Dance

ALANYA’S BELLYDANCE CLUB - OPEN LEVEL Monkland Village Hall - Mondays 7.30-9pm. Miro Studio, Hereford - Fridays 10.30am-12pm. No-obligation taster £6, then pay per term or block. For information and other classes visit www.alanyabellydance. com or call Abbie on 07962 161081.

COURTYARD, HEREFORD CLASSES Tues - Zumba, 1-2pm, £5.50 per session. Fri - Chance to Dance for the over 50s, 10.15am-11.15pm, £5 per session. Tues - Laura Gale Contemporary Dance, energetic class for beginners and experienced dancers, 8-9pm, £8 drop in or £39 for 6 weeks. Tues - Laura Gale Street Jazz, 7-8pm, £8 drop in, £39 for 6 weeks. Thurs - Silver Swans Adult Ballet for the over 55s, 1.30-2.30pm, £5 per session. Fri - Dancing Tots for ages 2-4 years, 11.30am-12.15pm, £4 per child. The Courtyard, Hereford, 01432 340555. Mondays SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING Join an enthusiastic adult group on Monday evenings to learn how to dance jigs, reels and Strathspeys at Llanelwedd School Hall, Builth Wells from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. £2.50 per session (first free). No need to bring a partner. Beginners and experts welcome. 01982 570324/01544 350707. LEARN 2 JIVE BEGINNERS CLASSES Mon, 7.30-8.30pm, Bartestree Village Hall, Hereford, HR1 4BY. Tues, 7.30-8.30pm, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, SY8 1AZ. Tues, 7.30-8.30pm, Stretton Sugwas Village Hall, HR4 7PT. Tues, 7.30pm-8.30pm Pembridge Village Hall, HR6 9EB. Wed, 7.30-8.30pm, Methodist Church Hall, Tenbury Wells, WR15 8EE. Wed, 7.30-8.30pm, Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Malvern, WR14 4LR. Thurs, 7.30pm-8.30pm, Northolme Community Centre, HR2 7SP. Thurs, 7.45pm-8.45pm Ledbury Dance Studio, HR8 2A. Fri, 11am-12pm, Tupsley Whitehouse Community Hub, Gentle Jive. Contact Matt or Sarah on 01989 750354. or info@coolmovesdance.co.uk www.coolmovesdance.co.uk Coolmoves Dance & Fitness for adults. Fortnightly Saturdays CHORUS LINE Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, 07943 417561. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays MID WALES DANCE ACADEMY Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, 07943 417561. Tuesdays FOXWELP MORRIS Why not try Morris dancing? We practice every Tues evening at 7.30pm in Moccas Village Hall from Sept to May. Mainly dances from the Cotswolds, but also some from the Welsh Borders. All sexes welcome, and ability to dance not necessary! Beginners welcome. Contact Emma on 01544 327311 or Paul 01497 821003. Wednesdays CIRCLE DANCING Leominster Community Centre, 2-3.30pm. Telephone 01568 616411 or 01584 877446 Kathryn. Wednesdays BIG FISH LITTLE FISH FOR MUMS AND TOTS! Dance Centre, Llandrindod Wells, 2-3pm, £3 drop in, for tots aged 8 months+, 01597 824370. Thursdays WILD WEST SALSA Left Bank Village, Bridge St, Hereford, 7.45pm, £6, students £5, social dance only £4, 01432 357753.

