Swarthmore Taiko Ensemble at Sakura Taiko Fest 2023

Next up: the Swarthmore Taiko Ensemble (STE), comprised of students from Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges. The ensemble is a repeatable, for-credit course in the Swarthmore College Dance Program directed by taiko artist and choreographer, Asst. Professor Joe Small. With attention to artistic rigor, STE studies and performs original and arranged works of contemporary and folk-based taiko drumming that underscore the fundamental artistic relationships between music and dance stemming from both Japan and its transnational diaspora. Swarthmore's first taiko offerings occurred through 2000-2001 by Prof. of Dance Kim Arrow, leading to the creation of a student ensemble in 2002.