March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

The group Furia Flamenca performed at the Tidal Basin (in front of the Jefferson Memorial) on Friday March 31, 2006. Although I promised my friend Karina I'd attend, time was really tight between preparing for the Sala Rociera party and getting ready for my gig at Cabanas the same night. She found someone else to take some pics and here they are...

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

March 31, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

On Thursday March 30th I was able to go to Union Station for their show and take pics...

March 30, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

Notice the carpeted stage--not good for flamenco. But the show must go on and this is where the real dancers get to shine i.e. those that work on upper body technique/expression as much as their footwork.

March 30, 2006

TIP: Work on your upper body technique as much as your footwork. Trust me on this. As a performer, sooner or later a day will come when you will show up for a gig and have no choice but to perform on a carpeted stage and you have to be ready for that! A couple of months ago, a major flamenco performer refused to go on with the show because of costume problems which upset a LOT of people. It's not likely she'll be invited back again. The show must go on, even in flamenco!

March 30, 2006

ANOTHER TIP: As a professional dancer, it's your responsibility to ask for proper flooring and PZM's. If you don't know anything about stages, floors, lights and sound with respect to flamenco dance shows, then you have some homework to do. Time to read some books on stagecraft and at least become familiar with the terminology. That way, when you talk to the stage manager, you'll know exactly what to ask for. The Crown PCC-160 is the industry standard for floor microphones, but most outdoor festival sound crews need advance notice for this.

March 30, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

I haven't tried Dance Mats yet but they seem like a convenient way to ensure you at least have wood to dance on. They're not cheap, but assuming their good enough to dance on, they'll pay for themselves in the confidence you'll have showing up for gigs knowing you'll have a decent floor.

March 30, 2006

March 30, 2006

March 30, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

This is my friend Karina showing her appreciation for my support. Awww....how sweet. ;-)

March 30, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina Valverde)

Posted by Miguelito at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 8:55am on Thursday as I type these words. Yup I'm up early...again. Yesterday (Wednesday) I had a morning rehearsal with Marsha Bonet. This morning, I'm meeting someone at 11:00am for an early lunch in Arlington. I missed a day of blogging yesterday (bad, bad, bad) and I was doing so good with keeping this up 56 days in a row!

I'm hoping that this Friday's Sala Rociera party at my house, the Pink Flamenco, will be a success and that I'll get tons and tons of great pics and commentary to make up for the skipped day of blogging.

Anyway, yesterday was a good day overall. Rehearsal with Marsha was fun as usual but it wasn't as productive as I hoped. It's OK. We were both having an off day. But the important thing is that we were disciplined enough to rehearse anyway. You see, that's the cool thing about rehearsing with a partner: you're less likely to slack off when you know another person is scheduled to rehearse with you.

When I woke up that morning, things got off to a bad start when I accidentally ripped a nail on my right hand. In my half-awake stupor I managed to get my middle finger's nail hooked on something and next thing I know there was this excruciating pain along with a slowly but steadily growing globule of blood coming out just under my nail. To top it off, I didn't have any band-aids so I got some tissue paper and applied pressure until it clotted and wrapped it in scotch-tape.

Entrance to Alliance Dance Institute. That's dancer Dmitry Savchenko out front. March 29, 2006 10:01am

By the time I got to Alliance Dance Institute just before 10:00am, the pain and bleeding was over but I had to figure out how I was going to strum my guitar with a crudely-bandaged recently-ripped nail. When Marsha arrived, I repaired the ripped nail by applying the equvalent of a silk wrap (ladies know what this means) except I used a paper towel and I was hoping that the crazy glue didn't seep under the nail--that stuff stings and burns!

Didn't sting. Didn't burn. And my silk wrap job held up for the whole rehearsal. Maybe I can work in a nail salon if my music career ever pans out. :-) Crisis #1 over. Next challenge: clear my mind of personal crap and focus on the rehearsal. Usually I'm good at getting mentally focusing when I need to (no magic formula, just lots and lots of practice), but it wasn't happening. I didn't ask, but I had a feeling that Marsha was having the same problem too. Oh well. It happens to all of us, but thank God this was just a rehearsal and not a performance. So you just keep going and give it your best no matter what--that's being professional. No whining allowed! :-)

Hallway to the flamenco studio. March 29, 2006 10:04am

We finished the rehearsal the best we could, and tentatively scheduled another one for this weekend to make up for lost productivity.

Took the usual half-hour between rehearsal and dance class to get some nourishment and fresh air. Got back at 12:30pm refreshed and ready for my lesson.

The first class is a ballroom sampler and we've covered the basics of almost all the more popular dance forms but today we focused on waltz. The rhythm is fairly simple but when I have to think about proper posture, keeping my head up and shoulders down, maintaining ballroom frame, keep the footwork pattern correct and make it look and feel natural etc I lose track of the music, really!

Yeah I have a decent sense of rhythm (duh, otherwise I'd never have gotten this far as a flamenco guitarist). But it takes a lot of mental and physical energy just to do the basics. I've always known this since I spend so much time with dancers anyway, but it's cool for me to have experienced the feeling myself. Does this meean I'm going to sympathize with dancers (professional and amateur) when they complain how hard it is to be a dancer. Of course not! Being a musician is just as hard in its own way, but I won't get into that right now.

Oh yeah, I've been lurking in message boards about ballroom dance a lot lately. One of things that comes up from time to time is how studio XYZ is better than studio ABC cuz they teach partnering technique as opposed to just steps.

This is the equivalent of flamenco teachers teaching choreography without giving an equal dose of theory. For example, there are teachers who crank out students who know tons of cool choreographies but are clueless when it comes to working with live music. Yeah, flamenco is like partnering in ballroom and latin dances like salsa (remember my blog entry from Sunday?).

Anyway, I still got a long way to go, but I just to want to emphasize that my instructor Marsha Bonet (she's awesome!) is teaching me partnering technique. It's a good thing to pick up early on cuz when you go out to clubs and social events us guys will be dancing with ladies that we've never danced with before and if we can't lead our partners properly it's not that enjoyable for the lady (not to mention the poor clueless guy who's wondering why the lady isn't doing "her" part).

The same deal goes for flamenco dance students. Ask your teacher about cante and baile structure and how to communicate non-verbally to the guitarist, singer and palmeros. (Pssst! Don't tell anyone, but this book has many of the professional secrets you'll need to know.) When you go out there to flamenco parties or whatever, you'll know how to "lead" your guitarist.

Tell you what...this Friday at my house there'll be a flamenco party. I'll be there around 11:00pm (party starts at 9:30pm) since I'm getting off a gig in Georgetown. But if you want to try out your dances, I'm all yours!

Yikes! It's 9:58am and I my early lunch date's at 11:00am. Gotta go!

