amwa at grand park
illustration by cat yang
our la voices
april 27+28
written by cat yang
music center invited amwa to table and create a program at the annual "our l.a. voices festival" at grand parkfrom april 27-28 (sat + sun). the festival is a free 2 day multidisciplinary arts festival that presents works by la-based artists and this year's theme is "origin stories."
for amwa's programming, we invited femme and non-binary panasian artists living and working in los angeles to lead workshops for intergenerational audiences. through these workshops, we can encouraged engagement around wellness, relationship to body, and relationship to other.
some reflections by workshop artists
“songs my mother taught me: vocal workshop” with michelle sui
michelle sui is a los angeles-raised performing artist, composer, choreographer, and director whose interdisciplinary music compositions have been called “raw power” (opera mag) and “powerful” (flavorwire). these multimedia works merging vocal music, film, dance, ritual, and wearable technologies have been presented in various cities internationally and extensively in nyc. michelle’s ongoing research and teaching in women’s folk music traditions and the human voice has taken her to eastern europe, the caucasus, and various autonomous regions of china known for their diverse music and dance traditions. she has led embodied voice workshops internationally in performance centers as advanced training for the performer as well as in community centers throughout the u.s. as music therapy for children and adults. her recent documentary work examines the performative history of los angeles chinatown through public street performances of folk songs and movie music.
i had a great time teaching the free workshop in grand park on saturday. the participants came from diverse backgrounds and were all excited about the work. after the warm-up, many said they felt relaxed and more "in their body." during a section where i asked everyone to share songs from childhood, it was beautiful to hear individuals sing parts of songs their mothers or grandmothers taught them, and for the group to repeat it back, honoring them once again in the present moment. — michelle sui
“food clay making workshop” with seo yun son + cat yang
this workshop asked participants to form dishes or food items out of colored clay that they can recall from distant or close memory that stirs feelings of home, comfort, community, and warmth. tied to the development of our cookbook project, we wanted to facilitate dialogue around the importance of food in the preservation of cultures and our relationships to them.
many families joined and there was always a lively mix of children, parents, young couples and friends, and older folks who wandered in and left with a small, handmade creation of their own. folks seemed excited by the prompt of making foods that remind you of home. - seo yun son
“texture memory workshop” with sara chao
peeling paint, formica, wood, linoleum, tile, concrete, plastic: the textures that figure in our daily lives can bring back strong memories when you see them again. in this workshop, participants were asked to remember a texture from a place they consider either as home or as being formative to who they are now. using various collage materials, participants recreated a texture memory to take home.
participants (mostly kiddos!) really enjoyed the chance to play with the materials in the workshop. some kids made entire collections of texture memories, while others began making their own projects. i liked that we made a space for kids— and a couple adults!— to have some free, creative fun. - sara chao
“our bodies - our homes”: intergenerational movement workshop with jasmine lin
feeling disconnected from our bodies is almost inescapable considering what this city demands from us. this movement workshop held space for people to reconnect with their bodies and generate sensations as tools for healing, clarity, and empathy.
the movement workshop provided an explorative space for old and new friends to dance with each other along with a couple of kiddos! it was an hour of just moving, laughing, and sweating under the sun — what joy! participants seemed to especially enjoy the intimacy of mirroring and dancing with their partners. we ended the workshop by choreographing a silly group phrase together — it was nice to see a little taste of everyone in a collaborative piece! - jasmine lin