Bruce Ghent, aka “Mui”, has spent the last 40+ years as a multifaceted performing artist, composer, chopreographer and educator that has traversed the classical contemporary dance world, the Taiko world and somewhere either in between or beyond. As a classically trained dancer who received his degree in Modern Dance & Choreography from the California Institute of the Arts, he has worked and performed with the likes of MacArthur “Genius” Recipient and Tony Award winning choreographer, Bill T. Jones (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co.) with whom he danced with at the Brookly Academy of Music Opera House for the premiere of "Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promise Land". He has also had the honor of working with Robert Moses’ KIN Dance Company, GeorgeCoates Performance Works, Berkeley Repertory Theater Company, Co'Motion Dance Theater and the Redwood Empire Ballet Company. As a martial arts practitioner, his studies have included tutelage under the renowned Kung Fu Master Kam Yuen (Technical Advisor for the TV show, "Kung Fu" w/David Carradine) and National TKD Champion and Filipino Martial Arts Guru, Roland Ferrer.

Mr. Ghent is one of a handful of Taiko artists formally recognized by Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo as an "Outstanding Alumnus" of the Tanaka-Style of Taiko with whom he began his formal study of Taiko in 1993, where after becoming a principal member of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, he toured throughout the US and in Japan sharing the stage with some of the great masters of Wadaiko and traditional Japanese music. After his tenure with San Francisco Taiko Dojo, he went on to create and direct the cutting edge Taiko quartet, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble. The professional touring ensemble focused on progressive theatrical Taiko works including collaborations with choreographers Robert Moses of Robert Moses' KIN and Sara Shelton Mann along with renowned jazz artist / band leader, Marcus Shelby, traditional Vietnamese musical artst, Van-ahn Vo, Shakuhachi Master, Masayuki Koga, Native American vocalist, Jane DeCuir, and others. The ensemble's music was featured on the Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Steve Okazaki's, "Mifune: The Last Samurai" Concurrent with the touring ensemble's work, Mr. Ghent also produced and directed a seasonal nightly production entitled, “Nishikaze Taiko”, for Disneyland which he developed with the aid of UCLA’s Kyodo Taiko senior members.. It remains to be the only resident Taiko production ever to be featured at Disneyland.

As the former resident Taiko instructor and Taiko-based composer for Krissy Keefer's nationally renowned, Dance Brigade and its youth performance group, GRRRL Brigade, Mr. Ghent composed major works for both the all-women dance theater company and its youth group over a 20 year span leaving a body of work that helped forge the identity of the company to its noteriety today. All in all, Mr. Ghent has composed and co-composed over 50 pieces for Taiko and varying accompanying instruments which has often been recognized as groundbreaking and innovative in its choreography, staging and concept. His work is still being performed today in academia and professional settings.

From 2010-1018, Mr. Ghent produced and directed as well as performed in the Bi-Annual SF World Percussion Arts Festival which featured such luminary artists as Yoshikazu & Yoko Fujimoto (KODO), GONNA (Japan), Jim Sani Owen (Tabla), Duniya Dance & Drum (West African), Hiroyuki Hayashida (Z-Pang), Eien Hunter-Ishikawa (Vibraphone), Bruce Huebner (Shakuhachi), Ong Dance Company (Korea) and others. Mr. Ghent is also one of only two artists in the western hemisphere to be certified and recognized by the Wajima Kiriko Daiko Hozonka to teach and perform in the Wajima Kiriko Daiko style of Festival Taiko.

As a 2-time recipient of the Certificate of Honor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for his work with the youth, Mr. Ghent is a credentialed teacher for the SF Unified School District where he teaches the Taiko program for the Visual & Performing Arts department and is widely known as having formally taught Taiko to more children than anyone else in the U.S. He currently serves as the Artistic Director and Head Instructor for Maikaze Daiko, which he founded in 2007, and as the Artistic Director for the newly formed Bay Area Taiko Center. .

All Categories - Maikaze Daiko

Miyake-jima Kamitsuki Mikoshi Daiko

San Francisco Bay Area Taiko Group

REGISTER NOW!