It's 10:30am on Wednesday as I type these words. Believe it or not, this is my second blog entry in the same day as I try to catch up.

Stopped by Alliance Dance Institute yesterday (Tuesday) to meet up with dancer Marsha Bonet for a quick rehearsal. We're doing a private gig tonight (Wednesday) in Adams-Morgan at a club that's celebrating its anniversary. We go on at about 11:00pm. Should be fun.

For our rehearsal (all 30 minutes of it) we just did a few run-throughs to get the choreographic structure down and left plenty of room for improv. Afterwards I got some lunch, caught the bus and headed towards the Van Dorn metro to get on the train towards Dupont Circle to pick up my sound equipment at Cafe Citron.

It was a little after 3:00pm, the rehearsal earlier went well and I had plenty of time to chill out before the show at Las Tapas so I was in a pretty good mood.

Saw this girl standing on the train platform who caught my eye. OK, so she happened to be beautiful, but something about her seemed familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. Kept to myself until the train arrived. Got on and grabbed a seat near her. She took the initiative, made eye contact and started up a conversation:

"I have seen you perform."

I'm used to being recognized in public places but this feeling never gets old, "Cool! Where? Cafe Citron, Las Tapas..."

Before I could finish reciting my list, she interjects, "Las Tapas! We met. I have your business card."

I pride myself on remembering names and faces, but it wasn't happening at this moment, "Forgive me, what is your name?"

"It's OK. My name is Tatiana. Where are you from?"

We continued talking until she got off at her stop. Turns out she's also a singer/guitarist, from Colombia, who occasionally performs at La Tasca in Chinatown (incidentally, another La Tasca is opening up down the street from Las Tapas) with a group called Cafe y Caribe. Got her card and promised I'd check out one of her shows sometime. Anyway, one of the cool things about being a performer is that you meet a LOT of people. You may not remember them all but at least they remember you cuz you're the center of attention on stage (at least for a short while).

Genoveva and Miguelito. June 27, 2006 8:58pm (photo by Drew)

A few hours later, I was at Las Tapas doing my usual Tuesday night show. I had the pleasure of performing with dancers Genoveva and Sarah Hart.

It's not too often that I have pics of my shows here, but Genoveva's friend Drew was kind enough to take a few during our second set.

June 27, 2006 9:08pm (photo by Drew)

Sarah Hart and Genoveva. June 27, 2006 9:18pm (photo by Drew)

Gisela, Marcelo, Drew and Genoveva. June 27, 2006 9:32pm

It's going to be a full day and night for me. Got a rehearsal from 2:30-4:00pm in Rockville, then I have to go down to Alexandria to pick up my sound system at Las Tapas and bring it to the Andalucia where I have a private gig at 9:00pm with dancer Sara Hart and then at 11:00pm I have a private gig with Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana at a club in Adams-Morgan.

Yeah I'll be tired, but I can't complain. I'm doing what I love to do!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah, I'm kinda lagging on my blogging so let's backtrack to Monday when I had just arrived to Dulles airport from a red eye flight from San Francisco.

Wasn't the most comfortable airline seat but I managed to sleep through most of da trip. We got to the car and headed towards Arlington where my brother dropped me off at the Rosslyn metro. He offered to drop me off at the Pink Flamenco (in Chevy Chase) but before going home to catch up on much-needed sleep, I decided to get one necessary chore out of the way : transferring my sound system from Cabanas to Cafe Citron.

But the problem was that even if I did stop by Cabanas at this early hour of 9:00am and picked up my system, there'd be nobody at Citron to let me in, so I had to kill some time until a typical decent hour for night club employees to arrive to work. So....where to go in Georgetown to keep myself entertained for two hours? Barnes and Noble, yes!

Still feelin' groggy from the trip, I stopped by Starbucks for a doppio to jolt my system and went to the washroom to splash cold water on my face. And I was good to go or at least good enough to browse books for a few hours. Of course, my eyes were bloodshot and I looked like I just crawled out of bed after sleeping in my clothes from the previous night. :-) Doesn't it always seem like you "randomly" run into people you'd like to impress on the days you look your worst? Oh well, I was so tired I almost didn't care anyway.

I was instinctively drawn towards the self-help section. I don't know why. In my groggy state, I suppose I needed something easy and uplifiting to read and this seemed like the place to go. I found a book titled No Opportunity Wasted : Creating a Life List and started skimming the first few pages. It had a good intro that drew me in and made me want to go on and on, but I couldn't help it, I started nodding off. I put the book back on the shelf and decided that I just needed to keep walking and get the blood pumping through my body. So I wandered the streets of Georgetown and eventually made my way to the Georgetown Harbour and came across something I had heard about but never seen before:

They have these steel walls that rise out of the ground (see pic) when the Potomac river level rises higher than usual. Of course I had been away in San Francisco most of the past weekend and hadn't been reading the papers or checking the news so I had no idea of the heavy rains and flood conditions that were happening here in DC.

It seemed like business as usual at Cabanas when I went in to pick up my sound system. The cooks were in the kitchen doing their usual food prep chores, the floor was freshly mopped and the wait staff hadn't arrived (probably late due to flood-related road closings and metro delays). But it was about to rain, again, and I was about to be caught in a downpour while walking from Georgetown to Dupont Circle with my equipment as I usually do.

Caught a cab and got to Citron around noon and found it filled with people watching the Copa Mundial on a large screen TV. Quickly parked my sound system in a corner by the bar and left to catch the metro and dive into bed and get some rest so I could have some energy to perform at Citron.

Here are the pics from that night. Enjoy!

Mariya. June 26, 2006 8:28pm (photo by Keith)

June 26, 2006 8:25pm (photo by Keith)

June 26, 2006 8:34pm (photo by Keith)

Miguelito. June 26, 2006 9:41pm (photo by Keith)

Madiha and Miguelito. June 26, 2006 10:26pm (photo by Keith)

My good friend Madiha stopped by after such a long time. It was good to see her as always and as usual she brought a long a couple of friends who were newbies to flamenco night here at Citron.

Miguelito and Helene (from Norway) June 26, 2006 10:50pm (photo by Keith)

Started to feel sleepy again, so I called it an early night and left around 11:00pm and was in bed a little before midnight. Give me a couple of days and I'll be good to go again. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For my flamenco friends: I don't want to bore you with family pics, so I'm focusing mostly on the touristy pics from my weekend in San Francisco. Just so you know why I was ignoring all your phone calls and emails this past weekend. :-)

I arrived at the airport on Saturday at around 5:45pm and made it to my Dad's birthday (his 70th) in nearby Belmont a little before 7:00pm, a few minutes late. Oh well. It was good to see some of my relatives for the first time in quite a while. It was also good to be in California, my home state. It's so beautiful out here.

Ate lots of filipino food, hung out with relatives in my huge family, met quite a few that I didn't know or haven't seen in a long long time. Made it back to the hotel a little after midnight (3:00am DC time).

