Chapter 103, Dance Ballerino Dance

    “Arlene?”

 “Hey Tibi, long time no see. How are you?”

 “I am great, how are you?”

 “Doing very well, I just got married and I am pregnant.”

 “Mazal tov! Twice! I need your help.”

 “Oh?”

 “Do you still teach ballet?

 “I do.”

 “I want to take ballet lessons.”

 “Hmm. I don’t have many students, but we can start, and I will see what we can do with you.”

 “Thanks!”

 “See you tomorrow at Avihayil. I will be at the Gym of the school at 4:00PM.”

 

    I came to my first ballet class dressed in black sweatpants and a white T-shirt. The five students were girls under the age of ten. Looking at me a little scared, I couldn’t blame them. They have never dreamed of having a man in class with them. Everything was new to me, even after all the warmup sessions before the rehearsals with the dance company, or the jazz classes I took as a teenager. I didn’t give up I took a few lessons with her when finally, she said she had an idea for me.

 “I know of an excellent ballet teacher. She was a principal dancer at La Scala in Milan Italy.”

 “Wow! Do you think she will want to teach me?”

 “She doesn’t have boys, but you’d never know, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Oh, she is an orthodox woman.” 

 

    “I don’t teach boys!” Said Sarah Yohai. A small woman with a long hair wrapped like a banana on top of her head. She looked up at me checking me up.

 “I am not a boy.”

 “What are you? A girl? I don’t teach boys!”

 “No! But I am not a boy!”

 “I don’t want to take that responsibility.”

 “You will not be responsible for anything. I am not a boy; I am after five years in the military service and two years plus.”

She looked me up and down.

 “You are not kidding; you want to start ballet at this age? Most dancers start when they are four years old.”

 “I know, but I need to improve my skills.”

Again, she looked at me, then lowered her gaze at my feet, paused there a little and looked at my eyes again.

 “Tomorrow at four in the afternoon I teach my first class, and end at nine with the advanced.”

 

    Once again, it seems I scared the little girls. I stood at the end behind the girls holding the bar. But once we turned around, they were behind me. The little girls were quiet, but the next group were not so quiet. Whenever we turned back, I could hear the soft snickering. The following group were giggling. Only the adult group were more tolerant. I even saw some really familiar faces like Hadar and other women closer to my age or older.

 “What are you doing for living?” Asked Sarah Yohai after the class.

 “I just got back from Europe, I don’t have a Job yet, I would probably work with my Dad for a while.”

 “Seven in the morning, at this address, tomorrow.” She handed me a piece of paper. “Don’t be late.”

 “I’ll be there.”

    For the next few months, we would meet at her house for a hefty breakfast. Like me, Sarah was lactose intolerant, her house was a kosher home. It was a meat only house, I felt safe. Sarah would make me a three eggs omelet or scrambled, a large salad of Tomatoes and cucumbers and a dark bread toast. Ae took a walk to her studio at the other side of town and talk Dance history and philosophy. 

 

    Sarah started with me from basics. She taught me how to plie properly. And worked on my split which I lost during my military years. We worked together from 8:30AM until 1:00PM. Sometimes we went for lunch together or I would go to do some work at Dad’s office. He Closed his workshop and now manages someone else’s shop. Sha’ul the trumpet player was still working for him. At 4:00 PM I would rejoin her beginners’ class and stay until the last group leaves. Five days a week and she didn’t want to charge me a cent. Yes, I would fix a few things around her appartement like the leaking faucet or fix the cabinets door, but that doesn’t even come close to what I owed her. On Friday nights she would visit with her son or go to the synagogue and on Saturday evenings she invited me for some classical music and more dance history.

 

    “Are you sure she is not after your pants?” Mom asked me one day when I came for lunch. “She is a single divorced woman.”

 “Yes, I know, but she is really just working with me, in fact what do you think if I invite her for Shabat dinner?”

 “Sure, I will be very happy to meet her.”

 “Great! Thanks Mom! You know, she doesn’t charge me at all for all that time she spends with me.”

 “Yes, I know, this is why I asked about her intentions.”

 

    Sarah was very happy to join me for a Shabat dinner. I picked her up at her house and the first thing she said when we finally sat to eat was, that she wasn’t looking to get in my pants. It was like she read my mom’s thoughts. 

 “Your son is very talented, there is a shortage of male dancers and I think he can get somewhere if he continues. I don’t teach boys because I don’t want to take the responsibility of making them gay. But your son is not a boy. Can you believe it, he can sing opera too?”

 “What do you mean? Dad asked.

 “Oh, last week I put a record of Luciano Pavarotti while I prepared something in the kitchen when your son started to sing with the recording. I ran out of the kitchen to make sure I wasn’t just hearing things in my mind.”

 “I see,” said Dad.

 

    “Thanks for inviting me,” said Sarah as we walked back toward her house. “I will ask you something you are not going to like,” she continues.

 “What is it?”

 “You have to stop going to your folk-dancing clubs every night.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “It messes up your posture, I can tell, the next morning.”

 “It is what started me dancing.” I said disappointed. “I have to learn the repertoire most dance groups dance a lot of that choreography.”

 “What kind of choreography is that?” She said smirking, “walking in circles, not using the rest of the body?”

 “Well, this is where I come in, I want to put some change to that scene, I want to have my own dance troupe with much more technic and style.”

 “Oh, OK, just don’t overdo it, and stop going everywhere with your skates, you are not allowed to get hurt, I invest a lot of my time on you.”

 “Fine.”

 “See you Sunday morning.” She gave me a kiss on my cheek, “Shabat Shalom!”