28 R PERNICKETY always enjoys a visit to Y Gelli, or Hayon-Wye, as the locals call it. He is also keenly attuned to the concept of time and motion and likes to have multiple incentives to justify the time spent driving there. The need to drop off a fine book for consideration by the grandes fromages of the Hay Festival, a wish to canvas views from a well-known local cricket hack on a famous English cricketer as whose autobiographical spectre Mr P is currently acting, and the editor of the Woolly Organ snapping at his heels for the monthly opus, prompted him to book a table for two at a newish eating place in the town. Regrettably, he’d completely missed the previous incumbent of the building – St John’s Place – which had been widely praised. On a wet Wednesday afternoon in February, Hay was not inspiring; most of the shops were closed, and the town was so deserted you might have thought that the Coronavirus had struck and all the inhabitants had self-isolated. Having delivered his book, Mr P pottered around Booth’s bookshop, failing to find any copies of his own books in the fiction shelves before retiring to the Blue Boar for a pre-dinner pint of Tim Taylors. Making his way to Chapters to claim his table, he observed that of all the places in town, the only one that showed any sign of a pulse was Tomatitos Tapas Bar, which Mr P reviewed enthusiastically some years ago. He was always a little sceptical about the tapas bar concept finding traction in England (or Wales), especially in small rural towns, but Tomatitos has been around long enough to show that Spanish food can work. Even in Ludlow, Mr P and his Lovely companion recently spent a reviving lunchtime on a vile wet Sunday in the lovely old first floor bar of The Angel which serves especially good Iberian food and wine. While they were sitting lazily at a table in one of the beautiful c18th bay windows, grumbling about the columnists in the Sunday Times (especially Jeremy Clarkson), el patrón suggested they try a steak of Secreto Ibérico de Bellota, a special piece of meat hidden behind the shoulder and below the back fat of the Spanish pata negra pig, one of the few pork cuts that can be cooked rare, tender and succulent – a great treat which Mr P commends. But back to Y Gelli and Chapters. Within a stone building of ecclesiastical heritage, the restaurant occupies a smallish space – once, perhaps, a meeting room for the adjoining chapel. As far as Mr P can judge from pictures of the previous incarnation the new owners have done little to change the furniture and things that the last people left – which is a pity. Hard, bent ply chars, anonymous square tables devoid of napery and bland lighting give the place the anaemic look of a new university’s student union. All surfaces are hard and bare, giving a cold starkness to the room, with not even a curtain to soften the effect. Walking in from the blustery moistness outside, Mr P wasn’t much cheered by what he found. Mr P’s guest, the LCH, arrived soon afterwards, an enthusiastic consumer of good wine and fine food, always on the search for the perfect nosebag. They both needed firing up a little and made a quick wine choice, an enjoyable Rioja at £17 the bottle (which the list claimed was French.) They opted at Mr P’s insistence for the four course Table d’hôte at £38 a head (rather than six M Chapters, Hay-on-Wye

courses at £52) – high prices by Hay standard’s, prompting Mr P to wonder how often all 24 seats in the restaurant are filled. The menu looked encouraging, with the added enjoyment of not having to make any choices. A couple of amuse bouches composed, Mr P gathered, of, among other things, seaweed butter, were presented, and the LCH allowed him to eat them both. The first course, Heritage Beetroot, Sloe Gin & Yoghurt arrived looking, Mr P’s guest suggested, like a pretty, wobbly little tump of raspberry jelly. Mr P, although always prejudiced against anything that describes itself as ‘heritage’ – a much degraded term – consumed his with pleasure and fascination. The Sloe gin jelly covered a bed of inexplicably crunchy tiny beetroot cubes. The LCH vigorously nodded his agreement that it was packed with diverse flavours and textures, despite its appearance which he thought deceptive in confounding expectations. Course number two was billed as Cured Monkfish, Jerusalem Artichoke, Apple & Chives. The LCH had already expressed an aversion – if not a downright allergy – to any plants of the Allium family and the chef considerately omitted the chives for him. He enjoyed the monkfish – what there was of it – remarking pointedly that these were not Herefordshire farmers’ portions. He got the apple, too, but failed to recognise the artichoke. For Mr P the fish was perfect and well served by the subtle flavours that accompanied it. The meat course arrived – Herefordshire Beef, Kohlrabi, Leek & Peppercorn Sauce, minus leeks for the LCH, who contemplated its visual composition for a moment before eating. ‘There’s an interesting collection of shapes here,’ he said appreciatively. ‘I’m trying to think of the name of the artist that would have produced something like this. We’ve got a circle, three triangles, a cylinder and a parallelogram.’ ‘Braque?’ Mr P suggested, agreeing that there was an extra ocular interest to the dish. The parallelogram – a half-inch slice of beef – was perfect in colour, texture and tenderness. One of the triangles was a chunk of tasty braised kohlrabi. A softer triangle was, perhaps, mashed leek. Whatever it was, the whole dish was supreme, even allowing Mr P to forget the stark surroundings for a while as the CH expanded on his history of fifty years of cricket. The last course, Chocolate Delice, Pumpkin & Lime was so good that the quite finicky LCH asked for seconds. He also wondered whether they might pop over to Tomatitos for a bowl of patatas bravas as a top-up. Mr P needed no topping-up, happy to announce that his guts were in a state of perfect equilibrium and fulfilment. He paid his bill of £115 wishing only that the ambience and the appearance of the place might better have reflected the quality of the food. Mr Pernickety