A fusion of culture, love, family and spirituality came together on Saturday night at All Saints’ Anglican Church with Awase Miso, an improvisational cooking performance involving music, movement and story-telling of miso soup.
The audience sat down and the performers made an entrance with the ingredients, chatting amongst themselves in Japanese. As the preparation and cooking began, so did the music and expressive movement as each of the four artists collaborated in real time, communicating with the audience what miso soup represented for them.
The sounds of the cooking were fed through a microphone, reverbing and echoing throughout and mixing it with the live sounds of the piano, flute and synthesiser. The artists shared highly personal stories relating to their experiences with miso soup and after the soup was cooked, the audience could eat together with the performers to complete a feast for all senses: touch,
smell, taste, sight and sound.
“Once we knew we were doing it in a church, the performance took on a whole
new aspect,” said Sydney-based artist Mayu Kanamori. “We told stories about giving, nurturing and providing. We made reference to that which is sacred and greater than us as individuals.” “We love Canowindra, we want to come
back! Everybody we’ve met are such beautiful people,” Mayu said.
“It was a great night,” said Richard Statham from Canowindra. “People were mad if they read the ad and didn’t come. It was an absolute unique performance; we loved it!”