Schools
Taiko drum program infuses music and culture at Daniel Island School
By Tom Ratzloff
May 21, 2008 - 12:17:12 PM

TOM RATZLOFF Shailynn McDaniels is one of 15 Daniel Island School students who are enrolled in teacher Laura Wilcox’s taiko drumming class. The Japanese art form is becoming increasingly popular in elementary and middle schools across the United States.

Sayonara, ninja warriors and Pokemon.

Move over, "Hello Kitty." Go find some sushi.

Taiko drumming is the latest Japanese export to fire students’ imaginations at Daniel Island School, complements of music teacher Laura Wilcox.

Played with wooden sticks, the drums emit a thunderous, pulsing sound that evoke images of the Land of the Rising Sun. The art form is also visual and aerobic as students intermittently clack their sticks together and perform a variety of physical movements during their performances.

Wilcox’s students have performed at a variety of area venues, including at Daniel Island School’s recent spring carnival and a memorable appearance at Fort Dorchester High School last fall.

"I let the drummers each pick an audience member to come up and they taught them one of their songs," Wilcox said. "That was really fun. You had these younger children teaching older high school students and everyone had a great time."

The taiko program was launched last year at Daniel Island School after Wilcox attended a music teacher’s workshop coordinated by Berkeley County School District Performing Arts Coordinator Frank Miley. The guest speaker was Myrtle Beach elementary teacher Tim Peterman, who started a taiko percussion program at a local school four years ago. Miley’s initial plan was to purchase a set of taiko drums that could be shared by schools across the district, according to Wilcox.

"But transporting the drums from school to school was a problem," she said. "And not every school had room to store them. So he sent an e-mail out to teachers and asked if anyone was interested in starting a taiko program in their school. I jumped at the chance."

There are 15 students currently in Wilcox’s taiko class, so they have to play in shifts on the 10 drums. After starting the program last year with a core group of gifted-and-talented students, there is now a waiting list of youngsters who want to learn taiko.

The Pennsylvania native is an all-purpose musician who graduated from West Virginia University in 2005 with a degree in music education. Also a history buff, she finds that multi-cultural programs such as taiko offer superb teaching moments about life in various countries. Her department also has a set of African drums and Wilcox hopes to start another percussion program that focuses on African and South American drum traditions.

Wilcox has been chosen to go to Japan June 8-26 as part of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund teacher program. She will share her experiences with her taiko group when she returns.

"Teachers from all around the country will be going and I plan on bringing back lots of pictures," Wilcox said. "I can see displaying photos from Japan and some of our performances in a media presentation when the kids are performing. It’s really exciting."