The next day, we did the tourist thang. Although I had been to San Francisco many times as a child, it felt like my first time. Anywayz, got lots of email to catch up on and phone calls to return, so I'll keep the commentary minimal and let the pics speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Soon we'll be in San Francisco! June 25, 2006 10:20am

In San Francisco: view of the Oakland Bay Bridge. June 25, 2006 10:46am

Street in Chinatown. June 25, 2006 10:59am

First of many dim sum dishes shared among 8 people. June 25, 2006 11:19am

My cousin Belen sneaking in my food pic. :-) June 25, 2006 11:25am

The bill: 28 dim sum plates for only $87! June 25, 2006 12:12pm

Dad and I. June 25, 2006 12:28pm (photo by Belen)

Belen with the Transamerica pyramid building in the background. June 25, 2006 12:32pm

So many filipinos in SF that the signs are in tagalog too! June 25, 2006 12:36pm

View on Fisherman's Warf. June 25, 2006 1:25pm

Kyra, Belen and Lilian. June 25, 2006 1:41pm

Love strawberries so couldn't resist this shot at the fruit stand. June 25, 2006 2:08pm

Mandatory activity at the Warf: enjoying the freshest crab cocktail with a cold beer. Mmmmm! June 25, 2006 2:32pm

My guidebook. June 25, 2006 2:37pm

I can eat one row's worth of these, seriously! June 25, 2006 3:29pm

Later we went to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory and got some hot fudge sundaes. June 25, 2006 4:52pm

Guitarist John Clarke playin' rumba flamenca for the crowd. June 25, 2006 5:01pm

In front of the tourist attraction Lombard street, the crookedest road in the world. June 25, 2006 5:41pm (photo by Belen)

View of the Bay from Lombard street. June 25, 2006 5:47pm

Golden Gate Bridge from the San Francisco side. June 25, 2006 6:07pm

On da bridge. June 25, 2006 6:09pm

From the Sausalito side. June 25, 2006 6:14pm

June 25, 2006 6:15pm (photo by Belen)

Kyra. June 25, 2006 6:17pm

View from my window just after waking up. June 26, 2006 5:59am

June 26, 2006 6:18am

Thirty minutes to go before landing at Dulles. June 26, 2006 6:55am

P.S. Thanks to guitarist Kike and dancers Pam de Ocampo and Claudia (de Baltimore) for putting on a great show at Tapeo this past Saturday!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Safoura Safavi, María Roncal, Johan Moberg and Miguelito. June 23, 2006 10:43pm

It's 9:43am on Saturday as I type these words. The bus for Dulles leaves at 10:44 and I'm still at home, yikes! But I gotta do some blogging before I leave for the weekend.

My Dad's celebrating his birthday with a two-night party. The first night was in Los Angeles, but I couldn't make it. The second night (tonight) will be in San Francisco where I'll be arriving around 5:00pm California time. Anyway, I'm pretty excited cuz it's the first time I'll be in on the West Coast since 1996 not to mention the fact that my Dad is turning 70!

So last night after my gig at Cabanas (dancers were Shahram Tehranian and Sarah Hart), I headed over to Karma Lounge at 19th and I St to hear my friend Safoura's band perform. It was Persian pop music so I couldn't understand the lyrics but the band was really tight and their performance was very energetic. Safoura has a very engaging stage presence that makes the audience feel at ease, as if it was a private party.

She came to Citron almost exactly a year ago to check out my show. Apparently she knew of me through my website. Turns out she studied flamenco guitar and singing in Sevilla through the Cristina Hereen Flamenco Foundation. The least I could do is return the favor and check out her band Abjeez and I'm glad I did. You know me. I like performers that connect with an audience.

Pictured above is me with Safoura, local dancer María Roncal and flamenco guitarist Johan Moberg. We took several pics but Johan kept closing his eyes. Great guitarist but sorry Johan I don't think modelling is in your future. :-)

Abjeez. June 23, 2006 10:56pm

OK, I better go so I don't miss my bus. I'll be back in DC on Monday morning. Ciao!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 9:19am as I type these words. I started the day yesterday (Thursday) meeting up with some flamencos to discuss details for an upcoming gig. It was at a coffee shop just down the street from my house, so of course I waited until the last minute to leave the house. :-) Being the first to arrive, I got my usual drink, a doppio, grabbed a CityPaper, sat down and read News of the Wierd--my favorite section.

It's not too often that I have meetings since most of what I do is tablao gigs and a few private gigs here and there. So I actually had to bring a notepad and pen and take notes. Normally, I'd use my Palm Pilot but it croaked on me a couple of weeks ago--actually I dropped it on the ground one night on my way home from a gig when I dozed off waiting for the last metro of the night and my hand relaxed and it fell. When I picked it up the screen was still intact but it only displayed colorfully psychedelic lines of gibberish. Oh well. On the upside, now I have an excuse to buy a more current model, preferably one with built-in WIFI. Yes! :-) On the downside, since I'm already saving up for my trips this summer by staying in a few nights a week, gulp, I gotta do more of the same. It's OK. It's worth it.

Well, at least one of my roommates who happens to be a serious mambo dancer is going to start taking flamenco classes, so soon I'll have someone to jam with at home. We'll see how that goes.

Fast forward a few hours, it's 7:00pm and I'm at home getting dressed and cleaning myself up when I get a call from the Andalucía telling me that the show is cancelled for tonight. Of course I was disappointed since flamenco is my drug of choice and I needed my daily fix. :-) But on the other hand, I had a couple of social visits to squeeze into one evening afterwards and now my schedule was freed up, yay!

First stop, a friend and I grabbed a quick bite at Tabaq Bistro on U St. At the hotel, beforehand, we were looking through tourist guides to find something new and interesting to check out and came across a pic of a dining area with a skyline view--without reading a review I decided on that place based on the pic alone and it was great pic! I was sort of in a rush anyway, since it was close to 9:00pm already and I was supposed to meet another friend at 10:00pm so time was pretty tight. My friend was very understanding of my schedule, yay!

It was worth it. But to make sure I didn't check the clock on my phone every 5 minutes, I put a vibrating alarm on to remind me like 15 minutes before 10. So I was able to chill out, catch up with my friend and enjoy the beautfiul view.

They had some electronica type dance music (sorta trance, techno, house) playing pretty loud, so it felt clubby but we could still comfortably converse. The service was OK. Took forever to get our drinks and we had like three different servers so we kinda lost track of who was who. The cuisine was Turkish and the menu featured Middle Eastern type "tapas" and some entrees. We opted for the tapas-type dishes and got the scallops, octopus, calf liver, hummus and a couple of other dishes that I can't remember or pronounce. :-) Overall, it was light and good, but not great. Again, just like my Lauriol Plaza experience a few days ago, I'd come back here for the ambience, but the food is just OK.

Of course being that this is an open-air rooftop terrace we could definitely feel the humidity but since we were just sitting down enjoying some cool drinks I had little more than a very thin film of sweat, thank God. But the skyline view was pretty awesome. As you can see in the pic, the sky was a beautifully dark shade of blue. You could even see a postcard perfect view of the Washington monument and the Capitol dome.

I limited myself to just one Stella Artois though, since I was meeting up with another friend for drinks a short while later...

My other friend called me at 9:45pm to confirm that I was on my way and I said we were just getting dessert. I was just getting into the background into music and the conversation again and lost track of time despite my alarm going off a minute later. Oh well. We paid the check, made our way down three flights of stairs to street level and caught a cab back to Dupont Circle. I knew I was running late, but I didn't even dare look at my phone clock.

Said goodbye and started walking, briskly, to my other friend's place a few blocks away. Got there and dialed the code at the security gate. This was my first time here so of course in my frazzled state I unknowingly dialed the wrong apartment and got no answer and at first thought, "Oh $#!%, she probably got tired of waiting and took off."

So I tried calling her cellphone and she picked up after two rings. "Where are you?" she asked in a calm voice. I was expecting her to be annoyed. I was supposed to be here 10:00pm-ish and my phone clock displayed 10:38pm--late but not fashionably late. :-(

"At your front door."

"OK, I'll be right out.

Anyway, my friend recently moved out of a college student dormitory and into her first DC apartment. And since my nighttime schedule is pretty tight she accomodated me and invited at a late hour for drinks in her new place--a sort of private housewarming party, nice!

June 22, 2006 11:31pm

"Red wine, white wine, or orange juice with vodka?"

"Anything cold please. Orange juice with vodka is perfect." I was a bit sweaty from the walk to her apartment and was in need of something to cool off.