Posted by Miguelito at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:50am on Tuesday as I type these words. The weather's beautiful and I really should get out and enjoy the day so I'm just going to let you enjoy the photos with very brief commentary.

I take lots of pics of whatever's in front of me and this one turned out kinda cool...

Drink tickets. March 27, 2006 8:07pm

Yeah, in addition to getting paid money, we performers get free bar drinks.

The arrow points to my speaker which has to project my sound all the way to end of the bar so I gotta crank up the volume.

View from the end of the bar. March 27, 2006 9:17pm

It was Cecilia's birthday, which I knew a few days before, but forgot about until someone reminded me. We invited her to dance some Sevillanas.

Waiting for Cecilia to come onstage. March 27, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Keith)

Later as she was about to leave for the night, the DJ was playing some salsa, so I pulled her on the stage for one dance.

Mariya and Cecilia. March 27, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Keith)

March 27, 2006 9:45pm (photo by Keith)

Miguelito. March 27, 2006 9:48pm (photo by Keith)

Jason Vera y Aragon. March 27, 2006 9:49pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya in solea. March 27, 2006 9:58pm (photo by Keith)

March 27, 2006 9:59pm (photo by Keith)

March 27, 2006 10:01pm (photo by Keith)

March 27, 2006 10:08pm (photo by Keith)

I like the DJ Helio cuz he puts on flamenco and Sevillanas when my friends are here. But the rest of the evening was kinda disappointing cuz I was hoping for more salsa but he played almost everything else but.

Mariya and Jason dancing Sevillanas. March 27, 2006 10:32pm

Roxana and Jason. March 27, 2006 10:38pm

As I was breaking down my sound system, a bunch of my friends took over the stage. At one point I had to tell them to get off the stage so we could put it away, so I took this one pic promising them they'd be on my website.

Friends. March 27, 2006 11:54pm

I didn't make it to Lucky Bar for my salsa fix as I had planned. Couldn't convince my friends to go with me. :-( And my ride wanted to go home early, so we called it a night. I was able to squeeze in some salsa with 4 or 5 different ladies, so I got to practice my leading--something I gotta work on, not to mention expanding my repertoire of dance figures.

Almost home. Listening to the latin station on XM radio called Alegria which plays 90% reggaeton and 10% salsa/merenge. Oh well. March 28, 2006 12:50am

Fast forward, to next morning...my desk isn't always this neat, so I thought I'd take a pic of it anyway to inspire myself to clean up on those days when housecleaning slips way down on my list of priorities. :-)

View as I edit the photos for today's blog. March 28, 2006 10:46am

Yeah, I'm a multi-tasker (not a good thing, I know). I'm watching a flamenco video on the television next to my desk with the sound turned off while I listen to trance music on my computer. I also enjoy electronic dance music like trance and techno and don't ask me why but it helps me mentally focus. One thing I can't do is concentrate with flamenco music in the background.

Watching a flamenco video. March 28, 2006 10:47am

I just had a new (old-fashioned) lock installed on my door. With all the dance classes and late night parties going on here, the Pink Flamenco is practically a public place now. So I gotta make sure my room is secure when I'm not around.

March 28, 2006 10:51am

Tonight (Tuesday) I'll be at Las Tapas most likely with Anna Menendez and Edwin Aparicio, but I'll find out when I get there. It's 11:58am. Time for me to get out of the house. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 9:27pm on Sunday as I type these words. Just got home a few minutes ago after spending pretty much all day accompanying dance classes. First I was at Joy of Motion for Estela Velez's class from 1:30-2:30, then I went with some friends to get a light lunch before heading down the street to DC Dance Collective for Anna Menendez's classes from 4:00pm until 7:00pm. Then a few of the dancers and I went out for some dinner afterwards. Sundays for me mean beautiful girls, flamenco and good food and good times, yay! I love my job, if you want to call it that! :-)

Anyway, while we were enjoying some Salvadorean food and drink next door to the studio after class, we talked about lots of stuff and one of the dancers asked me how my dance classes were coming along. Obviously, she's been keeping up with my blog.

Things are going really well at Alliance Dance Institute. My instructor Marsha Bonet is teaching me a lot about ballroom, latin and partner dancing in general. But right now, my biggest challenge is learning how to communicate with my body when I'm leading my partner in everything from salsa to foxtrot to tango to cha cha etc.

Watching salsa instructional videos on the Internet. March 26, 2006 9:25pm

Besides what I'm learning in class, I'm also doing some supplementary studying by reading books ballroom and watching instructional dance videos and practicing in my home studio. While it's fun and cool to learn all the latest moves (check this out), as a guy, I am the leader and I still have to non-verbally communicate to my partner to make it work. Sound like a familiar concept?

Yup! The relationship between dancer and guitarist in flamenco is very similar to the one between a leader and follower in ballroom and latin dances.

For example, I've worked occasionally with flamenco dance students lacking experience with live music who would come back from Spain having just a taken a workshop with famous dancer XYZ and learned a cutting edge modern choreography. And while they can execute the choreography fairly well on their own, they're surprised when it falls apart when they put it together with live music. In this case, the leader (dancer) is failing to communicate to the follower (guitarist).

Why? Because being able to execute a choreography and being able to lead or, in other words, communicate non-verbally to your guitarist are two completely different skills. Like, sometimes a dancer will tell me, "OK play a llamada here when I do this move." And I'll just roll my eyes and say to myself, "Look, dancer, if you knew how to do a llamada correctly, you wouldn't have to tell me that you're doing a llamada!"

That's why it's called a llamada (translation: call). It's supposed to be so obvious that it clearly communicates to the guitarist as if to say, "Hey Mr. Guitarist, I'm ending this section of the dance or going on to a different section, so watch me!"

In my conversations with female friends who go to clubs to dance salsa, the common complaint I hear is that a lot of guys will try to execute some really cool salsa moves without knowing how to properly lead the lady. Either the guy is so weak as a leader that the lady doesn't know what he's going to do next. Or he's too strong and ends up basically pushing and pulling the lady around on the dance floor. Same kind of problem: lack of clear communication.

So, now that I'm taking ballroom and latin dance classes, I'm starting to understand first-hand the concept of communicating with my body when leading a lady. It's just like flamenco. OK. I get the concept, but I need to apply it on a practical level, get some experience and practice, practice, practice! It's going to take a lot of work but I can do it and so can you!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 10:06pm on Saturday as I type these words. Just got back from a gig and wanted to crank out a blog entry before going back out for the night.

Originally I had a rehearsal scheduled with one of my favorite dancers this afternoon ( I was so much looking forward to it), but it got cancelled. Then by a stroke of luck, I got a phone call a few minutes later asking me to perform with a couple of dancers at a private party. So I headed down to Cabanas in Georgetown to pick up my sound system and my ride met me there. Since I got there early I took a few pics of the Georgetown Harbour during sunset. So beautiful...

