Waitin' for da train at King St. August 29, 2006 9:56pm (photo by Rocio)

I meet a lot of people at my shows and it turns out probably half of them already know about the dcflamenco website. It's funny how they comment, "Oh, that's your website?" Hehe...I mean yeah, it is my website but it's not like I plaster my pic all over the place.

For those that don't know about it, I give them my biz card with my website address on it and they'll usually say something like, "Cool, I'll go checkout one of your other shows."

Well, days turn into weeks and weeks into months and time passes and it turns out very few of them actually follow through on their promise. Not that my whole life depends on it. So when people like my new friend Rocio actually do show up, my faith is restored in humanity ;-), well not really, but still it is very cool.

Rocio and Miguelito. August 29, 2006 10:00pm

I first met Rocio at Tapeo last Saturday. Gave her my card afterwards and she said something like, yeah, I'll go checkout your show at Las Tapas. Ok, cool, whatever. Well, last Tuesday at Tapas, I got a very nice surprise: I noticed Rocio being seated in the middle of the first show--wow! She actually followed through on her promise. So when I had a second, I briefly looked in her direction, caught her eye and mouthed the word hola and quickly went back to accompanying my dancers.

Naturally, I stopped by her table, sat down and basically thanked her for coming. Turns out she's from Los Angeles like myself and as we talked I realized that although I consider myself more of a Washingtonian now, there are still some things that I miss about LA, like living 20 minutes away from the beautiful California beaches.

I can remember so many times whenever I was having a rough day at school (Cal State Fullerton), I would get in the car and drive down to Costa Mesa and hit Pacific Coast Highway and just cruise with the windows rolled down, breathe in the fresh salty air and let the sound of the crashing waves soothe my stress away. Sometimes when I needed to study, I'd even go to the library at University of California in Irvine (next to Costa Mesa) and the beach was just a few minutes away, nice!

View of Corona del Mar beach in Irvine (Flickr photo by Ting-Bin)

It's 7:57am on Thursday as I type these words. I meeting someone at 9:30am in Arlington and I still need to get dressed and get a doppio before I get on the metro so I better sign off. Tonight, I'll be performing solo guitar at Andalucía (next week we'll have a dancer TBA). Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Karine and Mariya in Sevillanas. August 28, 2006 9:31pm (photo by Ric)

There were all kinds of sound problems going on last night at Citron. I'm not going to bore you with the details except to tell you that it was enough to distract me--I was fiddlin' with da knobs on my mixer when I shoulda been watching my dancer. Oh well, I'm allowed to have a bad show every now and then, right?

Then again, it was just my overblown perfectionist perspective. The audience apparently thought otherwise--they loved it. In fact after the show, I was dumbfounded when people were complimenting on how good it was.

At one point during the show when I was cringing with each feedback squeal and distorted signal, I thought to myself, Yeah the sound really sucks tonight and I've done all I can to fix it so just let it go and focus on putting your energy into the performance. So I did and the show got better, started to have fun again and my mood improved dramatically. End of story.

August 28, 2006 9:34pm (photo by Ric)

Mariya in soleá. August 28, 2006 9:44pm (photo by Ric)

August 28, 2006 9:46pm (photo by Ric)

Miguelito and Gerard. August 28, 2006 9:49pm (photo by Ric)

August 28, 2006 9:52pm (photo by Ric)

The night got even better, thanks to all the friends (old and new ones) that showed up. The DJ Helio was putting on some good music that got the crowd pumped up and dancing. And overall, there was good vibe the air.

Jason, Oliver, María, Keith, Karine and Miguelito. August 28, 2006 10:12pm

You remember María. She first came to Citron back in May (see the pic). She dances flamenco or at the very least some Sevillanas, but I couldn't convince to get up on stage this time. Anyway, just to update all of her fans, María decided that DC is a nice place to visit but she will remain in London.

Julia Cristina stopped by a little later. She was Jerez this past summer taking some flamenco workshops and even sent me a pic. Her classes at Stanford (where she started up a flamenco club) don't start up until early September, so I invited her to perform at one of my tablao gigs this weekend.

Becca, Julia Cristina and Miguelito. August 28, 2006 10:35pm

OK, María made up for not getting up to dance Sevillanas during my show: she pretty much danced all night long to everything else to the delight of every guy in the club ;-) I even had the pleasure of practicing my salsa moves with her, although it seems she prefers to lead. hehe

María. August 28, 2006 10:46pm

This one cute girl who looked vaguely familiar walked up to me and introduced herself but it took me a while to realize who she was. It was Ally, one of my myspace friends. I've communicated with her via email and seen her pics but this was our first time to meet in person. Anyway, both she and her friend Kelsey, who just graduated from Catholic U where they majored in drama, lived in Sevilla and learned Spanish and some flamenco.

