This documentary from tandem directors Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett hits the right notes in many areas: music, feminism/gender, Asian/ethnic heritage, as well as a recent chapter in the COVID saga. It is also often strikingly visual—plus has a great beat and you can dance to it.
Japanese Taiko drumming, perhaps best identified with the band Kodo, is a post-WWII world-music phenomenon, a spectacle of stagecraft and sound. But, typically for Japan, it has also long been regarded as a males-only club (although even Kodo added a few women onstage, in minor roles).
Maverick female Japanese percussionists, such as Kaoly Asano and Chieko Kozima, did risk family and social disapproval to create their own form of Taiko (sometimes blending dance in the mix). In Minnesota, Jennifer Weir (a Korean adoptee) and her wedded partner Megan Chao Smith (the pair are blissful parents of a violin-playing daughter) determine to mount "Her BEAT," the first-ever world gathering of woman-fronted Taiko drum acts, at a St. Paul arts center.
Cameras are there as Kaoly Asana and Chieko Kozima are joined by like-minded Taiko specialists from the USA, Canada, and the Pacific, who converge in a sisterly fellowship (though male musicians are also present) of mutual support, inclusion, appreciation, and grueling rehearsals, in advance of the February 2020 performance. And if that date triggers viewer memories, it should. A rising tide of COVID cases spreads across the world, with China as a source, and the first reports of the virus arrive in North America. PPE masks proliferate, and some of the key Her BEAT participants fall ill. Will the historic concert happen at all?
Buyers may know that Finding Her Beat is steeped in a conservatory full of issues—feminism, LGBTQ relationships, Asian patriarchies, and heroic artistic expression. There is emotion enough in what unfolds, as well as stunning music and the contagious passion of the performers. Highly recommended.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Music is the clear niche, though women's studies and pan-Asian collections also harmonize. Libraries with Minneapolis-St.Paul ties should also bang the drum for local representation.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
Music/performing arts, Japanese and Asian culture, women's studies, LGBTQ studies all syncopate.
What type of classroom would this documentary resource be suitable for?
High-school demographics on up can march to the beat. The occasional transition to Japanese dialogue (subtitled) should offer no problems.