March 25, 2006 5:22pm

I can't wait for when the weather gets warmer and this boardwalk fills up with people on the weekends!

March 25, 2006 5:23pm

March 25, 2006 5:25pm

An hour or so later, we arrived at the gig...

March 25, 2006 6:24pm

It was some kind of surprise party. The client went all out and built a tablao for us and had professional lighting. They had a sound system, but I insisted on using my own. I still had to do a sound check of course...

March 25, 2006 6:46pm

March 25, 2006 6:46pm

View from the stage.

March 25, 2006 6:47pm

Considering we didn't rehearse, it was an awesome energy-filled show and the audience loved us! Time to celebrate...

March 25, 2006 8:21pm

OK, it's now 10:13pm. Time for me to sign off and get out of the house. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 10:26am on Saturday as I type these words. I'm meeting a friend for coffee at 11:00am so I only have a few minutes to write something.

Right now I have this amazing sense of calm that I haven't experienced in a while. As I was looking through my archive of photos from last year, I found a couple of mp3's that happened to be in the same folder. I clicked on them and as soon as the music started, I was transported back to Spain, really! Not that the music was Spanish (actually it was some trance by Paul Van Dyck), but rather it was simply the music I always listened to when I returned back to my hostel each night as I reminisced about my day. Ah, Madrid. Good times. :-)

Last night, I was talking with a close friend about sanctuary, a place where you can go to get away from it all and find inner peace. Yeah, it would be great to be able to escape to Spain but for me ultimately the place where I can find that inner peace is inside myself (duh....inner means inside) regardless of the location. I'm kinda feeling that inner peace myself already but still, a trip to Spain would be very very nice. ;-) Yeah, yeah, too much zen for this time of the morning. But think about it anyway.

View of the dining room where the show takes place. March 24, 2006 8:01pm

Last night I was at Cabanas....ooops...gotta go, don't want to arrive too late to meet a friend for coffee. Enough commentary. Enjoy the pics. Ciao for now.

Mariya, Miguelito, Shahram and Jason. March 24, 2006 9:19pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya. March 24, 2006 9:22pm (photo by Keith)

Shahram. March 24, 2006 9:27pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya, Katya (both from Ukraine) and Buket (from Turkey). March 24, 2006 9:45pm

VIew of the bar. March 24, 2006 10:50pm

My 5:00pm rehearsal (for today, Saturday) got cancelled, but I got a call for a last-minute gig at 6:30pm with a couple of dancers at a private party, yay! Life is good.

Posted by Miguelito at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 4:42pm on Friday as I type these words. I got up early this morning and went back to bed for a few more hours cuz I still have a cough that I just can't seem to get rid of. Getting lots of rest and trying to eat right. Now it's just getting annoying each night when I just lay in bed and as I'm about to fall to sleep I go into a coughing fit. Ugh!

Anyway, I finally got out of the house around 11:00am and got a big steaming hot bowl of south american style chicken vegetable soup for an early lunch. Yum! I was in the mood for a movie so I checked out moviefone.com and found one that sounded interesting, Inside Man and it happened to be playing at my neigborhood theatre, perfect! On my way, I passed by Panera and ran into my guitar student on his coffee break and he offered to buy me a drink so I sat down for a short while (movie wasn't starting for another 30 minutes anyway). While he was inside getting my coffee, I ran into a high school friend who happens to live in the neighborhood. What a small world!

March 24, 2006 12:21pm (taken with my camera phone)

Did you know I went to a British high school in the country of Ghana? Yeah, my mom and stepfather were American diplomats and my brother and I got to live there for two years. It was a very cool experience and it probably was a major factor in spurring my interest in other cultures. Anyway, it turns out my friend Jocie went to school with me in Ghana and now she's sort of my neighbor--she lives like maybe a mile away. And we had a few minutes to catch up on each other's lives. I'm sure I'll run into her again.

Even though I keep odd hours compared to most people with day jobs, it's cool to be able to walk down the street from my house and run into friends on a semi-regular basis. After six months of living in the Pink Flamenco, I'm starting to feel like this is my neighborhood, yay!

Last night, as expected, was a fun night at Las Tapas. The dancers were Edwin Aparicio and Anna Menendez who danced especially well. We all had our reasons for feeling frustrated, tired or otherwise (nothing serious just normal stress) and you'd think it would derail our performance onstage but instead it gave us some emotional energy to channel into the dancing and the music. In the end it was very satisfying. A good night. Thank you Edwin. Thank you Anna.

My office. March 23, 2006 9:12pm

Tonight (Friday), I'm performing at Cabanas in Georgetown. The dancers will be Shahram Tehranian and Mariya. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:31am on Thursday as I type these words. I actually got up pretty early this morning around 7:00am and got some breakfast before heading over to Fronteras university to see if they had a copy of La India's Grandes Exitos--something inspiring to listen to as I practice my salsa steps. Hey, I have a dance studio with mirrors at home, so why not? No excuses.

On my way home I stopped by Panera to get some coffee and ran into my one and only guitar student who just so happens to work in my neighborhood. We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed our cafe americanos. For about half-an-hour the sun was out and we didn't need our jackets...nice! But then the clouds passed over and it was time to put the jackets back on and my student needed to go to work. As for myself, I needed to get to work on my blog...and here I am!

Yesterday (Wednesday), I had a good ballroom/latin dance lesson with Marsha. We reviewed the basics for social foxtrot including sway step, turns, rock step and promenade and spent a lot time focusing on improving body communication, ballroom frame and leading. One thing she noticed right away was that my posture was improved, yay! I had been working on that all week.

Then we covered cha-cha turns using third position, side chasee (sp?) , crossover breaks with underarm turn and talked about timing and transitioning back to basic step. We had a little bit of time left for salsa and reviewed latin frame, side step, preparing for fifth position and cross body lead. This is new knowledge that I'm gaining is so cool, cuz when I was at Lucky Bar on Monday night I was able to recognize a lot of the moves the salseros were executing with such style. I was thinking to myself, "I know what they are doing, all I have to do is take lessons and practice."

Although dance studios are like a second home for me, actually taking dance classes is a big step for me, and since Marsha's exposing me to a wide range of dances I have to keep detailed notes which I write down in my Palm Pilot so I can review them mentally as I ride the metro. If you see me waiting for a train, chances are, I'm probably mouthing memory aids like "quick, quick, slow" and discreetly moving my feet in patterns. Right now it's mostly a mental process but once I internalize most of it, I can start relaxing more and going with the feel of the music. OK, yeah so Marsha's my personal friend, but I'm enrolled in this class just like everyone else and I'm taking this seriously...not serious serious though--I'm actually taking these classes with the intent to learn something useful and fun. So, if you're free on Wednesdays during the day, sign up and join me. They're having a party tomorrow (Friday). Check it out.

