Principal Tom Chan lets out a rallying cry during his drumming performance with Hinode Taiko, while members Margaret McKenty (back, left) and Peggy Emmond look on.

Taiko

Drumming

River Elm Chanmania
A Rallying Cry for Reading

Powered by a community of readers, River Elm School principal Tom Chan gave a high powered musical performance alongside internationally-renowned Japanese taiko drumming artists Hinode Taiko.  The musical stunt, which took place during the school’s June 18 barbecue, was the 16th in a long line of reading challenges issued to River Elm students, families and community members. “If we complete the challenge, Mr. Chan always does these crazy stunts,” said student Michael Feechuk. This year, the principal challenged the entire community to read 2.75 million pages—a number they surpassed by reading over 2.8 million pages. “They all have been fantastic,” Mr. Chan said, noting that the challenges have always been first and foremost about reading. Mr. Chan began training with Hinode Taiko in April to ready himself for the performance; members in the band referred to his training as a “taiko boot camp.” “Mr. Chan has done really well—he’s super-motivated and he has a musical background,” said Hinode Taiko member Margaret McKenty. “It’s been a challenge for all of us to get to this stage…we’ve had a really good time working with Tom.” Ms. McKenty added that while people may think taiko is all about arm strength, the key is actually in the drummer’s stance: “A lot of it is to do with technique—the strength and power comes out of your stance and legs. You have to work up to that.” Mr. Chan proved equal to the challenge, delivering a dynamic performance alongside Hinode Taiko. The principal barely missed a beat, even when he dropped a drumstick at one point. Students, families and even babies were bobbing to the beat.

In the past 15 years, Mr. Chan has kissed a pig (1994), milked a goat (1995), lassoed a cow (1996), hypnotized three chickens (1997), ridden a llama (1998), performed a trick on the saddle of a galloping horse (1999), performed illusions (2000), received a multi-coloured hair dye (2001), choreographed and danced a jazz ballet (2002), repeatedly dumped into a dunk tank (2003), performed an Irish River Dance (2004), played a firefighter and rescued a training dummy from a smoke house (2005), played William Wallace of Braveheart and delivered the “Freedom” speech (2006), eaten fried worms (2007) and performed an Aboriginal hoop dance (2008).

.

Story by Dan Lemol, Our Schools