and also their strongest), the Ten Drum group presented themes of harmony and power in each performance as well as a couple of pieces that commemorated important figures of Taiwan's past. After their final piece "Reappearance of the Thunderbolt," the audience exploded into applause, in awe of the performance they had just witnessed. Announcements were soon made that DVDs and CDs were available for sale, and a crowd of people scrambled to the table on the side. Autographs and photo opportunities were offered as the performers came down from the stage and interacted with the audience members. Furthermore, Naruwan Taiko also announced to the crowd that free taiko drumming lessons were being held at the TACC on Mondays 7-9 PM and encouraged people of ages and levels to come and learn how to play as well.

All in all, it was a successful night, not just for the performers but also for the ultimate goal of introducing Taiwanese culture to the world. With their mission being to promote the existence of Taiwan to other countries through their drum performances, Ten Drum truly gave Taiwan a good name that night, as more than half of the audience members were non-Taiwanese. Having wowed the San Diego community, the Ten Drum Art Percussion group would then continue on their tour to entertain the cities of San Francisco and New York City, spreading Taiwanese culture wherever their thunderous sounds are heard.