View from the Old Town Alexandria waterfront. March 22, 2006 5:51pm

I had a little time to kill after dance class and before my gig so I reviewed my notes while taking in the panorama on the boardwalk. A few hours later, Behzad and I finished our first set at Cafe Bonaparte where we perform every other Wednesday.

View of the stage during our break. March 22, 2006 9:01pm

My photographer friend Jill Hatzai stopped by so I asked her to take pics with my camera. She took a few with her own and will be emailing me some.

Behzad Habibzai, Carlton Ashton and Miguelito. March 23, 2006 10:45pm (photo by Jill Hatzai)

March 22, 2006 10:45pm (photo by Jill Hatzai)

Just as we were about to start our last set for the evening, in walks my friend Juan Martin with a flamenco celebrity: Rubem Dantas, the percussionist that frequently works with Paco de Lucia. Visiting artists Jesus Montoya and Juan del Valle also came in along with bunch of local flamencos.

Naturally, everyone wanted a pic with Rubem and being the official flamenco photographer/historian for DC, I had a job to do. :-)

Rubem Dantas and Jesus Montoya. March 22, 2006 11:11pm

Jose Oretea and Rubem. March 22, 2006 11:11pm

Richard Marlow, Jose, Rubem and Jesus. March 22, 2006 11:12pm

Miguelito, Rubem and Jesus. March 22, 2006 11:13pm

I asked my friend Juan to explain about Rubem...
"It was rather bizarre. Juan del Valle, besides being a talented flamenco dancer, also happens to posses grandiose epicurious abilities. It was 5 pm and Juan was busy cooking a "bouillabaise a la juan" at Nora's house. Cecilia, Nora, and myself were the assigned chef assistants chopping garlic, onions, cutting fish, opening bottles of wine and taking the garbage out.

At 7 pm on the dot, Jesus Montoya, Nora, Ceci, Juan and myself sat down to eat when my cell phone rang with an unidentified number. Not wanting to detract from this delicious seafood feast, I ignored the call. Another quick interruption followed seconds later as my phone indicated that there was a New Voicemail Message. Intrigued I called and it was from a certain "Rubem" asking for me to phone him back, the mystery was that the voice was from a guy with an American accent.

At first I was trying to figure out which Rubem it was, thinking at the same time that the only one I know is Rubem Dantas, but no, it could not be. I phoned back the number and a voice picked up screaming "Juanito!!".

"Rubem??!!" I replied.

"Si! Estoy en Washington por una noche, ven a verme!"

I quickly scraped the rest of Juan's "bouillabaise a la juan" on my plate, gulped down my glass of wine and sped through DC traffic down to the "Ugly Mug Cafe" in Southeast to meet Rubem. Once at this dive of sorts I had no choice but to save him from the claws of drunken American college girls and bring him to a nice flamenco gig, right into the claws, or better palmas, of beautiful flamenco dancers, thanks to Miguelito, at Cafe Bonaparte.

En route to Bonaparte, I decided not to ruin the surprise by calling ahead and telling Miguelito, Behzad and Carlton that I was on my way there with none other than Rubem Dantas. Like the Master Card commercial says "there are some things money can't buy" in this case it was the reaction of these 3 wonderful flamencos when they saw Rubem enter Cafe Bonaparte."

Thanks Juan!

Here are a couple more Rubem pics courtesy of Jill Hatzai...

Bree and Rubem. March 22, 2006 (photo courtesy of Jill Hatzai)

Behzad and Rubem. March 22, 2006 (photo courtesy of Jill Hatzai)

Rubem and Jill. March 22, 2006 (photo courtesy of Jill Hatzai)

???, Rubem and Omar. March 22, 2006 (photo courtesy of Jill Hatzai)

What happens when a bunch of flamencos get together late at night? You know the answer...

Juerga. March 23, 2006 12:27am

Tonight (Thursday) I'll be subbing at Las Tapas in Old Town Alexandria. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 9:25am on Wednesday as I type these words. Didn't take any pics last night (Tuesday) at Las Tapas so I thought I'd just publish a pic of myself hoping something will click in my brain for me to write something. It'll be like the 45th day in row of blog entry without missing a day--my self-discipline is getting better cuz there were many days when I just didn't feel like publishing anything.

Oh well, I can't think of what to write cuz this morning I'm mentally reviewing all the stuff I learned last week in dance class...foxtrot promenade, cha-cha sidestep, swing turn, salsa cross body lead, tango basic, proper posture, body communication in leading, ballroom frame vs latin frame, left-hand at ladys' eye level, breathe, listen to the music....ugh! My head is going to explode! Still, it's a good thing though cuz I'm learning something new and it'll only get easier with practice. Class starts at 12:30pm so I better review my dance figures before I head out to Alliance Dance Institute in Alexandria.

Me writing this blog entry. March 22, 2006 9:17am

Tonight I'll be performing at Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, OK, for a paparazzi pic, it's not exactly compromising but it was taken on the street as the photographer was driving by last Friday as I headed to Cabanas for my weekly gig there. You can't miss me: I got that distinctive look with the ponytail plus I have a guitar case hanging off my shoulder not to mention that I'm lugging a 100 pounds of sound equipment.

March 17, 2006 7:00pm-ish (photo by Jill Hatzai)

Photographer Jill Hatzai is obviously a pro. She was able to experty frame the subject (me) perfectly within seconds. More pics of me on her website.

Posted by Miguelito at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 10:02am on Tuesday as I type these words. I got up earlier to edit photos and even snuck out to Starbucks to intending to get a grande Zen green tea. But the barista, assuming I was getting my usual doppio, got me just that. Oh well...so much for my caffeine-free diet. :-)

Miguelito at home editing the pics for today's blog entry. March 21, 2006 8:52am

Spring is here and the crowds are back at Citron, yay! Last night we had a lot of flamencos in the audience including a few out-of-town visiting artists: singer Jesus Montoya and dancer Juan del Valle. Of course, they had their respective entourages of friends which together with my large group of loyal fans filled-up the first two or three booths and the bar area near the stage. During the rumba in the second set, we had such great palmas and jaleo, we got carried away and pushed the tempo a bit, but it was fun and it got the audience pumped-up for Mariya's solea.

Enough commentary. Enjoy the pics.