So she gave me the grand tour and I was impressed. I can tell she was pretty proud of it since she decorated herself with all brand new furniture. I wouldn't mind having a place like this and the location is perfect. It's walking distance from the nightlife in Dupont Circle and Adams-Morgan.

We sat on the couch and caught up with each other. An hour or so later, I was cooled down and my sweat was gone. When she got up to get me another drink, I took this pic (see above) which gives you an idea of the expanse of this Dupont Circle apartment. She could easily host a large party here though with all this beautiful white carpet I'd advise against serving red wine.

I was just starting to get comfortable and was even contemplating hanging out a little longer and catching a cab home. But she had an early appointment tomorrow (7:00am) and the metro was closing pretty soon anyway, so reluctantly I got up, took one last pic (see below) and said goodbye. It was just staring to rain and metro was four or five blocks away so I ran the whole way and got all sweaty again. Oh well. It was worth it.

June 22, 2006 11:59pm

P.S. my musician friend Safoura is performing tonight at Karma at 19th and I NW DC. I met her last year at Citron. Anyway her group Abjeez is going on at 10:30pm and I'm going to try to make it assuming I can leave Cabanas in time. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carlton, Micaela Moreno and Miguelito. June 21, 2006 9:09pm

It's 10:52am on Thursday as I type these words. I have a flamenco-related meeting at 11:30am down the street from my house so I'll make this a quickie...

Last night I performed with dancer Micaela Moreno and singer Carlton Ashton. It was one of those wine tasting types of affairs where we were the entertainment, you know, to make things a little more lively. I guess the idea here was to attract a younger more hip clientele--I mean how exciting can a wine tasting be without a little something to kick it up a notch? :-)

The event took place at Gardel's Supper Club--named after the famous Argentine tango singer (wiki). We were on the third floor of this elegant historic building (formerly a museum) near the Little Italy section of Baltimore.

Not sure about all the party details, since we were just the "hired help." All I know is that our show was supposed to be a surprise so when Carlton and I arrived and asked the event organizer if we could check out the sound and stage situation, it turned out we were both dressed in black--standard flamenco attire. :-) Since we looked like sound technicians (well-dressed ones at least) it was OK for us to wander into to the party room amongst the guests and check out the performance space.

The performance space. June 21, 2006 9:14pm

They just had a DJ booth with one microphone and a wood laminate dance floor that wasn't hollow underneath. Ugh. Oh well. Divas bitch, but professionals make the best of the situation with what's available, right? So of course, I brought in my sound system and quickly and discreetly set it up and went "backstage" to warm-up and discuss the program.

It's been a long time since I last performed with Micaela, but I had worked with her hundreds of times literally since 1995 so I had her choreographies filed away in my mind--just had to dust them off and mentally review them. We only had time to talk through the program and just go on and perform, which we did.

Since we were the surprise entertainment, we didn't announce ourselves. Just went out there sat down on the "stage" and started the show....

This room is large so I wasn't sure if we'd "connect" with the audience since they were seated a good twenty to thirty feet away (flamenco is at its best in an intimate setting.). So I cranked up the volume and got the "party" started with Sevillanas. Micaela and Carlton got up and danced four coplas. When they posed at the end of each copla the conversations faded and the applause and cheers got louder and stronger. Turns out that I had the gain on my microphone turned up so it picked up the sound of the footwork--thank God!

Mica danced a Guajiras for her solo and frankly I wasn't expecting to be impressed considering that she hasn't performed in more than a year. But her technique was on. Footwork was strong and her llamadas were clear. Apparently all that performing experience over the years paid off! And the audience was really digging our show. So we fed off of that energy.

Next up was a totally improvised canción por bulerías that Carlton and I jammed on backstage while we were warming up. We just decided, "Hey that sounds good, let's do it," and so we did it! TIP: unless the client is asking for a specific length of time in a performance, it's better to give less and leave them wanting more. So I reminded Carlton to take the lead here and be decisive about when to end. There's nothing more draining than a song that doesn't climax or come to an end. So he decided he'd do three letras and a short but exciting salida.

I didn't know if the audience would respond to a cante solo, but they did. Turns out the client is from Bilbao (in the Basque country) who represents wineries in Spain. He and his Spanish colleagues were impressed that we did include some cante and they especially enjoyed the letras that Carlton chose to sing because they could understand every word. Nice!

Overall, everyone was happy. Us performers felt more and more comfortable as the show progressed and afterwards, the guests and event organizer paid us compliments. Compared to the other live entertainment they've used for past wine tasting events, we really did kick things up a notch. Our contact person used the word "mesmerized" in describing the reacton of her guests to our show.

I packed up my sound system while Micaela and Carlton changed. Schmoozed with the winery folks and got to sample some of the merch. Sometimes at these types of gigs, the reps slip us a few free bottles, but not this time. Oh well. Feeling in a festive mood, we continued our party on the second level where there was a filmmakers party in progress. We just crashed it. Hehe.

Al, Micaela and Carlton at the bar on the second floor. June 21, 2006 10:10pm

It was Wednesday. Not exactly a party night. But there was a party vibe going. It's just that this room is huge: I felt like I was at Love (formerly Dream--the mega dance club in DC), that's how large it was. So as you can imagine for a Wednesday night in Baltimore, it was quite a challenge to fill this place and make it feel like a party. Oh well. After one round of drinks (courtesy of Al), we decided to find a place to get some dinner.

Miguelito and Micaela in front of Gardel's. June 21, 2006 10:19pm

Carlton had to leave cuz he had to wake up early the next morning for work. So I joined Mica and Al in their quest for a late night meal. There was a courtyard across the street with lots of outdoor bars and rock music blaring so we thought we'd give that a try. No luck. Door to door we discovered that the alcohol was flowing but the kitchens were all closed. Ugh.

Courtyard across the street. June 21, 2006 10:36pm

We asked some taxi driver for late night dinner suggestions and he recommended Little Italy which was just a few blocks away. Turned out to be a really good tip, cuz we were seriously starving and McDonald's just wouldn't have hit the spot. We found a cluster of Italian eateries and ended up at a place called Sabatino's and an hour or so later we walked out more than satisified--their portions are huge! We were spent so it was time to call it a night. Made it back to DC by 1:00am-ish and said our goodbyes. Yet another fun flamenco-filled night. Life is good. :-)

Posted by Miguelito at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Julia, Vanessa and Jenni. June 16, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina)

Karina writes:
I just wanted to share two photos with you of our flamenco show in Fairfax. My class, with Estela at the Center for Ballet Arts in Fairfax, was part of the studio's annual dance showcase featuring the students in the ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and yes even flamenco classes.

Karina, Melissa, Rosita, Aref, Julia, Vanessa, and Jenni. June 16, 2006 (photo courtesy of Karina)

We danced to sevillanas and tangos to the live accompaniment of Aref on the guitar, Estela on cajon, and Sylvia on the castanets. The show went very well and we got a good deal of applause after our number, I mean come on--one flamenco after numerous ballet numbers--which do you think will stand out? ;)

Also, Jenny, whom you know performed flamenco for her first time =)

Tonight (Wednesday), Furia Flamenca will be performing at the Clarendon Ballroom. Details. For more information about Furia Flamenca, visit their website.

Posted by Miguelito at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's 9:29am on Wednesday as I type these words. Yesterday (Tuesday) I started off my day having lunch with a dancer friend near Dupont Circle. Like me she has her daytime hours free--umm...at least until she starts her next dayjob.

So I picked a place I had never been to before but had passed by countless times over the years: Lauriol Plaza. Yeah, I thought of getting a flamenco gig here years ago, since they do have some Spanish dishes--they even have a painting of the Feria de Sevilla on the menu! Anyway, it's kind of like Jaleo in the sense that business is so good that they don't need a flamenco show to attract more customers not to mention the fact that there's no place for a stage where everyone could see.

