A LIGHT pounding, like the sound of raindrops on huge drums, lulls the audience into a false sense of security. The sound is soft and soothing - irresistibly seductive.
The audience is hypnotised by this insistent beat of ancient rhythms, until a thunderstorm. Drum-sticks flash. Sweat pours from the brows of the drummers pounding a beat which dates back 2,000 years.
This is the unique, transcendental theatrical experience awaiting audiences when Hong Kong's Cultural Centre welcomes the New Year with a famous Japanese troupe.
Audiences the world over have been thrilled for the past 24 years by the pulsating rhythms and drums of Ondekoza.
The ensemble, performing on December 30 and 31, finds its inspiration from traditional Japanese festival drum routines and folk music.
But Ondekoza seeks out new dimensions by incorporating the sounds of both nature and everyday life in Japan. Traditionally, the drums were used for festivals and religious ceremonies and as a means of communication over long distances during war and emergencies.
The exhilarating, exhausting music is played on bamboo flutes (shinoubue ), string and percussion instruments, ranging in size from a tiny brass instrument the size of an ashtray, to monster taiko drums weighing more than 1,000 kilograms.