 

    I promised my new friend Shimon who was teaching folk dancing where I danced twice a week to meet with two other girls. One of them Hillah who dated Efri long ago and the other was Tzviya, a very pretty girl from Ein HaTchelet. We were to go for coffee and ice cream. They were waiting next to Hillah’s house.

 “Can we stay here? Asked Hillah, “I am not in a mood for coffee.”

 “Sure,” said Tzviya. “I can’t stay long anyway; I have a ride back home soon.”

 “No problems,” agreed Shimon.

We went up to her apartment, Hillah’s parents were not home.

 “Coffee, anybody?” Offered Hillah

 “I will,” said Shimon.

 “Not me, thanks!” Said Tzviya, “I will be leaving soon.”

 “Do you need me to walk you?” I asked.

 “Don’t leave me alone with Shimon” Whispered Hillah in my ear.

 “No thanks, my ride will pick me up here,” answered Tzviya.

 “I’ll have a cup too,” I said.

 “What are you doing?” Asked me Shimon as soon as Hillah went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee. “Can’t you see, she wants to stay alone with me? Leave as soon as Tzviya leaves.”

 “Sorry, I can’t see it.” What was I going to say to him? He is my new friend and Hillah has been a friend of mine for a long time. She asked me to stay, and he is asking me to leave. “I am not sure I want to leave.”

As soon as Tzviya left Hillah went back to the kitchen to bring some cookies. I walked there with her and whispered: “Are you sure? You want me to stay?

 “Please!” she said.

 “OK”

 “Aren’t you leaving?” Whispered Shimon when I walked back to the living room.

 “No, I am staying.”

 

    Hillah came out with some cookies and Shimon gave me a nudge one more time, but I ignored him. A few moment later Shimon got up abruptly and left without a word. Hillah looked at me and started to cry softly. I stayed with her a little longer until she relaxed. I didn’t ask why she felt that way or why she asked me to stay but I was glad I did. She kissed me on my cheek, I left her house and walked toward my favorite Montana Ice cream shop.

 

    At the tea house a few people were huddled around Avi’s small TV.

 “What’s happening?” they were watching the news.

 “There was an explosion in Netanya,” Avi said, “a car explosion, David, Dad’s ex-partner, he is dead.” 

As you remember, David was Dad’s partner until the robbery. After that Dad and David went separate ways. It ended up that David was the mastermind behind the whole rubbery ordeal. Apparently, he was involved with some organized crime. And now someone blew up his car with him in it.

 

    “Sindy,” she said as she moved back from the turn “My name is Sindy.” She pulled back and turned again.

 “They call me Tibi,” I turned her one more time and we ended the dance. Sindy, a pretty blonde who moved recently from Australia was my partner for that evening. She was a fun dancer and it seemed she loved everything about it.

 “Want to come to our teahouse?” I asked when the session was over.

 “Tea house? Is it still open?”

 “Yes, Tibi Tea.” I said with a smile, “For me it is open all night.”

 “That’s a nice place!” she said when we approached the house “I am not sure about the red lights though, where I come from it means something else.”

 “Yes, I talked to my brother about it, we will change to a different color soon.”

 “Wow! What’s that?” She recoiled for a moment as Roul came out running to greet us. I bent down to give him a hug he always liked. Roul then went and smelled Sindy, it took her a moment to overcome her fear and they became friends. Sindy stayed over for the night and the night after, but she always made sure I didn’t take it too seriously.

 

    “I am not that kind of a girl,” she said, “I am not looking for a commitment. Just here to have fun.”

“OK by me, I am having fun too.” No wonder I felt surprised when she got a little upset when Ronit showed up and was all over me. Ronit was Tali’s friend, she served with her in the military. I was kind of surprised that Roul liked her. She wasn’t my kind of girl, but I was polite enough yet didn’t show interest. For Sindy it wasn’t enough. She left before the evening was over. It was OK, because I had to dance with Sarah the next day and the four days after.

 “Too much sex will get your knees weak!” She used to tell me, “and don’t overdo that folk dancing, pretty soon you’ll be able to join some really good dance companies.”

 

 

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Stir Fry Vegetables

 

 This healthy vegetarian dish could be still healthy with the addition of strips of meat – chicken or beef. It is best when using a wok, but a large frying pan will do just as well (you might need to add a little more oil). The best results are when you keep stirring and not over cooking the vegetables. I like it when the color is bright, and the vegetables are a little crispy. Therefor the order of adding the vegetables is important. If you want the onion to be crispy you will have to add it toward the end of the preparation. I like well caramelized onion and start with it first.

 

Ingredients:

2 TBSP Olive Oil

½ tsp Kosher Salt 

½ Sweet Onion

4 Garlic Cloves 
¼ Jalapeño 

1 tsp Chopped Ginger

½ Red Pepper

½ Green Pepper

1 Carrot

1 Broccoli Stem (pealed) 

3 Champignon Mushrooms

¼ Lb. Snow Peas

1/8 tsp black pepper

¼ tsp Paprika

1 Scallion

1 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 tsp Sesame

 

 

Preparation:

 Cut all the vegetables to thin strips. Crush the garlic and chop the Jalapeño and fresh Ginger. Drop the salt and the oil to the bottom of the wok on medium heat. When the oil is hot (it moves around the pan easily when you tilt the pan) add the onion and stir until the onion is soft and starts to change color. Add the garlic, jalapeño, and ginger and stir together for about 30 seconds. Add each following vegetable in this order while stirring every 30 seconds to a minute each ingredient (depending on your preference): Green pepper, red pepper, carrot, broccoli, champignons, snow peas. Keep stirring for 30 seconds more and add the black pepper, paprika, soy sauce and scallions. Sprinkle the sesame on top before serving.

 

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