Kristy "Aki" Oshiro

Presented by Highways Performance Space, Artistic Directors Leo Garcia and Patrick Kennelly, "SPALL FRAGMENTS: Taiko Drum-Dance Action-Adventure for the 21st Century" explodes out of choreographer Joe Small‘s often surreal encounters with hypermasculine traits of ‘power’ (size, speed, strength, and aggression) surrounding the physically dynamic, pulse-pounding art of contemporary Japanese taiko drumming. Through a bombastic mix of high-precision taiko drumming, dance, and serio-comic theatre, Small and the cast (Vivian Lee, Yeeman Mui, Kristy Oshiro, David Wells, and special guest artist Bruce Mui Ghent) launch critical and self-conscious inquiries into the interconnectivity between hierarchical systems of aggression; the media’s influence on creating 'tradition' and the reinforcing self-exoticizing Orientalist stereotypes; the harrowing fall-out from masculine trauma-bonding and rage; and the existential lunacy of sacrificing one’s body-mind-cultural identity to survive Taiko drumming's historically Japanese contexts and its globalized, transnational present. SPALL FRAGMENTS will be performed twice at Highways Performing Space at 1651 18th St, Santa Monica, CA 90404 on Friday, July 15, 2016. Start Time 8:30 PM and Saturday July 16, 2016. Start Time 8:30 PM For more information, please visit http://highwaysperformance.org/highways/event/joe-small-spall-fragments/ Tickets: General Admission $20, Student/Senior $15 For ticket reservations, please call (310) 315-1459 or visit the ticket URL at https://ww04.elbowspace.com/secure/20060523121621515002 Tickets also available 30 minutes prior to showtime at the door. SPALL FRAGMENTS is co-sponsored by Asano Taiko US (http://asano.us/), the American branch of Asano Taiko Company, Ltd., handcrafters of traditional Japanese drums and festival instruments since 1609. ________________________________________ For information regarding SPALL FRAGMENTS performances the following weekend in SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Please go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1739780319577960/ SPALL FRAGMENTS will be performed twice in San Francisco at Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110 on Saturday July 23, 2016 at 8:00 PM, and Sunday, July 24 2016 at 6:00 PM