finding her beat

 

This could be called, Lo Ladies, the Film. Keri Pickett, one of the Lo Ladies of 30 years fame this year, co directed a film about Taiko drumming. That's Keri on the left, above. with her fellow director Dawn Mikkelson at the NY.doc film festival last night. Three of the stars of the show (top photo) did a preshow drumming  in the lobby of the IFC Center in the Village. Info at THIS SITE.

  The documentary is the story of how female Taiko drummers came from Japan, where drummers are traditionally exclusively male, to join with US women and nonbinary people in Minneapolis to put on a show. It is a classic tick-tock performance story: they bond, they freak out, they disagree, they worry about covid, and they all come together in the end for the show of shows. This film works because of the sheer excitement of the drumming. And the colorful costumes and characters. And the emotional arc which left me pretty well crying though whole ending. I was gratified that Keri included me in the credits as someone who critiqued the rough cut. 

   The film has been shown to acclaim at more than a half dozen film festivals, including in Austin and Mill Valley. But New York is New York. Huzzah!