Casual Fifth
June 29, 2025 4:00 PM
Casual Fifth, founded in 2020, is a Philadelphia based Taiko and Modern Dance ensemble focused on creating innovative work rooted in the fundamentals and history of Japanese Taiko drumming and American Modern Dance. The ensemble is directed by Mac Evans and Alex Pfister (both Maine natives), who learned these art forms studying with multiple Taiko and Modern Dance teachers and groups from NYC, Boston, Hawaii and Japan. They are joined by friends, mentors and mentees who round out the ensemble with their own musical and movement arts experiences. As an ensemble Casual Fifth pays homage to the origins of Taiko and Modern Dance and derives inspiration from these roots to create new works.Taiko drums have been part of Japanese folk music and dance, theater and religious ceremonies for centuries. The form of choreographed ensemble drumming (“kumidaiko”) originated in the 1960s drawing from folk music, Kabuki and Noh theater and jazz influences and is now popular around the globe. Taiko performances are visual and musical experiences engaging for all audiences. American Modern Dance developed over the first half of the 1900s. Although there are many Modern Dance techniques and styles, their unifying feature is a choreographic interest in the human condition and in the dancing body responding to gravity and rebounding from the ground.
More information on Casual Fifth can be found at:www.casualfifth.com