Chinese Banquet (8/29)

Every night after the day’s workshop here in Hangzhou, we set off to a restaurant and sat around the round table with the round “Lazy Susan” wheel in the middle in a private, windowless room. There is no menu whereby each makes a personal choice. Simply a feast of dishes prepared for everyone. The dishes come in one at a time and one never knows what’s going to appear next. 

The expectation is that all take a little from each plate (though I bypass the meat dishes) and as the meal progresses, each can turn the wheel as they wish to take more of a favorite dish. After that initial sample, each decides what’s to their taste and what they would like more of. 

 

It struck me that this is the perfect metaphor for my Orff Course! I’m both the cook preparing the food and the waiter bringing each item to the table. In the actual restaurant, there are the meats, the fish, the vegetables, the noodles, the soups, the dumplings, the bowls of peanuts and more. In the Orff banquet, there are the games, the body percussion, the speech pieces, the songs, the folk dances, the movement activities, the small percussion ensembles, the Orff instrument ensemble, the recorder, the drama and yet more. We all taste each, chew them thoroughly, discover how to mix them on our plate, all with convivial conversation, laughter and pleasure in each other’s company. 

 

At the end of yesterday’s workshop, I shared this metaphor and my hopes that each tried some new dishes that they hadn’t sampled before. And in so doing, enlarged their musical palette and added to their culinary repertoire. Now that the workshop it’s done, it’s a good time to reflect what you want more of and set about learning it how to cook it in the kitchen—with the children. 

 

I affirmed that their motivation to spend the last five days of their summer vacation in Doug’s Cooking School came from the sense that as much as they enjoy eating their familiar foods, they also had a healthy curiosity to seek new tastes and textures and tantalizing flavors. Not only do the delicious new dishes or intriguing little variations of familiar ones offer a welcome sensual delight, but they are also nutritious, helping to build strong musical bodies 12 (or more) ways. I hoped that they enjoyed the banquet and let them know that I certainly did! 

 

We ended with a stirring Wind-Up the Bunkin game, photos with each participant and their certificated, hugs, thanks and off we went. A most wonderful meal indeed!