Years later, I was still curious about why this place is so popular. Got there early and ended up waiting for a little while for my friend to meet up with me. It's about a 20-minute walk from her place but she got the cross streets confused. I had a few minutes to scope out the place and decide which floor to get a table: the arctic cold interior dining room, the shaded rooftop deck or sidewalk seating.

We chose to be seated in the sidewalk area--I figure we can sit in an air-conditioned room any other time of the year, but summer is the time to be outside. Turned out to be a excellent decision despite the hot hot day. With the fresh air, large ocean blue parasols to shade us, the intermittent breeze and ice cold Tecate, we were very very comfortable. With such ambience, I didn't really care that much if the food was up to par or not. I would've been happy enough to just spend a slow afternoon sipping cold beer, watching people go by and enjoying some conversation with my friend. She got the Fiesta Salad (greens topped with fajita beef) and I got the Mariscos Saltado (sauteed shrimp and scallops). The food was OK--nothing I'd go out of my way to recommend, but I'd come back here for the ambience. My friend asked our waiter if they had horchata. They didn't have it but my friend pressed our Nicaraguan server for a suggestion of a place nearby that did have it. He recommended a latino market a few blocks away where we could buy it in a can. Ugh. Not good enough.

Anyway, we lingered awhile at our table enjoying our mellowed-out mental and physical state. I knew of a place in Adams-Morgan that had horchata (the Mexican version). In our siesta-mood, it was difficult to will ourselves up and out of our seats, but we did it eventually and left the restaurant and slowly made our way up 18th street in our quest for that cool refreshing Mexican drink.

Adams-Morgan is quite different during the day. At night, it's loud, boisterous and teeming with life--I love it! But by comparison, the daytime version is so dead. Didn't matter though. We were just passin' through and taking our time making our way up to Columbia Road. It was hot but we walked at a slow enough pace that we barely broke a sweat. Still we couldn't resist taking a little siesta on the shaded bench in front of the club Madams-Organ.

View from Madams-Organ. June 20, 2006 3:10pm

The horchata place, Mixtec, was just around the corner and neither one of us was in any hurry--my gig at Las Tapas wasn't for another four hours. So I leaned my gig bag on da railing and propped my feet up. We reverted back to people-watching mode for a bit before getting up again, reluctantly.

Horchata not from a can. June 20, 2006 3:24pm

Gabi was still there at Mixtec. She used to be a waitress at Rincon Español years ago when I had a flamenco gig there, but now she was the manager here. My friend insisted on horchata that didn't come from a can--my personal preference too. So I asked Gabi, "de lata o fresca?" (from the can or fresh?).

She didn't give a verbal answer, just a laugh, a forced smile and she quickly turned away to get our drinks. I felt at home because I'd eaten here numerous times whenever I had that homesick craving for authentic Mexican food or at least what I'm accustomed to growing up in Southern California. I peered into the food prep area long enough to catch Gabi pouring our drinks from a clear plastic dispenser--you know, the kind with a propeller-like device inside that keeps the drink constantly stirred. Judging by the condensation on the walls of the dispenser, I knew our drinks would be cold, yay! For all I know, the horchata could've been made from powdered mix this morning. Oh well, I was just happy enough that it wasn't coming from a can. Business was slow, so we didn't feel like we were taking away business sitting at a table just to enjoy our drinks. Besides, the air-conditioning felt nice after our little journey.

Fast forward a few hours later, I found myself at Las Tapas performing with Edwin Aparicio and DC's newest dancer Genoveva. We had three long tables of friends (with at least 10 people at each table) plus I had one of my former guitar students and his family in attendance. Needless to say, with all that moral support, both dancers pulled-out all the stops and went all out in putting one of the best tablao performances I've seen in awhile.

Genoveva dancing at Las Tapas. June 20, 2006 9:04pm (photo by Rachel)

As always, it was very inspiring to accompany Genoveva--just when I think she's reached the climax of the dance, she still kicks it up another notch. This girl has so much energy, it's unbelievable! And I think the already speedy Edwin even cranked-up the tempo a bit more than usual for his solo that I needed the help of Genoveva's expert palmas to catch up and find the groove again. Of course, there was thunderous extended applause for both dancers (and me too!) after their individual solos. They were both hot, in every sense of the word. Before the second set, I noticed Edwin verifying that the heat vents above the stage were in fact closed off--even the guitarist, yours truly, was drenched in sweat just siting there playing guitar.

Afterwards, I took a few moments to greet as many friends as I could before rushing off to Dupont Circle to meet another friend, Sarah Bird. She's the author of The Flamenco Academy. Sarah was in DC as part of her publisher's national tour to promote her latest novel.

Author Sarah Bird and Miguelito. June 20, 2006 11:39pm (photo by Lynda)

I was hoping to setup a brief flamenco demonstration to precede her reading at Olsson's Books near Jaleo DC, but it was at 7:00pm and there was no way I could do that and make it back to Las Tapas in time for my show. Oh well.

We met up at a restaurant in Dupont after my gig, sometime after 10:00pm. She greeted me with a friendly hug as if we've known each other for years--interestingly this was our first meeting in person. But we had quickly developed a friendship via email the past month or so as I gave Sarah my expert feedback on flamenco-authenticity details in her novel.

It's fictional of course, but as you might expect, her novel draws upon her real-life experiences. My own story of how I got involved in flamenco is similar to the main character's in The Flamenco Academy. In the novel, a seventeen-year-old girl named Rae ends up falling instantly in love with a flamenco guitarist Tomas Montenegro and studies flamenco at the University of New Mexico over several years to become the one that he would fall in love with. The scene of the big flamenco audition where a major turning point in the story takes place contains some of the most poetic descriptions of the artistic interaction between a flamenco guitarist and a dancer.

My own story is that I fell in love (well ok, I was 24 at the time so maybe it was lust) with a hot girl named Elizabeth whom I met in college and happened to play flamenco as a hobby. Anyway, I had a passing interest in flamenco but learned to play this style with the intention of spending more time with her. Like the character Rae, I ended up discovering that I also developed a love for flamenco.

A lot of the reviews for the book reveal too much of the plot already, so I recommend taking my word for it, and just buy the book already. Besides, it's not too often that you'll read a story about the American flamenco scene and chances are you'll recognize some characters that are comparable to the real-life versions in your own local flamenco scene.

Listenin' to Sarah's interview on the Internet. June 21, 2006 1:19am

When I got home just before 1:00am I got on the Internet as usual and searched for the recent radio interview with Sarah and found it here (in mp3 format). Check it out.

Posted by Miguelito at 2:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oliver, Jennifer and Ronaldo. June 19, 2006 9:46pm

It's 12:01pm on Tuesday as I type these words. Meeting a friend for lunch at 1:00pm (yay!) so I gotta go. No commentary today. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Welcome to Jennifer, our new friend and first-timer at Cafe Citron and, incidentally, a very talented belly dancer from Florida.