Checkout the new disco ball. March 20, 2006 8:18pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya dancing tientos. March 20, 2006 8:25pm (photo by Keith)

March 20, 2006 8:36pm (photo by Keith)

March 20, 2006 8:42pm (photo by Keith)

Miguelito. March 20, 2006 8:45pm (photo by Keith)

First show's over. Time for break. March 20, 2006 8:50pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya dancing solea. March 20, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Keith)

March 20, 2006 9:48pm (photo by Keith)

March 20, 2006 9:49pm (photo by Keith)

Jose Oretea singing a letra of tangos. March 20, 2006 9:56pm (photo by Keith)

March 20, 2006 9:57pm (photo by Keith)

Jason Vera y Aragon and Mariya dancing Sevillanas. March 20, 2006 10:26pm

Jesus Montoya and Cecilia. March 20, 2006 10:28pm

Oliver and Raven. March 20, 2006 10:38pm

Miguelito, Sarika and Page. March 20, 2006 10:39pm (photo by Keith)

Miguelito and Madiha. March 20, 2006 11:10pm (photo by Keith)

Salsa's over. :-( Reggaeton time. March 20, 2006 11:42pm

Off to Lucky Bar for Salsa Monday. March 21, 2006 12:29am

There are some serious salseros here that I can learn from. This is my new Monday night after-show hangout.

Lucky Bar salsa crowd. March 21, 2006 12:30am

It's 10:08am now and I'm done with my blog for the day. I have some pics from the Juan del Valle workshop which I'll get to very soon.

Thanks to the doppio, I'm all hyped-up and the salsa music playing on my computer has got me in the mood to practice my moves. Got all kinds of little tips from my dance partners this weekend. Plus watching the salseros at Lucky Bar last night got me really inspired. I know I have a long way to go but at least I know I'm improving little by little. A big thank you to my teacher Marsha Bonet!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 8:37am on Monday as I type these words. Yesterday (Sunday) I pretty much slept-in cuz I felt a cold coming on--surprise, surprise! Although I did get up around 7:30am to upload photos here, I went back to sleep and didn't get up until 3:00pm-ish. Grabbed a bite to eat and with all this sleep was still feeling lethargic, I almost went to the movies but something told me to go back home, pick up my guitar and head to DC Dance Collective for Anna Menendez's 4:00pm class. Actually didn't get there until close to 5:00pm and as I was descending the stairs to the studio I looked in the window and caught Anna's eye and made strumming movements and mouthed the words "Do you want music?" and she of course, nodded, yay!

I came at just the right time, cuz they were taking a short water break when I entered the studio and started tuning up. I don't know what it is about DC Dance Collective. It could be the ambience, the people, the teacher or perhaps even me, but it's always fun to play for classes here. They worked on escobilla and one letra of bulerias.

When the class was over at 5:30pm, I put my guitar down and wandered around the hallway and got the usual thank yous from the students. During the lull between classes I went back into the studio and mentally practiced my ballroom and salsa dance figures (yeah that's what they call them: figures) when Angelica approached me and said something like, "This is from all of us to show you how much we appreciate you coming without question." as she handed me a neatly folded wad of cash. "Come, here," she said as motioned me to the hallway. And the girls chorused, "We love you, Miguelito!"

That made my day! Thanks ladies!

Self-portrait in studio 1 at DC Dance Collective. March 19, 2006 7:00pm

I stuck around for the 5:30pm class and worked on a letra of alegrias and when it was over at 7:00pm I headed to the Chinese place to get some Szechuan beef, hot sour soup and steamed rice, yum!

Chinese dinner March 19, 2006 7:19pm (taken with my camera phone)

It was around 7:30pm when I passed by Joy of Motion on the way home. It was the second night of the performance class showcase and about that time, the flamenco part was done cuz I could hear the salsa music blaring in the hallway. I walked to the back studio temporarily converted to the dressing room just for the weekend. I was hoping to run into some of the dancers to congratulate them. I saw one of them and was invited in but I hesitated asking, "Are you sure they're all decent?"

"Don't worry about it, just come in."

Sure enough, all the dancers were too busy changing for the next number to notice a guy walking in. I greeted my dancer friends as they crowded around the tiny screen of a camera to view a video of the performance. Apparently, there was a little mishap where the CD stopped and fortunately they kept improvising until the music started again from the beginning. The audience applauded wildly because they handled the situation gracefully. One of the studio directors described the performance as "fierce." The dancers put their frustration from the "technical difficulty" to use in the bulerias with each and every stress-relieving foot stomp. :-)

One of the dancers, Aida, was also in another performance class group for a Bollywood dance number. This is me with Aida...

Aida and Miguelito. March 19, 2006 8:09pm

I was hoping to see Karina, but she had to rush off back to work. I see many of friends so much in shows and performances that I forget that they have work and personal lives too. My hats off to you people who strive to make time for the things that make you happy!

Afterwards, we headed to Jaleo in Bethesda to get some dinner and celebrate. Throughout the evening, the video camera was passed around as we all relived the never-to-be-forgotten moment the music stopped.

Gathering around the camera. March 19, 2006 8:51pm

I ordered potato leek soup (for my cold), sauteed mushrooms with spinach and goat's milk cheese with toast and jam (I was in a vegetarian mood). Although I had eaten earlier, this was a good time to get to know these dancers better cuz I'll be performing with them in a few weeks on April 8-9 at the Joy of Motion Jack Guidone Theatre. Stay tuned for details.

March 19, 2006 9:34pm

Here are a bunch of pics courtesy of Estela Velez...

Ramona, Dana, Karen, Jennifer, Rollie. March 19, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

Rollie, Celia, Jennifer, Karen. March 19, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

Heidi, Dana, Theresa and Jennifer. March 19, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

Ramona and Dana. March 19, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

Ramona, Teresa, Miguelito, Aida, Sol, Young Key, Aref. March 19, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

It's 9:25am now. I'm going to squeeze in a few errands before heading out to Cabanas at 11:00am to pick up my sound system and take it to Cafe Citron. Once I get that out of the way, I'll have the day free to relax. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It's 7:36am on Sunday as I type these words. Yeah, I'm really up that early.

Last night I attended the performance class showcase at Joy of Motion--thanks to Karina for my ticket! It's a simple concept: the students enroll for the performance class knowing full well they will be performing at some point during the semester. As you can imagine, this may require quite a few extra late night rehearsals in addition to the regular class. It's a lot of hard work to expect of a student dancer, but the payoff is worth it emotionally, intellectually and artistically.

March 18, 2006 8:33pm

The showcase featured belly dance, jazz dance, hip hop, salsa, Bollywood, step dancing and flamenco. The palo was alegrias performed to a CD track titled, "Un Respiro." And there were 16 dancers onstage! I only know a few of the names so help me out with the rest.

