TaikoArts: A Rhythm of Empowerment

Jennifer Weir, executive director and founder of TaikoArts Midwest, will be joining the Homecoming festivities at MSUM! Jennifer and TaikoArts will be performing in the Hansen Theater, Roland Dille Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9. Music students will also have a chance to join her in a workshop earlier that day.

After transferring and completing her degree, Jennifer found her way to the Twin Cities and Theater Mu, an organization that strives to celebrate Asian Americans through the art of theater. After decades of working with Theater Mu, they decided it was best for their theater and taiko programs to part ways. Jennifer took this opportunity and founded the nonprofit TaikoArts Midwest. "I had invested 20 years in the art form," Jennifer says. "I wanted to keep pursuing artistic excellence and to keep moving forward. I founded TaikoArts Midwest with the purpose to pursue and nurture artistic excellence in taiko arts and to use taiko as a tool to strengthen, build and empower community."

BA in Music & Performance

When asked about taiko and its connection to Asian American culture, Jennifer says, "The history of taiko is rooted in Japan, but when it came to North America it took root around the same time as the Civil Rights movement and this idea of cultural identity, right around the time that the concept of being Asian American was being discussed. So as a result, it was embraced by the wider Asian American community." She adds, "In the U.S., taiko is very much in Asian American culture but now it's becoming more popular; it's for everyone."

Being raised as a Korean adoptee in North Dakota, Jennifer wasn't always connected to Asian American culture. "Finding taiko and what it means to me as an Asian American has been profound," says Jennifer. "Taiko was my path into discovering this better version of myself. Through taiko, I could become something more than I knew. I feel like the message of this is, whether it's through taiko or if it's through nature or cooking or whatever your thing is that lights you up and brings out this special something in your life, you should go for it and not let people or barriers or expectations get in your way."

One of Jennifer's biggest projects was the HERbeat Concert. Taiko had been off-limits to women for centuries. This concert aimed to push gender equity forward in taiko as well as highlight the amazing work female taiko artists were creating. Jennifer describes taiko as "an untapped superpower, when you play or experience taiko it gives you more energy and it's dynamic and there is just nothing else like it." She further explains, "for Asian American Women, who are used to being the obedient model minority, to claim that power and space is so special, and I can't find that anywhere else in my life."

When Planning for the HERbeat concert, Jennifer reached out to her filmmaker friend and asked her to film the concert for an archive copy. Jennifer recounts, "We talked about what the concert was about, what's happening in our lives and being women in a very male-dominated field. And she said, 'I think this is a film, and we start filming now and build up to the concert to serve as the end of the film and follow the artists through their lives." This vision of the film has been well received, as it has been awarded nine wins and two nominations from festivals.

When talking about her time at MSUM, Jennifer says that the Straw Hat Players are a great professionalized experience that helped her prepare for shifting into taiko. "People got involved in more than just the acting, everything that helps make the shows a success. Taiko drumming is a lot like that too. It's not just what happens on the stage but everything behind it." When discussing the importance of a 4-year degree in the arts, Jennifer says "I'm a firm believer in the college experience, not in the sense that this college will get you this job, but as it being the space to become more yourself. In the performing arts, so much of what you bring to the role is your life experience and college can give you that."

To learn more about Jennifer and TaikoArts Midwest you can check out their website. You can find the Finding Her Beat documentary on Prime and Tubi.