Karina and Mariya in Sevillanas. June 19, 2006 9:55pm (photo by Audra)

Mariya in alegrías. June 19, 2006 10:07pm (photo by Audra)

June 19, 2006 10:10pm (photo by Audra)

Jennifer doing her belly dance moves to tangos. June 19, 2006 10:14pm (photo by Audra)

June 19, 2006 10:16pm (photo by Audra)

Mariya finishing off tangos and ending the second set. June 19, 2006 10:19pm (photo by Audra)

Angelica and Miguelito. 19, 2006 10:29pm (photo by Audra)

Arthur and Audra. June 19, 2006 10:29pm

Karina and Miguelito. June 19, 2006 10:39pm

Mariya and Jason dancing Sevillanas. June 19, 2006 10:44pm

Jennifer and Oliver. June 19, 2006 10:45pm

Dancin' to Shakira's Hips don't lie. June 19, 2006 11:06pm

Palmas by Mariya, Gerard, Keith and Jason. June 19, 2006 11:06pm

June 19, 2006 11:06pm

Mariya and Miguelito doing salsa. June 19, 2006 11:10pm (photo by Karina)

June 19, 2006 11:10pm (photo by Karina)

Angelica and Miguelito doing merengue. June 20, 2006 12:20am (photo by Jason)

Posted by Miguelito at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's 2:57am on Monday as I type these words. With all the daytime naps I've been taking the past week or so, I've fallen back into a wierd sleep schedule. Not complaining though--I'm just glad I don't have any early morning appointments this week so far. So if I end up sleeping in late or waking up especially early it's no big deal.

I spent Sunday evening at my parents' house to celebrate fathers' day and basically exceeded my weekly quota for protein and saturated fats with ribs and bratwurst. Good stuff. You all know how much I love to eat and it was worth it. But I'm sure my nutritionist friends would probably tell me to go vegetarian for a few days--I've done this before.

Arrived home late and spent some time adding more friends to myspace. I'm up to 235 friends so far, yay! But I'm not adding just any random friend. I specifically look for people who mention an interest in flamenco in their profile. Besides the obvious social networking benefits, it's good for business cuz I also publish my flamenco gig schedule and occasional blog entries with pics. If you don't know what myspace is, don't worry about it. If you do know, then I'll leave it up to you to search for my profile on your own. Good luck! :-)

Anyway, on to the gifts...the first is a t-shirt from a relatively new and sweet dancer friend who recently attended the Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque. Love it! First of all it's black--anyone who knows me knows that I like to wear black a lot, not to mention the obvious flamenco theme. This one is a collector's time being that it commemorates the 20th anniversary celebration. Should I wear it or frame it? Come to think of it, I should've made a t-shirt to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my website. Still got time to do it though. But I gotta come up with a cool design. We'll see.

As a gift to myself (I'm allowed to do that!), I bought a new gig bag for my guitar. My old case was about to fall apart anyway and I needed something light but sturdy. Considering that I walk a LOT with my instrument hanging on my shoulder, this lightweight gig bag makes more sense from a chiropractic perspective. Plus it comes with a good quality comfortable shoulder strap and best of all, it's black, yay! :-) Of course I just had to accessorize it with a gift from another dancer friend: a personalized key fob which she brought back on her trip to Spain last year.

The last gift is from Mother Nature: perfect weather on Friday night. Warm but not too humid. Tons of people out and about. Did my show at Cabanas as usual (the dancers were Shahram and Sarah Hart) and afterwards my friends and I walked over to Paolo's for some excellent pasta. As much as I love their food, it's Italian which means it can get expensive for someone like me who's trying to save up cash. I opted for the cheapest item on the menu: a simple but delicious plate of spaghetti with tomato, garlic and fresh basil for only $10.50.

We lingered at our table for a short while before deciding to wander around Georgetown past midnight--it was definitely a night to walk the streets. We ended up stopping by Häagen Daz for dessert. As for myself, I got dulce de leche in a waffle cone, yum! Not wanting the evening to end yet, we went back to the waterfront and got some drinks and hung out at the outdoor bar until last call, reluctantly calling it a night.

Haven't been going out that much the past few weeks. Excuse: I'm saving money for a couple of trips this summer. This weekend I'm going to San Francisco for my dad's 70th birthday. Day one of the party is on Friday in Los Angeles (which I won't be able to attend) but I'll definitely be there for part two in San Francisco on Saturday. Then I'll do the tourist thing on Sunday and take lots of pics, I promise. If you have any fun ideas, let me know.

Posted by Miguelito at 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shahram. June 17, 2006 9:01pm (photo by Esin)

Still in a lazy mood--so just minimal commentary. In a way, it's actually better that way. In this hot weather, it's better to take things slow, don't you think? :-)

Last night was pretty slow in the beginning--just too damn hot. Even our regulars who've been coming to Tapeo every single week, until now, didn't even show up. Oh well, we pushed the showtime a little later hoping that the outside patio would fill up so we'd have a decent size audience. Eventually it did.

Our friends, the Ayhan family, came in time for the first show, yay! Although I knew they probably preferred the more comfortable air-conditioned interior dining room on this hot night, they still requested an outdoor table near the stage--anything for flamenco! :-) Besides, they ordered some cool drinks and I joined them after picking up a tall mojito from the bar--just what I needed to freshen up.

My dancers for this evening were Sarah Hart and Shahram Tehranian. For the first set Sarah did her tientos and Shahram, his Garrotín. Our audience grew little by little as the show progressed.

Sarah. June 17, 2006 9:12pm (photo by Esin)

For those of you who haven't been to Tapeo, it's located in a courtyard next to a major shopping mall. Our stage is at the outdoor patio in front of the restaurant so pretty much everyone in the courtyard can see the dancing and hear the music (I really crank up the volume). All kinds of people, from the cute little kids who grab with their tiny little hands the metal barrier next to the stage and watch in amazement (yes! we're planting the seed of flamenco in their young minds) to the older folks who regale us later with their nostalgic accounts of their Spanish experience and everyone else in between.

Miguelito. June 17, 2006 9:17pm (photo by Esin)

Some stay for the whole show, while others watch for a few minutes and move on. Some pull out their digicam and take a few pics and some even take videos. Yeah it's definitely something unique here. Well, the shopping mall corporation sponsors a summer concert series here and I'm sure it's very entertaining, but c'mon, flamenco is something that you don't see everyday (unless of course, you're me, hehe).

Bedriye joining us onstage for Sevillanas. June 17, 2006 9:18pm (photo by Esin)

For the second set, Shahram did a soleá por bulerías and Sarah danced soleá, the strongest palo in her repertoire. She's obviously very talented and I'm enjoying watching her grow as a performer. You learn all kinds of stuff onstage that you can only learn from experience--mainly how to deal with unexpected technical problems and make it look like everything's under control. Not that there were any major problems. Just the heat--even I was sweating and all I do during the show is sit there and play guitar--yeah it's work but it's not enough to break a sweat.

Not to get too philosophical here, but even though I perform nearly every night, I still give each and every performance all I've got. Perhaps as I try to get into the "groove" so to speak with the dancer, sometimes I reach a point where I'm feeling what they're feeling everything from the bodily thud of each golpe to the sweat dripping down the forehead into the eyes--yeah it stings, I know. You might blink once or twice for relief but you keep on dancing. And even though I'm just sitting there playing guitar, I'm working up quite a sweat too!

Esin, Ayhan and Bedriye. June 17, 2006 10:01pm

This is going sound kind of funny, but it's like riding in the front passenger seat of a car with a friend who drives like a maniac. When said friend comes to a red light at an intersection, she waits until the last second to apply the brakes. But the car keeps on drifting forward and you think you're going to crash into the guy in front and you, the passenger, nervously apply pressure on the floor as if you have an imaginary brake on your side of the car. Logically you know It doesn't make a difference but you do it anyway. The point is that you visualize yourself in your friend's position on the driver side and you do this so intensely (is that word?) to the point where you feel as if you're actually doing the driving. That's me with dancers except I'm not nervous. More like ecstatic. When I'm able to concentrate and I'm playing well, I'm inside their heads and I'm mentally dancing on that stage and they're losing themselves in my music. We become one. It's a pretty cool feeling that I can't get enough of.

Posted by Miguelito at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night I performed at Cafe Bonaparte with guitarist/percussionist Behzad Habibzai and singer Carlton Ashton. It was a ton of fun thanks to the attendance of a LOT of our flamenco friends. Pictured below is local teacher Gloria Monge with students and friends. From the left: Juliana, Elena, Gloria, Christina, Ayhan, Bedriye, Monica and Miguelito. I think the last time I saw all these people at one time was at El Manantial last August (here are the pics).

