It's 7:19am on Friday as I type these words. I woke up a few minutes ago having gone to bed at a conventionally decent hour, for a change. Although, this morning's rehearsal is at 11:00am all the way out in Alexandria, I still feel like squeezing in some studying at nearby Fronteras University which opens at 9:00am.

I'll just take a quick shower to wake up, get dressed and treat myself to a good breakfast around the corner at Panera where I always order a double espresso. The barista there seems to give me two extra shots, I think, just to make the regular coffee mug look a little fuller. I'm not complaining.

January 27, 2006 8:59am

At least that'll keep me awake on what I like to call the "morning drain train"--you can sense the collective gloominess of all the passengers dreading 1. Having to go to work 2. Having to go to work so early in the day. Just being in the presence of all those frowning faces is enough to sap me of what little energy I have.

OK, time to go. Hopefully I'll update this blog when I get back from rehearsal in the afternoon. Tonight, I'll be performing at Cabanas with Mariya and Ginette. Ciao for now!

It's 5:18pm on Friday as I type these words. Just got back from rehearsal. We finished at around 3:00pm but I stopped for a late lunch along the way.

It was a good rehearsal today--we were both mentally focused and since the studio was empty we had no interruptions (very important). However, we're human therefore every now and then we have less than ideal rehearsals--usually due to insufficient sleep, bad mood etc. The important thing is to acknowledge when it's not going well and take a break and come back refreshed and ready to work. Or in a worst case, just call it day.

January 27, 2006 2:09pm

Since we meet only once a twice a week, we use the help of modern technology to make the most of our time, in this case: the Mustek DV4000 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder. It's compact so you can throw it (well not really) in your dance bag and with a 256MB memory card this camera can hold about an hour's worth of video--probably more than you'll need to record in a single rehearsal anyway. You can even archive the videos on your computer.

So we just set the digicam on record and freely jammed on solea escobilla rhythm patterns. We were able to relax cuz we knew that all the ideas we came up with would be on tape. This way Marsha can review the video later and pick out the more interesting footwork patterns and polish them up in time for our next meeting. Pretty cool, huh?

The next four week class sessions at Alliance Dance Institute start the beginning of February. Marsha teaches Beginning Flamenco, Sevillanas, Castanets and International Body Movement (dance aerobics using Capoeira, Flamenco, Arabic belly dance and Bharatanatyam yoga movements). More info at their website or call 703-354-6000.

It's 5:57pm on Friday. Time for me to pack up my sound equipment and head to Georgetown for my Friday night gig at Cabanas. For reservations, call 202-944 4242. See you there!

It's 11:01am on Saturday as I type these words. Just got up a short while ago and I have only a few minutes here before I have to go to my 12:00pm dance class so this will be short and sweet. :-)

Last night was fun at Cabanas. Funny thing is that one of my lights broke so we were left only with one I and I decided to use the amber filter which resulted some very dramatic lighting. Check it out:

Ginette improvised with a fan for this dance. Good job Ginette!

January 27, 2006 (photo by Keith)

January 27, 2006 (photo by Keith)

January 27, 2006 (photo by Keith)

January 27, 2006 (photo by Keith)

Gotta go. Dance class starts soon and I still have to get dressed. Ciao for now!