Front row third from left is Dana. March 18, 2006 8:34pm

From left is Karina and Aida. March 18, 2006 8:34pm

The guy is Aref. March 18, 2006 8:34pm

March 18, 2006 8:35pm

That's Dana again on the right. March 18, 2006 8:35pm

Karina is on the right. March 18, 2006 8:36pm

From the left (in the purpe dress) is Ramona, Dana and Aida. March 18, 2006 8:37pm

On the far right is Karina. March 18, 2006 8:37pm

Second from the left is Dana. On far right is Aida. March 18, 2006 8:37pm

Congrats to the students of Estela Velez! They'll be performing at Joy of Motion again tonight (Sunday) at 7:00pm and it's already sold out, but if you get in line (I recommend getting there at least 1 hour early) you might be lucky to get a standing room only ticket.

Karina Valverde and Miguelito. March 18, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

After the concert, a number of Estela's dance students and I went down the street to Bambule to get some dinner and squeeze in even more dancing (and yeah, I practiced my salsa).

Salsa. March 18, 2006 (photo courtesy of Estela Velez)

Posted by Miguelito at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's 10:24am on Saturday as I type these words. As usual, just enough time to upload photos write an introductory paragraph and head out the door--class at American Dance Institute is at noon and I'm meeting a friend for breakfast at El Patio at 11:00am.

Last night, it was slow at first at Cabanas. Most people probably were in line at the Irish-themed bars. But business picked up later and for the second show we had a decent size audience. My dancer friends Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana and Dmitry Savchenko from Alliance happened to be off on this Friday (a rarity) so they decided to come out see my show (Thanks guys!).

Miguelito, Ginette Perea, Mariya and Jason Vera y Aragon. March 17, 2006 8:32pm (photo by Keith)

March 17, 2006 8:34pm (photo by Keith)

March 17, 2006 8:38pm (photo by Keith)

Rosa la Huracana. March 17, 2006 9:40pm (photo by Keith)

Rosa and Mariya. March 17, 2006 9:41pm (photo by Keith)

March 17, 2006 9:41pm (photo by Keith)

Miguelito. March 17, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Keith)

Mariya. March 17, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Keith)

Ginette. March 17, 2006 9:50pm (photo by Keith)

March 17, 2006 9:51pm (photo by Keith)

Afterwards we checked out this relatively new lounge called Blue Gin near the corner of Wisconsin and M. I was using my camera phone, so the shots of the dimly lit interior were pretty bad. Oh well.

First-time visit to Blue Gin in Georgetown. March 18, 2006 12:37am

Tonight, I'll be going to Joy of Motion for the performance class showcase to support many of my student dancer friends including Karina and Ramona.

Posted by Miguelito at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 5:53pm on Friday as I type these words...and no I didn't sleep in that late today, but I just left house early in the day to do stuff without the doing the usual computer stuff in the morning.

Thursday morning I did a school show with Carlton again. This time with middle school students. It was a bit more challenging to get them to stay quiet (all 100 or so of them) during our show but in the end, they loved us. Several young students came up to talk to and congratulate us.

Later, I had a gig at Cabanas for a wine tasting sponsored by Taste DC. Dancers Ginette Perea and Jen performed. The turnout for the tasting wasn't as good as last time, but we made up for it in the number of new fans we gained. The organizer was so pleased he gave us a couple of bottles of wine as a tip.

March 16, 2006 7:54pm

It was kind of funny seeing Ginette and Jen play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide who would go first with the solos. It's not childish...rather, it's refreshing to see my dancers approach the show with fun and playful state of mind.

It's 6:00pm. I better sign off now and head on over to Cabanas for my usual Friday night gig. The dancers will be Ginette Perea and Mariya. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 2:40am on Thursday as I type these words. I started off my day rehearsing flamenco with Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana at the Alliance Dance Institute as usual on Wednesday at 10:00am. It was a very productive session where we just brainstormed rhythmic ideas. Later I got some lunch and returned to the studio for my weekly ballroom and latin dance lesson at 12:30pm.

I'm getting a basic intro to dances from foxtrot and waltz to salsa and cha-cha. Today Marsha showed me the basics for Argentine tango and swing. I'm having a lot of fun of course and making progress, but it's very challenging learning the various dance figures while working on keeping proper posture. I didn't realize I slouched as much as I do. Ugh! Oh well, it's a change for the better!

Funny thing is that a couple watched me as I was getting my lesson and at the time we were working on the basic Argentine tango step. The basic step is not that difficult and the music is so intoxicating that soon I was in the "tango mood" and it didn't take long for me to look and feel like I knew what I was doing. Actually Marsha was "back-leading" me so she was making me look good.

Later, when I was taking a break and walked around the mall to get some fresh air, the couple approached me and complimented me on my tango moves. Then they asked me how long I was taking classes and I told them, "Just three weeks so far." They were impressed and at first they weren't sure if they would take classes or not, but thanks to my rapid progress and testimonial about the studio and its teachers, I practically sold them on signing up, yay!

This is good for me to take dance classes other than for the obvious benefits of improving my social dancing in general. But it does also give me an idea of what goes on in a flamenco dance student's mind and body as they take class.

I had the night off from flamenco and I wanted to spend some quality time with some of my friends. So we planned a small dinner party for four on a night when all of us would be free. We enjoyed good food, wine, dessert and conversation...

One-inch thick broiled juicy steaks. Yummy! March 15, 2006 8:33pm

The radio was tuned to DC 101 pretty much the whole night although when I started talking about my dance lessons, the hosts put on some salsa. Musically speaking, It was a nice mini-vacation.

Roast, steak and broiled tomato and onion. March 15, 2006 8:38pm

My friend and I both brought bottles of red wine to the party as is customary. But our hosts had a more than adequate supply of their own. That's fine. Look at it this way: we're just stocking up for the next dinner party which we decided would be a seafood night.

Signature drink of the night: pisco sour. March 15, 2006 9:48pm

Dessert: fresh strawberries and creamy fruit-topped cake. March 15, 2006 10:27pm

Shoe cam shot as we rode down the elevator at the end of a satisfying evening in. March 16, 2006 12:46am

Today (Thursday) I have a school show with Carlton again but it'll be at 11:00am this time instead of 8:00am. Thank God. So I'll linger in bed a little bit longer and perhaps take a nap this afternoon to recover. Ugh...another week of catching up on sleep! At least I'm not driving a car...the worst that can happen is I'll doze off and miss my metro stop. :-)

Posted by Miguelito at 1:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 12:50am on Wednesday as I type these words. Got home around 11-something and have been checking email and chatting online and editing photos. Here are the pics from last night at Las Tapas...

Anna Menendez. March 14, 2006 9:07pm (photo by Soheila)

March 14, 2006 9:09pm (photo by Soheila)

Edwin Aparicio. March 14, 2006 9:17pm (photo by Soheila)

Miguelito. March 14, 2006 9:29pm (photo by Soheila)

Posted by Miguelito at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 8:44am on Tuesday as I type these words. Yeah, since I've been getting up at 6am the past two days, I naturally woke up at that hour again. So I'm getting an early start for a change. Last night was a blast at Citron. The weather was warm and the people were out and about and literally packed the place. It felt like summer was in the air.