Kelsey, Ally and Miguelito. August 28, 2006 11:48pm

Ally's stayin' in the DC area, so I hope to get her dancin' at least some Sevillanas at Citron one of these Mondays. Kelsey, got an acting gig that has her going on tour starting in September, so it might be a while before we see her here again. But she paid us a nice compliment after the show basically saying that we made her feel like she was back in Spain again. Awww...thanks Kelsey!

I think this was the first really well-attended Monday night here at Citron during the traditionally slow month of August. Lot of college students were back in town for the Fall semester.

María, Mariya, Karine and a very happy Oliver. ;-) August 29, 2006 12:22am

Hey Karine, um...I'm the one who's supposed to get the hot girl's number at the end of the night. ;-) August 29, 2006 12:44am

Karine, Miguelito and María. August 28, 2006

In two weeks, on Monday September 11, it will officially be 5 years that we've been performing here at Cafe Citron, yay! Just giving you the heads up cuz I'll probably wax poetic about my five years here in my blog later. :-)

It's 11:25am on Tuesday as I type these words. I'm getting out of the house now and head towards Citron to pick up my sound equipment before it rains. I'll be performing tonight at Las Tapas in Old Town Alexandria. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 27, 2006 6:32pm

It's been awhile since I last played for classes at DC Dance Collective on Sunday nights. This was the first Sunday I happened to have no gigs, rehearsals or social visits planned. I was actually free, if you can believe that, but it turned out I didn't have my guitar with me. It was cool though.

At least I had my camera with me so I took some pics of Ulrika Frank's flamenco performance workshop. It was a Farruca choreographed to Behzad's composed music. Some (hopefully all) of these students will perform this choregraphy at DCDC's Collaborate Arts Festival on Saturday September 16, 2006.

Behzad Habibzai accompanying Ulrika's farruca workshop. August 27, 2006 6:36pm

August 27, 2006 6:36pm

August 27, 2006 6:36pm

August 27, 2006 6:52pm

August 27, 2006 6:57pm

I got to catch up with some of the staff at the studio, one of whom is also a dance student of Estela Velez. Estela's company Furia Flamenca has got a busy schedule for Hispanic Heritage Month. Checkout their website.

I was kind of hoping to see percussionist Gonzalo Grau, who occasionally accompanies Genoveva's Sunday night class, but he was out of town. Oh well, it was great to see Genoveva's class well attended not to mention my seeing a few familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Genoveva working out footwork for her Sunday night technique class with the help of Jason Vera y Aragón's palmas. August 27, 2006 7:01pm

August 27, 2006 7:02pm

After Genoveva's class a number of us went out for dinner at the Thai place next door and caught a late movie down the street. I made it home a little after midnight. A lazy laid-back but very satisfying day!

Tonight (Monday), I'll be at Cafe Citron. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Maggie (from Mexico) and Ginette Perea. August 26, 2006 8:46pm

This particular night, I overheard customers asking the staff when the flamenco show was going to start. So I made a mental note of where these customers were seated, I took the liberty of greeting them while they waited for the show to start.

If you've been reading my blog the past year or so, you know that meeting the members of the audience is one thing I'm doing to overcome my shyness. Anyway, it was a good move cuz I had to stall a little while since the show was running a little behind schedule.

One group was a Venezuelan family and the daughter, Andrea, turned out is a flamenco dancer. They came especially to Tapeo this evening just to see the show. One member of this family even proclaimed that he is an aficionado and that he would be watching our show with a very critical eye.

August 26, 2006 9:17pm

A few years ago, this would have intimidated me, but actually nowadays I welcome it. In fact, it inspires me to perform even better more so because of the fact that I know that the aficionados can appreciate the finer details of our performance.

I also met a lovely mexicana named Maggie who, it turned out, already knew about my wonderful website and will start taking flamenco dance classes hopefully very soon. I made her promise that I'll have her onstage a year from now. Got that Maggie? hehe.

Also in the audience was the radio producer from WETA that interviewed Ginette and I last week. Thanks for coming Twana!

Posted by Miguelito at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ginette Perea. August 25, 2006 8:38pm (photo by Raquel)

It's 10:08am on Monday as I type these words. Had a busy weekend so I've fallen behind on da blogging. In fact when I was at DC Dance Collective last night (Sunday), one of my loyal readers jokingly scolded me for neglecting my blog--I took it as a compliment though, it means she really appreciates my work.