June 14, 2006 11:21pm (photo by ?)

Normally, they'd be in Reston taking Gloria's class on a Wednesday night, but the semester just ended and they happened to be free this particular evening. Ayhan suggested they go to Bonaparte and little by little they trickled in eventually taking up the tables nearest our little stage by the window. To end the show we had practically everyone dancing Sevillanas--probably the most dancers we've had here ever!

We also had a contingent of flamenco friends that I see more often including Jennifer, Anna Menendez, Edwin Aparicio, Roxana Vera y Aragon and her brother Jason.

Unfortunately, as the energy picks up later in the evening, Bonaparte closes up at 11:00pm mostly because there are people that live and sleep at a "decent" hour just above the cafe. So we all stood around discussing possibilities to continue the party afterwards but couldn't agree on a place and eventually just dispersed and went our separate ways. Oh well. If you have some ideas for late night places to hang out on Wednesdays let me know. Ciao!

Update (June 16, 2006): Ayhan just sent me a few nice pics...check 'em out:

Sherry, Christina, Monica and Juliana. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Behzad Habibzai, Carlton Ashton and Miguelito. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Ayhan, Gloria, Elena, Bedriye and Kathy. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Gloria danced a few letras of tangos. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Bedriye and Kathy. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Jason and Gloria. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Miguelito, Christina, Kathy and Ayhan. June 14, 2006 (photo courtesy of Ayhan)

Thanks to Ayhan as usual for the pics!

For those of you who have never been to the flamenco night at Cafe Bonaparte, the format is typically two sets of rumba guitar duets by Behzad and Miguelito (or flamenco solos if just one guitarist) and the last set is with singer Carlton Ashton doing such palos as bulerías, tangos, alegrías, soleá and soleá por bulerías. The place is very tiny, but don't be too surprised if one of our flamenco friends gets inspired to dance a few compases of bulerías. If we recognize a group of dance students in the audience, we almost always play some Sevillanas. Shows every other Wednesday. For more info, visit the Cafe Bonaparte website or call 202-333-8830.

Posted by Miguelito at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Debra Belo dancin' Sevillanas. June 12, 2006 9:40pm (photo by Ric)

Yeah, I've been slacking a bit on the blogging, I know. Least I could do is post a few random pics from Monday at Cafe Citron. I guess the beautiful weather been distracting me not to mention the ton of updates I've been making to my flamenco events page especially the registration page for La Truco workshop coming up in late July.

Obviously I can handle HTML like a pro, but when it came down to the Javascript (the computer code behind the online registration form for Truco's page), that was a LOT of work. Now, I know Javascript isn't programming, but like programming it still does require paying attention to tiny but important details like closing parenthesis and using the proper quotation marks.

Not complaining (that much) since I do get paid to do work like this so it's all good. And besides, it's for the love of flamenco.

Anyway, enjoy the pics. The dancer who was kind enough to fill-in at the last-minute was Debra Belo, a very energetic performer. It's been a while since she last danced here at Citron, but now I remember why her stage name is La Furia. She really puts a lot of energy into her dancing and the audience picked up on it. Thanks Debra!

Debra and the crowd getting in the mood for tangos. June 12, 2006 9:50pm (photo by Ric)

Miguelito and Gerard. June 12, 2006 9:53pm (photo by Ric)

Gerard hit a especially good note and I looked up to take notice. :-) June 12, 2006 9:53pm (photo by Ric)

June 12, 2006 9:53pm (photo by Ric)

June 12, 2006 9:58pm (photo by Ric)

June 12, 2006 9:59pm (photo by Ric)

June 12, 2006 9:59pm (photo by Ric)

Debra enjoying well-deserved applause. June 12, 2006 10:00pm (photo by Ric)

Posted by Miguelito at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In case you've been living under a rock and never heard of this festival until now, here's the ten-second version of the press release:
This year, The National Institute of Flamenco is proud to celebrate two decades of quality flamenco presentations and education! Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque - the oldest flamenco festival in the Western Hemisphere - will present ten world-class performances with over 50 artists. 32 workshops will be offered in dance, guitar, percussion, cante, and history. The Festival will also present V Concurso Nacional de Flamenco - the National Flamenco competition. All flamenco dancers, guitarists, and singers are invited to compete in this exciting gala! 1st prize is a cash award of $700.

Having said that, I still can't say that I've attended this festival yet. Oh well. But thanks to my fellow DC flamencos such as Cynthia Jacobs, we can take a little peek into what it's like on a typical day. Enjoy!

Cynthia Jacobs in front of the Carlisle Gym where all the action happens. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Aida. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Aida strikes a pose. :-) June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

At the flamenco shop. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Special thanks to Eva Encinias-Sandoval for permission to publish these photos from the workshops.

At the braceo workshop instructed by Marisol Encinias. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Waiting in-between workshops. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Checking the class schedule. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Bulerias/Tango workshop with Joaquin Encinias. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Workshop accompanist Ricardo Anglada on guitar. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Mariya practicing in the North Arena. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Mariya practicing in the North Arena. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Waiting for the Antonio Canales performance at the Rodey Theater. Unfortunately, Mr. Canales was unable to perform because he was stuck in Spain (immigration/visa issue). However, his company put on a spectacular show.

Keith and Mariya in the theater lobby. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Cynthia in front of the theater. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Future flamenco dancer spotted in the lobby. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Her name is Olivia. June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 10, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Here's an article that underscores the hard work and dedication the organizers put into this world-class flamenco festival.

For more information, visit the Festival Flamenco website.

P.S. As someone who writes pretty much everyday, I'm always curious about language and especially about etymology. Anyway, I read up the origins of the word Albuquerque and one theory is that it comes from the latin roots albu meaning 'white' and quercus meaning 'cork.' There happens to be a city in Spain with a similar spelling (an additional 'r'): Alburquerque.

How about that? You just learned something new today. Aren't you glad my blog's educational too? :-)

Posted by Miguelito at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the things that sucks about not owning a car, is being at the mercy of the weather when I have to transport my sound system to a gig. Luckily I didn't have a tight schedule on Friday afternoon. Originally I planned to drop off my equipment early at Cabanas and spend a few leisurely hours at Barnes and Noble in Georgetown. Then as I was sitting here chatting online, there were at first a few random golpes of raindrops hitting my window... a minute later it sounded like a class of 10 beginner dance students all practicing a footwork pattern in 10 different tempi all at the same time. :-)

Oh well, at least I was stuck in the comfort of my own home instead of out there on the streets dragging a hundred pounds of equipment in the pouring rain. The first few blocks I'd be running, but then after getting totally soaked I'd just walk at a normal pace. Admit it. It doesn't matter anymore when you're soaked. :-)

So I just took a nap for an hour or so and when I woke up, the rain had stopped and the sun was out again, yay!

Took a quick shower to wake up, got dressed and headed out the door and made it to Cabanas with plenty of time to spare. Setup my sound system, ordered some fish tacos and a bottle of Pacifico beer (I miss Mexican food in L.A.) and took a walk on the waterfront just in time for this cool view of the dark thunderstorm clouds just moments before they completely took over the horizon.

I wasn't the only one to notice this photographic moment. I was one among several photographers lined-up on the boardwalk. Of course I have the little consumer digital camera while the other dudes had serious SLR's that professional media types use. Oh well. I always say, it's not what you have. It's what you can do with what you have. Hehe.

It cracks me up when yuppie types get these expensive cameras thinking they're all bad ass but still end up taking crappy pics. Same goes for guitars. By all means, buy a nice guitar, but don't walk around tellin' everybody about it. A good guitar will not make you sound that much better.