The camera got passed around so much I lost track of the photographers. There were so many of my friends in the audience. I even made a few new ones. OK, that's it for the commentary. Enjoy the pics!

Ginette Perea and Mariya dancing Sevillanas. March 13, 2006 10:35pm

Shoe cam. :-) March 13, 2006 8:08pm

Mariya. March 13, 2006 8:16pm

Miguelito playing intro to solea. March 13, 2006 8:27pm

March 13, 2006 8:29pm

Ramon, U Jin and Aru. March 13, 2006 8:47pm

March 13, 2006 8:49pm

March 13, 2006 8:50pm

Olga, Katerina and Vladimir. March 13, 2006 8:53pm

Miguelito and Sarika. March 13, 2006 9:17pm

Ginette and Mariya. March 13, 2006 9:35pm

Mariya and Carlton Ashton. March 13, 2006 9:36pm

Miguelito and Gerard Moreno. March 13, 2006 9:39pm

March 13, 2006 9:46pm

March 13, 2006 9:50pm

Miguelito and Citron first-timer Gina. March 13, 2006 10:28pm

Ginette and Jason Vera y Aragon. March 13, 2006 10:30pm

Miguelito and Mariya doing first copla of Sevillanas. March 13, 2006 10:37pm

Ginette's first rose of the night. :-) March 13, 2006 11:14pm

Miguelito and Mariya practicing salsa. March 13, 2006 11:20pm

Miguelito and Ginette. March 13, 2006 11:25pm

March 13, 2006 11:33pm

Posted by Miguelito at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:42am on Monday as I type these words. Just got home after doing an early morning presentation at Cesar Chavez Charter School in Northeast DC. Spanish teacher Carlton Ashton invited me to join him in giving a presentation about flamenco. We were joined by high school student Tanika who provided rock-solid palmas and Ana, another teacher here who just happens to be a dance student of Ulrika Frank.

It's a good thing I went to bed early last night cuz I had to get up at 6:00am to do some work on the computer before getting some breakfast and catching the train at 7:00am. Ugh!

Miguelito warming up in an empty classroom. March 13, 2006 8:59am

It was worth it. They treated us well and the students were very receptive to our performance. There were more than a hundred or so high schoolers in our audience and we performed without amplification or a proper stage. I was not quite warmed-up or even fully awake but the spirit of flamenco gave me just the right burst of adrenalin. We definitely connected with our audience.

Carlton. March 13, 2006 9:04am

March 13, 2006 9:05am

This is the second day in a row where I had to wake up at an unusually early hour. After the school show, I treated myself to a delicious early lunch at Teaism in Dupont Circle. I deserved it!

March 13, 2006 10:31am

Salmon Bento box: teriyaki salmon, cucumber-ginger salad, sweet yams, rice. Yummy and nutritious!

I washed it down with a cool glass of Japanese sweet green tea and lingered awhile watching people walk by enjoying the beautiful sunny weather until I started dozing off. Uh, oh...I seriously needed to get back to bed! I'm home now but let's just hope I wake up and get to Cafe Citron in time for my show tonight. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:31am on Sunday as I type these words. Got back home a short while ago from an early morning memorial service for Ena Camargo. Ena was a dancer, teacher and a friend who passed away in 2002. If you didn't know her, here's an article from a few years ago.

View of the chapel. March 12, 2006 8:59am

Guitarist Lee Aube and I played for Ena's classes and shows over several years. In her last days, she wouldn't let us see her in her weakened condition, but we came to her house and serenaded her from the bottom of the stairs at her request. Shortly after that she passed away.

Lee Aube and Miguelito. March 12, 2006 9:00am

Of course, I was very touched that Ena sister, Alba, invited Lee and I to provide the music for the memorial service this morning, because Ena would've wanted that. It made Alba so happy that we showed up and performed music that would have put a smile on her sister's face.

Note: the above photos are a little fuzzy cuz I used my camera phone so the quality's not that great.

Afterwards, Lee and I caught up on each other's lives and enjoyed some American diner-style (i.e. artery-clogging) food for breakfast. Hey, you only live once, right? And I'll be health-minded for the rest of the week anyway.

I like Lee. He'll be the first to admit that he's not the most technically accomplished guitarist. But one thing you gotta admire is that he loves flamenco so much he's willing to drive out from Annapolis one or more times a week to DC just to play for dance classes. It's one of the highlights of his week and let's face it: it's rare that one finds what is fulfilling to their soul AND is able to satisfy this hunger on a regular basis.

Around 5:00pm, a dancer friend with a talent for computers and visual composition stopped by to design a new business card for me. I had been procastinating this little project for so long, it's not even funny. Too many times the past few months when meeting potential new clients I've been caught without a business card. Of course, we intended to squeeze in a little bit of rehearsal, but it didn't happen. Oh well.

Designing with Photoshop. March 12, 2006 8:00pm

We got so much into playing around with graphic ideas that we forgot about taking a breather for a little flamenco jam session. It's OK. Were able to brainstorm 8 rough draft designs that we'll further develop and refine in another session.

She's got one of those nifty memory sticks so that she can work on her designs on any computer with a USB drive. I gotta get one of these gadgets myself.

Memory stick and mini guitarist on my desk. March 12, 2006 8:15pm

It's 9:30pm on Sunday as I type these words. Despite only getting four hours of sleep and having to get up at 6:00am this morning, I actually feel fine. I'm pretty much over my cold, but just for safe measure I'll stay in again. Goodnight!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:16am on Sunday as I type these words. Last night I performed at a fundraiser for LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) for scholarships. Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana danced a solea and Sevillanas. Dmitry Savchenko joined her for the last copla of Sevillanas, I played a guitar solo and Dmitry and Marsha came back out to dance a ballroom rumba (with a recording) followed by a rumba flamenca accompanied by yours truly.

Dmitry Savchenko and Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana rehearsing. March 11, 2006 8:08pm

The event took place at the penthouse level of the Key Bridge Marriott where I've been invited to perform for the past four years. (pics from last year)

Una Lee, executive director of Alliance Dance Institute in Alexandria, stopped by to give us moral support and to promote the studio.

March 11, 2006 8:28pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:29pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:30pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:30pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:37pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:38pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 8:57pm (photo by Una Lee)

March 11, 2006 10:13pm

March 11, 2006 10:17pm

March 11, 2006 10:30pm

Posted by Miguelito at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 12:12pm on Sunday as I type these words. Yes, this is third blog entry in the last 20 minutes. I'm playing catch up today. I was planning to go play for Estela's dance class at 12:30pm but I don't think that's going to happen. I have a dancer friend who's good with Photoshop coming over to help design my new business card and I gotta clean up. Being so busy the past few days, I've kinda fell behind on housecleaning. Ugh!

