Tea, cake and canapés

The New Zealand School of Dance will be 50 years old in 2017, and as part of the fund raising for celebrations, an afternoon tea and a chance to meet Darcey Bussell, the former Royal Ballet principal dancer (and now jury member of the British ‘Only Come Dancing’ competition), was held this Saturday.  Now, normally I wouldn’t go to such a thing, but at the last minute I grabbed a ticket and went along and don’t regret my decision.

As you might expect, there were loads of ‘ballet girls’, all eager to meet a famous dancer, along with ballet mums, old ballet teachers, supporters of the arts and dance lovers.  There were opportunities to get Bussell’s autograph and get a picture taken with her (oh how I would have loved that when I was child!), a silent auction and a really interesting interview with the special guest.

Tea with Darcey Bussell

Tables set for tea

Darcey Bussell signing a book

Garry Trinder on the left, director of the school

The interview

We were served a really delicious selection of canapés, endless tea and coffee, a lovely selection of cold soft drinks and for purchase, glasses of sparkling pinot gris.

Mini Yorkshire pudding with roast beef, potato rosti with dill cream cheese and smoked salmon and gingerbread topped with kikorangi (a blue cheese) mousse, apple and fennel

Sparkling pinot gris

A mini lemon meringue tart

The menu

I put in a bid in the silent auction to win two tickets for a performance at the Circa Theatre along with two large glasses of fizz and an antipasto platter for two – and won!  The tickets have to be used up before the end of June, so I hope there is something good to go to.

Verdict of the afternoon: much more interesting and fun than I anticipated

Highlight of the afternoon: recognising and talking to two of the contemporary students and chatting to them about Pina Bausch and the upcoming choreography season at the school.

Footnote: for ballet fans only – her comments about Sir Kenneth MacMillan were hilarious – apparently his facial expression never changed, it was set in stone, and it was near impossible to change it when working with him.