“I started dancing before I can actually remember,” says Moss Wacker ’25. Wacker danced ballet from the time they were a small child through high school, while also studying piano and then eventually bassoon. The two mediums of music and dance intertwined once they began composing their own music to choreograph dances to. “I have a really specific vision of what I want out of music,” they explained.

At Swarthmore, Wacker was given the opportunity to combine their interests in a Music and Dance special major, and a Sociology and Anthropology minor. They were also introduced to Taiko – the art of Japanese drumming – as the perfect combination of music and dance.

“All dance and all music is embodied, but Taiko specifically, it's really an embodied practice and it's one of very few things that I found that I can give 100% of my attention and focus to,” Wacker said. “Then there's the sound of it that I really love. You can feel the vibrations in you.”

Wacker started Taiko during their first year at the College. They prefer using bigger drums, such as odaiko, and performances with more movement, true to their interest in combining dance and music. Since discovering Taiko at Swarthmore they’ve traveled to Australia for two summers to work with a professional group and attended the East Coast Taiko Conference in February 2024.

“That's probably one of my favorite performances,” Wacker said of the Taiko Conference. “The audience was composed entirely of other taiko players who really got it. A lot of times, people who are in the audience, it's their first time seeing Taiko, so they don't really know what's going on. It's a totally different experience when you're doing it with an audience that knows it.”

Wacker has choreographed Taiko performances, including duets with modern dancers at Swarthmore. Their senior project, a grand walking exhibit of four performances hosted throughout the Lang Music Building, is an ambitious finale to their Taiko work at Swarthmore. It’s also a nod to one of their favorite places through the practice of “site specific work” which they have focused on in research and classes.

“The space of the music building is really important to me,” Wacker said. “It's basically where I was for four years, and I really wanted to celebrate it . . . There was a lot of stuff that I wanted to do in terms of the movement and the music that I couldn't do in just a proscenium stage format.”

The performance involves a cast of about 20 performers, with Wacker performing odaiko in Lang Concert Hall and coordinating the entire evening. With four different groups to rehearse with each week, the preparation has been strenuous.  However, Wacker is excited about the opportunity to pull off something so unique.

“The music is written for odaiko and piano, which was a challenge because there are very few examples of that being done before…Because Taiko is such a new art form, it's really hard to find people who have composed with Western music.”

Wacker was inspired to combine piano with Taiko from world-famous Taiko player Eitetsu Hayashi’s visit to Swarthmore. The ongoing experimentation with Taiko — which only started about 50 years ago in Japan and rapidly spread internationally — excites and fascinates Wacker. So much so that their Anthropology thesis is centered around it.

“There are people playing Taiko on every continent except Antarctica now, and that's happened just in the last 30 years or so,” Wacker said. “That's a really interesting human phenomenon, and the culture surrounding it, and the way it's evolved is all really fascinating. I think it has contributed a lot to my understanding of Taiko as a performer.”

Wacker is grateful to have gained experience in both music and dance while at Swarthmore. Studying composition with mMusic Department faculty, taking the Introduction to Music Technology course, and completing Dance Labs 1, 2, and 3 have given Wacker the confidence to take on ambitious projects like their Senior Recital. They encourage all students to take entry-level dance classes at Swarthmore, stressing their importance in personal development even without an initial interest in or experience with dance. For music and dance majors, they recommend students to get involved with as performances as possible.

“Some of the places that I've learned the most are being in other student works, and faculty works, and performing as much as possible, because having performance experience is to me more important than anything that they tell you in class,” Wacker said.

Wacker’s site-specific performance walking tour will take place in four rooms across Lang Music Building on March 29 at 5:30 p.m.

--

Favorite Music course at Swarthmore? Composition and Intro to Music Technology 

Favorite Music making experience at Swarthmore? The free improvisation Fetter Chamber Music group I was in sophomore year, or anything and everything taiko related

What will you miss most about Swarthmore? The community of passionate artists and the crum woods

What sound or noise do you love? Running water, thunderstorms

What sound or noise do you hate? Martin construction noise

What's the last song you played on your phone? "White Horses" by Darlingside