It's 9:30am on Saturday as I type these words. Last night I went to the Gala de Andalucia concert at Lisner Auditorium.

[As usual, I went straight to bed (around 4:00am Saturday) and got up with just enough time to upload these pics and rush out the door. I have to meet my guitarist friend Marty for breakfast at El Patio around 10:00am before heading to dance class at noon, so I gotta go. I'll add more commentary later.]

It's 8:24am on Sunday and I'm finally getting around to adding commentary about Friday night. According to the program, the proper title for the concert was Flamenco Gala 2006: Gala de Andalucia. It featured dancers Merche Esmeralda, Manolo Marin, Javier Baron, Rafael Campallo and Adela Campallo.

One of the things I love about these annual flamenco festivals at Lisner is that I get to see most of the DC flamenco community all in one place. Some people I almost never see for whatever reason and this was my chance to say hello even if only for two seconds.

Most of them comment on how busy I am in the flamenco community (and I am). What can I say? It's so easy for people to keep up with me. I blog almost daily and it just so happens I'm doing something flamenco-related almost all the time! I'm sure everyone else is just as busy as myself. The difference is that I'm just the only one crazy enough to document it all--well, not everything. :-)

Someone said I should blog about all the local flamenco gossip. You know flamencos are. But then again if I did publish all the gossip, us flamencos wouldn't have anything to talk about! :-)

Anyway, we arrived early enough to pick up our tickets at Will Call. I'm proud to say I get free tickets---well not really free. I don't pay for them with money but I earn them through my hard work promoting local flamenco performances. A perk of being Mr DC Flamenco.

Last minute ticket frenzy. February 17, 2006 8:06pm

Even at 8:00pm when the concert was scheduled to start, there was still a long line to buy tickets. There are always leftovers the day of the concert, but many of the remaining seats are "singles" and most people who go are couples or groups. I even saw my friend Katherine Vargas who was in DC visiting for the week. She was looking for a ticket. I knew of people who had some extras, but they had given their tickets away already. :-(

The concert started late (surprise, surprise). Opened up with two cantaors singing a martinete with each of the five dancers taking turns stepping out into the spotlight to strut their stuff in a remate. They were all very good and each had their own distinct stage personality, but my favorite was Rafael Campallo who obviously has a lot of technical skill but tastefully uses just the right amount to express himself. In previous concerts I've seen younger dancers go all out into a flashy demonstration of "Hey, look at what can I do!" Not Rafael.

The martinete was followed by a duet between Rafael and his sister Adela in a piece titled "Paso a Dos." Not sure what the palo was but it had the aire of a Guajiras. Next was Rafael in an alegrias and the first half closed with a solea by Merche.

Ginette Perea and Mariya at Lisner Auditorium during intermission. February 17, 2006 9:06pm

The house lights came back on and it was intermission. I looked around for familiar faces. Seated behind Ginette and I were Aida, Karina Valverde and Maria Roncal. In front of us were Dana Shoenberg and her husband. So we stood in the aisle and talked with our "neigbors" and greeted lots of our friends as they passed by. Dancer Sylvia Melecio gave me a little gift that she had been carrying around the past few weeks. It was a mini-guitar from Puerto Rico plus a card where she wrote:

"Congratulations on your 10th! And thank you for all your efforts."

Thank you Syliva!

Gift from Sylvia. February 17, 2006

We went out into the lobby to get munchies and something to drink and ran into so many friends I regret I couldn't say hello to them all.

View from behind our seats. February 17, 2006 9:23pm

The lobby lights were flashing signalling us to get back to our seats. The second half began with a seguiriyas danced by Adela. But the highlight for the second half I have to say was the violin playing by Alexis Lefevre. OK, I am partial to musicians cuz I am one too. But I'm a flamenco and this guy Alexis wasn't just filling-in musical space playing the melody line for Javier Baron's solea por bulerias. He and Javier Baron came out again and did a short duet por bulerias. Ginette, who also plays violin, whispered to me, "Those are my two favorite things!" Alexis provided the accompaniment with just as much strong driving rhythm as a guitar.

The concert closed with a tientos with Manolo Marin and Merche Esmeralda and the standard fin de fiesta bulerias by the company.

Cast taking a final bow. February 17, 2006 10:19pm

Afterwards, we said hello to a few more friends and rushed backstage to greet the artists. I ran into local dancer Carmel Shelly--not too many people know about her yet, but I'll change that. I'm going to interview her soon.

Unfortunately, most of the artists were packed and ready to leave or gone already, but we managed to meet Merche and Rafael and get some pics.

Backstage: Ginette, Merche Esmeralda and Carmela Greco. February 17, 2006 10:42pm

Rafael Campallo and Ginette. February 17, 2006 10:45pm

Next on the evening's agenda: Jason's birthday party at My Bakery Cafe...

Micaela Moreno, Ramonita, Al and Miguelito at My Bakery Cafe. February 17, 2006 11:45pm (photo by Ginette)

Jason celebrating his birthday with many friends. February 18, 2006 12:08am (photo by Ginette)

Karina Valverde, Aref, Estela Velez and Miguelito. February 18, 2006 12:09am (photo by Ginette)

Mariya and her boyfriend Keith. February 18, 2006 12:09am (photo by Ginette)

Mariya and Ginette strike a pose. :-) Overflowing with inspiration from the flamenco concert, they're ready to dance ALL night long! February 18, 2006 12:46am

Late night party people: Danny, Roxy, Indira, Al, Jason, Mica, Miguelito, Ramonita and Jen. February 18, 2006 1:37am (photo by David)

Ending the night with friends around an urban campfire at the Pink Flamenco. February 18, 2006 2:57am