Zimbabwe Absurdity

I bumped into Maria Wilson yesterday afternoon inbetween taking in shows. She’s the executive director and this is a seriously stressful week for her but she still had time for a chat. I mentioned the topless dancer in Echo in the Dark and she said – So she only went topless? That style of dance is supposed to be done nude, someone must have persuaded her to keep some clothes on.

Well, yesterday for me was another cracker – apart from nearly getting run over in the street for the second time! First off was a piano accordion recital by a Norwegian (Geir Draugsvoll) and a Scot (James Crabb). It was a bit of an experiment for me, never having heard classical music performed on what I’d normally call a folk music instrument. These were no ordinary accordions! They had buttons on the right hand instead of keys, more keys on the left hand, more buttons above the right keyboard and even buttons used by the chin! Incredible. They simulated a full church organ and the Mussorgsky “Pictures” was breathtaking. Next up was Trio Ivoire – three jazz musicians; a pianist, drummer and another instrument a bit like a marimba but with what looked like gourds for sound chambers. Great fun! I even bought an on site CD and still liked it (they don’t usually live up to memories of the live performance). Finally I scored a ticket to the opera from my friend Caro who is an art teacher at a local private school. I am not normally an opera fan – I find the sopranos a bit “screechy” but this was laid back stuff – popular arias and songs and easy to take. Just for fun they sprung an unknown piece on the performers for the encore. This was ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” which even the world’s highest trained sang badly (but with considerable gusto). I was supposed to have attended the Red Pennant Dance Group in the morning, a Chinese dance group, but I managed to confuse the ending time with the start time! They are on again today but most tickets have sold out long ago. C’est la vie.