Obviously I've been takin' it easy this week with the blogging. All I know is that I've been in a chilled-out kind of mood. Been taking afternoon siestas, literally. By the time I get to my gigs at night, I find that I have more energy and am in a pretty good mood.

Last night (Saturday) at Tapeo was very enjoyable. The dancers were Ginette Perea and Jennifer. As usual I arrived early to setup and chillout at the bar enjoying a glass of sangría. I gave the restaurant owner Danko an 8x10 glossy flamenco photo (by Niko Alexandrou) to be used for promotional purposes. It's a very cool action shot featuring Ginette that they intend to digitally scan to make into a large poster.

For a couple of weeks now, we've been relying on word-of-mouth and my website to promote the show and it's doing well now. People are actually calling ahead to check when we're performing--a good sign. I advised Ginette and Jennifer to change into their costumes early so that when people pass by they'd see them in their flamenco outfits and stop by to inquire about the show. It helped! By 7:30pm the outdoor patio was full--at least half of them were there specifically to see the show. I know this because I overheard them asking the hostess about the flamenco, yay!

The sun was setting by this time which was fine since I preferred a little darkness to bring out the effects of the stage lights (sorry no pics). Unfortunately, I didn't realize how worn out my stage lights were--during the show the bulbs were bouncing around adding another percussive element to the footwork. Oh well, we fixed that in time for the second set.

We had a good size audience again. This time I took a moment to look all around to see the all the people. As usual there was a contigent of primary school age kids mimicking Ginette and Jennifer. It was so cute and their parents were thrilled. After all we're giving them some real culture here--as some of them told me after the show.

After each set, we usually just leave the stage immediately, but this time we couldn't. As soon as we were done, quite a few people came up to us to pay us compliments and ask about our background and where to take classes. We met this lady from Madrid who was just thrilled to death that she could see some flamenco right here in her neighborhood. Another lady said that she recognized me from when I used to do shows in Shirlington at Toro Tapas--truth is that I only subbed there a few times. Oh well, at least I should be flattered that she remembered me after all these years.

And Ginette had a whole table of fans that she first met several years ago when she performed in First Night Alexandria 2003! And of course, they knew about me through my wonderful website, yay!

There was this one table of people that was giving us jaleo--not the kind where you say "Olé!" to announce to the rest of the crowd that you know the proper thing to say. Truth is that these people didn't know, they just felt so inspired they just cheered us on "Woooo! Wooo!"

Overall a LOT of positive energy in the crowd that night. Nice!

Anyway, the point here is that while I personally enjoy doing shows with such wonderful dancers as Ginette and Jennifer. I also take pride in knowing that we're giving our community here a bit of much-needed culture.

Posted by Miguelito at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If I had a publicist, she'd probably recommend I tell the press some romanticized version of how I first got into flamenco. How in my senior year as a classical guitar major I just happened to wander into a Spanish restaurant late one night just to have a drink. How the lights dimmed and the stage lights came on and the audience became silent and how the first exotic wails of the flamenco singer brought chills down my spine. How the sweet opening falseta of the guitarist responded to the singer's lament thus setting the tone for the flamenco dancer's entrance. How the spotlight came on center stage to reveal a dancer in a red dress, eyes closed as she concentrated on the music, softly clapping her hands as she gradually rose out of her seat and began to...blah blah blah, how after the dancer's final llamada, and the thunderous applause, I wiped my tear-filled eyes and knew from that night I on I would do whatever it took to...aw come on, give me a break! :-)

This is the version I'd expect from the movie-making machine known as Hollywood. Entertaining perhaps but with questionable accuracy. Chances are the movie would focus on the dancing since that's what most appeals to your average American audience.

The real story for me...I was majoring in classical guitar in college. In my senior year, I met this really hot girl who played flamenco guitar. I was mildly curious about the music and the technique but I learned flamenco at first because I wanted to spend more time with her and since I was an accomplished classical guitarist already, flamenco seemed like the easiest path to win her affections. (Cheesy I know, but c'mon, I was in my early 20's and she was pretty hot!) I'd practice on the concrete benches just outside the music building on campus and whenever Elizabeth would pass by she'd sit next to me and listen as I rehearsed my classical repertoire. Then I'd hand her my guitar and she'd teach me some flamenco.

Anyway, in a nutshell, I got into flamenco to get a girl but flamenco ended up getting to me instead. Hehe. I'll finish this story another time, but I brought this up for a reason. My story is similar to the setup for Sarah Bird's latest novel, The Flamenco Academy. The difference is that it's about a young woman named Cyndi Rae Hrncir who by chance meets this handsome young flamenco guitarist and in the course of an evening falls in love with him and realizes that the way to ultimately win his heart is by becoming a flamenco dancer herself.

I love how the author describes Cyndi's first impression of the flamenco guitar:

...I heard another sound, a sound so pure and crystalline that even though it was barely audible, it cut through the cacophony with diamond-sharp clarity. As my eyes and ears adjusted, I realized that there was in an alcove beside the Foster's pyramid and someone was sitting in it, playing guitar....The party noise fell away and suddenly all I could hear was the cascade of notes pouring from his fingers. I didn't know enough about music to identify the style. It was too raw to be classical, too rarified to be rock. Then I stopped trying to figure out what it was and just listened...

The author goes on to describe the guitarist's playing:

...His knuckles rolled like marbles beneath the skin as fingers pulleyed up and down, floating over the strings, gently drawing sounds that made my head fill with stained-glass colors: cobalt blue, Prussian blue, emerald, ruby, colors so deep and saturated it hurt to even imagine them. When he stopped playing and leaned over to pick up a can of beer, the colors shattered and I was dumped back into a seedy motel room that had, for a few seconds, been transformed into a cathedral.

Hehe. Of course, I know from personal experience how intoxicating the sound of a flamenco guitar can be. I just never read such a poetic description of it until now.

But this story is mostly from the dancer's point of view. You'll find yourself nodding affirmatively as you read about Cyndi's first time in a flamenco class and being intimidated by the other students. You know...you got the ballet types and the modern dance types etc. You know some of them stretch because they have to and others just do it to show off. In the end, we all know it doesn't really matter where you came from (sometimes even ballet can hinder a student in flamenco). It's only a beginner's class and there's competition already. Welcome to the world of the performing arts! :-)

Once we get past that initial stage, we have those stereotypical dance students that are gifted with a sense of rhythm but lacking in stage presence and those who have that passionate fire inside that makes whatever they do look amazing but can't stay in compas to save their life. And some who are neither but take class anyway because it's just satisfying to them on some level.

Then we have the teacher who's frustrated with American girls thinking they can just take a class and "learn" flamenco. Even those guitarists out there will nod when you read passages such as this:

The guitarist nodded nervously to acknowledge the style Doña Carlota had called for, then studied her intently as she clapped out an intricate pattern to a beat slow as a dirge. He began to play a lovely melody ornamented with expressive frills and she shook her head violently. "No! No! No pretty falsetas. None of that mierda."

Then we have the cliques:

The flamenco program's inner circle clustered around Liliana, the Christina Aguilera look-alike, whom Didi had correctly identified as the "head flamenco bitch." I recognized a few other standouts from the program: Liliana's chief henchbabe, Yolanda Gutierrez, a good but not great dancer....

Obviously the author spent quite a bit of time with the insiders to get an overall feel for the "community." A lot of the things that you'll read about it will have you nodding affirmatively again and again.

Despite her extensive research for this novel, Sarah Bird will be the first to admit that she is not a member of the "community" and that no one will be able to portray everything accurate enough for some experts. But one thing you can count on is a good story...you know, the kind that seduces you into thinking you know where it's going to go but then the story takes on an unexpected detour that eventually leads to a surprising but satisfying end.

