Harbourfront Centre will present an unusual pairing for its concert finale of the 2025-26 season. On Saturday (April 11), Toronto-based Nagata Shachu will perform Japanese taiko alongside spectacular circus artist Ryonosuke Yamazumi at The Fleck at Harbourfront Centre Theatre (231 Queens Quay West).
Yamazumi specializes in big ball juggling, Chinese pole, and antipodism (foot juggling while lying on one’s back). A graduate of Quebec Circus School, he has performed for many circus companies, including Cirque du Soleil.
His show, “Ryu’s Big Circus”, captured En Piste Special Prize at Festival des arts de ruelle. Yamazumi also took home First Prize in Extreme Talents 2009 in Quebec and the Jury’s Special Prize at Izhevsk International Circus Festival and Moscow Circus Idol Festival in Russia.
Watch Ryonosuke Yamazumi on the Chinese pole (above).
Meanwhile, Nagata Shachu is the only taiko troupe outside of Japan that has attracted sponsorships from four major Japanese drum manufacturers. In 2020, the group was a finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation Roy Thomson Hall Award.
”While rooted in the folk drumming traditions of Japan, the ensemble’s principal aim is to rejuvenate this ancient art form by producing innovative and exciting music that seeks to create a new voice for the taiko,” Nagata Shachu states on its website. Taking its name from founder Kiyoshi Nagata and the Japanese word shachu meaning group, Nagata Shachu, has become renowned for its exacting, physically demanding and energetic performances on the taiko, as well as for its diverse repertoire. Their playing is the combination of unbounded spirit and passion with the highest levels of musicianship and discipline.”
Nagata Shachu formed in 1998. Over the years, it has recorded five CDs of original music, as well as five DVDs.
Watch Nagata Shachu’s 25th-anniversary concert (above).
Event details
Harbourfront Centre will present Nagata Shachu X Ryunosuke Yamazumi: Rhythms in Flight at 8 p.m. on Saturday (April 11) at The Fleck at Harbourfront Centre Theatre (231 Queens Quay West). The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