Anyway, Friday was a great day and night. The weather was warm and there were tons of people in Georgetown Harbour, the place to see and be seen on a summer-like night. Cabanas was literally packed from the bar to the dining room to the outdoor patio. I'm short on time, so I'll just publish a few pics and get back to housecleaning. Ciao for now.

Ginette Perea. March 10, 2006 9:40pm (photo by Matt Geunther)

Shahram Tehranian. March 10, 2006 9:47pm (photo by Matt Geunther)

Juani (a gypsy related to Agujetas), Jason Vera y Aragon and Miguelito. March 10, 2006 10:39pm (photo by Matt Geunter)

Matt Geunther is a break dance teacher at Joy of Motion where Ginette recently started giving children's classes. He came out to hang out with her and support the show. Thanks Matt!

Ginette and Matt Geunther. March 10, 2006 10:44pm (photo by friend)

Posted by Miguelito at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 11:57pm on Thursday as I type these words. Got back from the Andalucia a short while ago. As expected it was a slow night. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't packed like it is whenever we have a dancer performing.

The night before I was feeling a bit of a cold coming on so I did the right thing and stayed in---I went to bed around 9:30pm and woke up at 7:00am Thursday--a full ten hours of sleep! I was feeling much better, but to play it safe I stayed in and only ventured outside to get some lunch across the street: bowl of hot soup. For my usual free dinner after playing guitar, I asked Monica to make me something good for curing a cold...

Homemade chicken soup at the Andalucia. Yum! March 9, 2006 9:01pm

It's 12:27am on Friday now. I was just briefly chatting online with one of my dancer friends who, like me, is a late night person. I know some of you out there think it's kinda geeky to chat online, but the truth is I've met a lot of people this way whom I later got to know in person. I first chatted with this one online friend in 1995 and didn't meet her in person until 2000--no it wasn't a romance, just really good friends. In other cases, I've met people at shows, on the street etc, told them about my website and got to know them a lot better via chatting online. You get the idea. In today's busy world, maintaining contact on a regular basis (even if it's electronic) still counts!

I better get some sleep now. Got a busy day today (Friday). First I have to drop off my sound system at Cabanas at 11:30am, then catch the metro to Alexandria to meetup with Marsha for a 12:30pm private lesson in ballroom and salsa, followed by a quick rehearsal, then I have a private gig at 4:00pm in downtown DC, then I have my usual gig at Cabanas at 7:30pm with Shahram and Ginette, yay! Somewhere in there I have to eat and take a breather. Whatever, why am I complaining about having a busy day doing stuff I love to do? :-)

I'm feeling fine now. The cold is pretty much gone, but I might play it safe and go straight home after my gig at Cabanas. Of course, as usually happens a friend will probably call me or show up and tempt me to go out and I'll say yes. Oh well you only live once. If I get sick again, a cold's not gonna kill me. :-) Goodnight!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I manage to make it to almost every local flamenco event, but for those times when two things are going on at the same time, fortunately I have friends who take pics when I can't make it. Last Friday, the Baltimore flamenco community hosted a Sevillanas party at Tapas Teatro in Baltimore. Tamara Sol Flys writes:

"Here are pics from the Sevillanas party in Baltimore. It was a huge success! Big crowd! We mainly danced Sevillanas (there aren't that many pics of the Sevillanas, because I was dancing the whole time, and then my battery died), but we also danced alegrias and bulerias. I think people had a great time! I know I did!"

Sevillanas line. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Kike in his corner. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Sarah and Pam in bulerias. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Claudia dancing bulerias. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Tamara and Julie por bulerias. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Tamara dancing alegrias. March 3, 2006 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

TIP from Miguelito: when flamenco parties are held at restaurants or bars, always spend some money on drinks and food (at least an appetizer). As long as they make some money, the restaurant is more likely to let us host parties and let us stay past closing time again in the future.

To keep up with the Baltimore flamenco scene, visit Tamara's website at www.tamarasolflamenco.com

Posted by Miguelito at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 8:49pm on Wednesday as I type these words. Just got back home a short while ago. I met up with dancer Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana at Alliance Dance Institute this morning to rehearse flamenco for a few hours. Got a quick bite around noon and got back to the studio by 12:30pm to take my weekly classes in ballroom and latin dance. Guess who my teacher was? Yup, it was Marsha!

We reviewed basics and underarm turns for foxtrot, waltz, rumba and cha-cha. My biggest problem is getting lost in the footwork during my partner's turns, so I'm going to focus on that in my private lesson. Oh yeah, I also learned the finer points of proper frame (upper body) for ballroom vs latin. Very cool stuff, but I'm gonna have to work on this a bit more before I get around to showing it all off. In a way, I do represent Alliance, so I better learn this stuff well! :-)

Here are some pics from the rehearsal.

Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana in the back studio of Alliance Dance Institute. March 8, 2006 11:51am

Yeah, yeah, I know these are poses but there was noone else in the studio to take pics during our practice session. They're good pics of Marsha though. Enjoy!

March 8, 2006 11:59am

When we took a short break from rehearsal, Marsha was telling about stuff she's been learning in her Bharatanatyam classes--yeah, Marsha's one of those multi-talented types I envy: she's taking advantage of the energy of her youth and learning as much as she can in several artistic disciplines.

March 8, 2006 12:00pm

The hand movements as done by females in flamenco are exactly like the ones done in Bharatanatyam and there's even a name for it--don't ask me cuz I don't remember my Sanskrit too well. :-) There are names for everything in this form of classical Indian dance from the eye gazes to the various positions of the feet. Kinda reminds me of ballet-speak except instead of flowery sounding words like battement glisse en croix avec pom fritte you get the melodic sing-song syllables of Sanskrit which I can't even begin to approximate.

For years when people asked me about origins of flamenco I simply talked about what I've read in many many books: that flamenco is heavily influenced by the Gypsies who originally came from India--of course just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's true. Usually I prefer empirical information instead of theory. But now, thanks to Marsha, I have some first-hand evidence of the Indian roots. I just gotta remember the Sanskrit words so I can come off as a scholar. :-) But hey, I do have a Bachelor's degree in music, so that counts for something!

Anyway, I've been staying out late and getting up early way too much. Still, I really should go out and practice what I've learned so far in dance class, don't you think? Tonight there's the weekly free salsa class at Citron at 10:00pm and I'm sure I'll run into some friends there making it so tempting! On the other hand, I really should catch up on sleep. Can't afford to get sick. Hmmm...I'll lay down for a like maybe half an hour and see how I feel.

Latest udpate on the Pink Flamenco roommate situation: the tango dancer decided not to move in but we got a writer staying for a week, and when he moves out a latin dancer who specializes in mamb