It's not too often a novel about flamenco comes out, let alone in English. It's 300-some pages long but it reads quickly. The Flamenco Academy is now available on Amazon but if you want your copy sooner, you can purchase it at your favorite local bookstores like Barnes and Noble, Borders and Olsson's.

The author will be appearing at the Olsson's Boooks and Records at 7:00pm on Tuesday June 20 at 418 7th St NW DC (down the block from the DC branch of the Jaleo tapas bar).

Posted by Miguelito at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In a lazy mood, so here are just a few shots from last night's show with minimal commentary.

Mariya in soleá. June 6, 2006 9:25pm (photo by Oliver)

Miguelito and Gerard. June 6, 2006 9:26pm (photo by Oliver)

June 6, 2006 9:27pm (photo by Oliver)

After the show...

Oliver and Aseel playfully strike a pose. :-) June 6, 2006 9:58pm

Mariya, Lilly, Ray and Aseel. June 6, 2006 10:01pm

Stina and Eddie. June 6, 2006 10:55pm

While I was waiting the manager to pay me, I took a couple of random shots to give you an idea of the evening's ambience.

Rear dining area. June 6, 2006 11:01pm

View of the bar from the back. June 6, 2006 11:01pm

From the front. June 6, 2006 11:02pm

My office. June 6, 2006 11:05pm

It's 12:36pm on Tuesday. Going to meet a friend who convinced me to catch the 1:45pm show of An Inconvenient Truth. In this lazy mood I'm in, the idea of sitting down in a comfortable theater seat for two hours sounds so good right now.

I'll be performing at Las Tapas tonight. Not sure who the dancers will be (I almost never know) but it'll be fun. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 4, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

Marsha Bonet aka Rosa la Huracana gave a flamenco workshop this past Sunday at the Alliance Dance Institute in Alexandria, Virginia. My friend Cynthia was one of the participants and was kind enough to send me these pics. Thanks Cynthia!

Here's a description of the workshop sent in previously by Marsha:

"First....this is a 'mini' workshop. There will be one in the Fall for a much longer time period."

June 4, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

"There will be three forty-minute sessions. The first is for new students, with little or no experience. The second is for advanced beginners or those with a foundation in taconeo and braceo work. This class will concentrate on simple taconeo patterns and rhythms. It's only forty minutes, therefore a palo will briefly be discussed and in light detail."

June 4, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

"The last forty-minute session will be for advanced beginners and higher level students. This session will focus on the Bharatanatyam aspect which will include some Bharatanatyam footwork, mudras, and body positions. Some of the sanskrit names of some of the floreo will be mentioned and demonstrated. This class should be of interest to some of the aficionados and dancers already at a higher level. The last segment will be done in bare feet!"

These last two pics are of Cynthia's friend Bo who is proudly standing at the studio entrance.

June 4, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

June 4, 2006 (photo courtesy of Cynthia Jacobs)

For more information about Marsha's classes and workshops, visit the Alliance Dance Institute website or call 703-354-6000.

Posted by Miguelito at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Genoveva giving her Sunday night technique class at DC Dance Collective. June 4, 2006 7:28pm

Got home from the Fuerza y Pasión show sometime Sunday morning still feeling inspired but couldn't really practice guitar in my bedroom without waking up my roommates (assuming they were home). Oh well, so I put on the DVD of Hostel (for like the 7th time!), cut the volume and put on the subtitles and stayed up for a few hours surfing the Net until the first light of morning shone through my window as I drifted off to sleep.

Woke up to the familiar chime of an instant message from a friend (my computer is by my bed) sometime before noon. I was hoping to play for dance classes around 1:00pm but I had to squeeze in a blog entry about the show cuz I just know that my loyal readers would be dying to see the pics. Blogged a quickie and was still feelin' a bit groggy so I lay down to rest for what I thought would be just a few minutes and ended up drifting off into sleep again for a few hours and had this dream about waking up again to the sounds of a dancer in the studio next to my room. In this dream, I listened to the compás for awhile before opening the door to the studio and was almost blinded by the light and woke up again in real life. (Dreams within dreams are really trippy!) Turns out the dancer's zapateado was the sound in real life of the maids rhythmically banging the vacuum cleaner against the wall cleaning the floor.

Checked the time, cleaned myself up and had just enough time to walk down the street, pop into the Chinese place next to the studio, got some shrimp fried rice and hot sour soup for breakfast ;-) and made it to DC Dance Collective by 4:30pm.

It was perfect timing cuz teacher Lisa Scott (subbing for Anna Menendez) was just finishing up the technique portion of the class (where having live music isn't really necessary). Today's assignment: a taranto llamada as choreographed by Rafaela Carrasco. So I drifted off into taranto land for awhile and time flew by as I jammed with Rafaela's funky rhythms and modern moves.

At 5:30pm it was time for the more advanced class, also taught by Lisa, which worked on a soleá por bulerías. llamada and letra. I was enjoying myself again of course (been in a good mood all weekend), but I was starting to feel a cold coming on. The air conditioning was on full blast and I tried shifting my chair a few inches this way and that to get away from the Arctic draft. I was about to call it quits for the evening (yeah I know it sounds wimpy) just to get out of the DC Dance Refrigerator but when Lisa called for a water break, I went outside for a few minutes actually desiring some heat and humidity! :-) Got back into the studio feelin' warm again and ready to finish up this class and get ready for Genoveva's 7:00pm group, yay!

There were students from the first class who were back again. There were also a few new faces. Like the last time I played for her class, Gen worked on technique exercises that didn't really require live music. So I chilled out for the first half hour or so and sat on the couches and watched the class (see pic at top of this blog entry). I overheard some latecoming students talking about how Genoveva's inspiring performance the previous night at Fuerza y Pasión was more than enough to convince a LOT of people to think to themselves, "I wanna study with that girl!!!" So at 7:00pm on a Sunday night when your average person would prefer to relax at home and go to bed early to get ready for work Monday, Gen had 14 students!

I already wrote a glowing review of Genoveva's teaching ability, so I won't rehash it here. OK I'll just say one thing: she has an exercise that she knows can help you improve your footwork technique (if you promise to practice it everyday) and trust me when I say this: Gen has some of the fastest and cleanest footwork I've ever accompanied!

This technique class is an addition to an already great Sunday at DC Dance Collective. Welcome Gen! You all know how much I love to play for Anna Menendez's classes--they're fun and filled with enthusiastic students and their energy and Anna's is contagious! Any serious student of flamenco should make it a point to come try out the Sunday night flamenco boot camp here at DCDC with these two awesome teachers. I'm not even a dancer myself, but you can count on me to be there whenever my other flamenco commitments don't interfere. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's 1:11pm on Sunday and I'm already late for dance class. I performed in a show last night at the Old Town Theater in Alexandria. Didn't have time to find someone to take pics for me. I was literally waiting with the audience outside the theater past 9:00pm--and the show was supposed to begin at that time, yikes!

But I'm a flamenco, I'm used to this and the entire cast pulled themselves together amidst the chaos that's typical of most flamenco shows and took it to another level putting out a very energetic performance for a very enthusiastic public. Overall, a very satisfying evening for both the artists and audience. Kudos to producer Nora Lopez, artistic director Edwin Aparicio, my fellow performers (too numerous to mention here) and our many many supporters!

Anyway, since I was outside the theater I had a chance to take a few nice pics of the many wonderful people who came out to see the show.

No more commentary for now but feel free to make some (see bottom of this page). Enjoy!

A view of the action in front of the theater. June 3, 2006 8:52pm

Here are the red carpet pics of a few arriving VIP's. Um, OK, well how about MIP's? i.e. Miguelito's important people. :-)

Quique, Jason and Tijan. June 3, 2006 8:55pm