Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Ballet and Babaganoush

The weeks seem to be flying by and we are still having lovely cool breezes and gorgeous warm days (rather like NZ summers) so I can't help but hope it stays this way. At least we have a brief respite from the ghastly hum of air conditioners. The noise that envelopes us when the heat and humidity descends on the city is a bit like the vavuzulas in South Africa, a swarm of bees that goes on and on and on until the snow starts to fall!!

I woke up this morning to catch the final four minutes of the NZ v Slovenia game. Amazing. I was just thinking it was a dud then that lovely boy pops a header into the net!! Fantastic stuff.

This week amongst doggie walks to Cherry Beach and rides to the Gym, I managed a drop of culture.

The Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts, Toronto

Robert and I went to the National Ballet at the glorious glass and timber Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and saw Pur ti Miro, a world premiere by Finnish-born Jorma Elo, a gorgeous modern ballet danced a la tutu.  The second piece was Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/TheDreamer with all the dancers  draped ethereally in blue gauze was stunningly beautiful and accompanied by a gorgeous violin soloist and originally written for Mikhail Baryshnikov  who defected to Canada in 1974. The final curtain went up on Jerome Robbins West Side Story Suite with seven of the shows most famous hits danced and sung by the cast and soloists.

We've been a few times now to view these mixed programes at the ballet, fabulous modern ballets which are really fun to watch. I've come to the decision that I far prefer ballet to opera, (a thought instigated by my  falling asleep watching Kiri in Don Giovanni years ago!!) there's something gorgeously tranquil yet vital about the ballet that you can't help loving.

The week ended with a touch of Egypt at Zanobia, where a small group of us dined and danced to North
African tunes and tastes. The event was to farewell our neighbours Egyptian boss who is leaving Toronto and we were invited along.

from top left by row. Dancer, Singer, Susan and Marisona, Happy-Asma- Ahmed,Asma and Happy, Pip, Julie, Patrick- Jonathan-Julie, Patrick, Julie and Susan.

Live Arabic and Persian music, women in head scarves, harem pants, glittering dresses and men smoking sheesha (hookah pipes with apple scented tobacco) gave the place a sultry exotic flavour. The music is infectiously sexy, the whole place gravitating to the dance floor where a group of middle eastern women moved like belly dancers.

Dancing to the sinuous sounds of middle eastern music!

The first course (or appetisers as they call them here) was amazing. Best Babaganoush I've tasted. I spoke to the chef and he confirmed they roast/smoke the eggplants to get that wonderful smokey flavour into the creamy dip. Little dishes of hummus, labneh, tiny sausages with spicy tomatoes, tiny spiced roasted potatoes, cumin spinach topped with slithers of fried onions were served with fresh pitas. Later came grilled kofta and chicken topped with onions then baklava.

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