Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2011

Tokyo’s inventive Silk Road-influenced band Rain in Eden presents a fascinating piece of musical theater that begins in an isolated Central Asian village where music and dance are forbidden. One day a girl hears a passing caravan and falls in love with the sound of its music. She runs away in search of a distant place where music and dance thrive. In seeking the mystical city of music, she encounters the cultures of the Silk Road from Afghanistan to Mongolia, represented in music or dance. Featured performers include Madoka on Persian rubab and oud, Junzo Tateiwa on darbuka and frame drum, Indian Kathak dancer Atsuko Maeda and Afghan instrumentalist Kelly Williams.

Apr 2, 4pm, ¥3,500 (adv)/¥4,000 (door). Tokyo Women’s Plaza Hall, Omotesando. Tel: 03-5467-1711. rainineden.com/events_e.html