Anywayz, you know the drill. When I'm playin' catch-up, I just publish pics and keep the commentary to a minimum. Enjoy these pics from Friday at Cabanas. BTW, as of next Friday it will be one year that we've been performing at Cabanas, yay! Small milestone, but a milestone nonetheless!

August 25, 2006 8:53pm (photo by Raquel)

Pam de Ocampo. August 25, 2006 9:55pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 9:56pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 9:58pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 9:59pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 10:06pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 10:06pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 10:08pm (photo by Raquel)

August 25, 2006 10:08pm

Birthday girlz: Pam and Alex. August 25, 2006 10:25pm

Alex, Sara, Amanda, Emily, Pam and Raquel. August 25, 2006 10:28pm

Later at Taberna del Alabardero: Nora López and Raquel. August 25, 2006 11:10pm

For nostalgia's sake, here are the pics from our very first show at Cabanas a year ago.

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

Producer Nora López and Miguelito. August 24, 2006 10:28pm

It's 8:37am as I type these words. Yeah, another early morning for me. Last night (Thursday) after my gig at Andalucía, I headed to Taberna to catch the show featuring flamenco artists from Southern California (where I grew up): singer Jesus Montoya, his wife dancer Suaya Montoya and dancer Richard Chavez. They were joined by DC flamencos Richard Marlow on guitar and Behzad Habibzai on cajón.

If you've heard this story before just scroll down to the pics...anywayz, I got my first start in flamenco during my last year at California State University, Fullerton. I was majoring in classical guitar and I met this girl on campus named Elizabeth who was half Spanish and half French--a totally hot babe ;-) and to top it off she played flamenco guitar and accompanied flamenco classes at the Blanca Luz Academy in Buena Park. Long story short...she taught me some flamenco but eventually left the studio and I ended up taking her position playing for dance classes there. Richard Chavez was one of the dance students and was, like me, just getting started in flamenco.

So Richard and I knew a lot of the same flamencos back then but I soon graduated and left California to move here to DC. Although I did go back in 1996 for two weeks to perform with the Blanca Luz Academy in which Richard performed a few choreographies with his fellow students. He remained in the L.A. area progressing from student dancer to professional. He met and began working with Jesus Montoya who eventually brought him here for this weekend performance at Taberna. So us California flamencos hung out last night reminiscing about the good times and I got to catch up on the L.A. flamenco scene. Welcome to DC Richard!

Jason, Roxana, Juan, Lilian and Behzad. August 24, 2006 10:48pm

Didn't get any decent pics from the performance, sorry. But please enjoy these pics of my friends.

Jesus and Suaya. August 24, 2006 11:32pm

California flamencos: Richard Chavez, Suaya Montoya, Jesus Montoya and Miguelito. August 25, 2006 12:08am (photo by Juan Martin)

Marta, Pedro, Soheila and Richard Marlow. August 25, 2006 12:11am

Congrats to the performers and kudos to producer Nora Lopez for making this show a reality!

There wil be a performance tonight (Friday) as well as on Saturday--call for showtime. Taberna del Alabardero is an expensive fancy restaurant and reservations are a must. Address is 1776 I St NW which is a block away from the Farrugut West metro. Call 202-420-2200. Otherwise I recommend just hanging out at the tapas bar ordering a sangría or something and join the standing-room-only crowd to watch the show.

I'll be doing my usual Friday night gig at Cabanas in Georgetown with dancers Ginette Perea and Pam de Ocampo and heading to Taberna afterwards to hang out. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 2:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

OK, now I'm on a mission to catch up on my backlog of photos that people have sent me recently. Here's the first batch.

Former DC flamenco Kayoko Iwamoto moved back to Japan a few years ago. She sent me some pics to let me know she's continuing to feed her passion for flamenco. She writes:

"Hi, this is Kayoko. Do you remember me?"

"Over here, Maria and I are taking Flamenco lessons. In my opinion, Maria has improved very much. I danced at a bar in a city called Roppongi in April. It's a very famous city in Tokyo. I'll be dancing there in September as well."

"I started taking Argentina Tango in May as well. I'm enjoying it very much."

Sincerely,
Kayoko

PS. The photos are of Maria. Can you recognize her?"

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

(photo courtesy of Kayoko Iwamoto)

Here are some pics from one of Kayoko's famous flamenco Christmas recital parties at her house.

Small milestone: this is the 200th entry in this new blog format that I started using in January this year! How many people do you know have even blogged about or posted pics of DC flamencos that many times? Just me--the hardest workin' promoter of flamenco in DC! Yeah I know, I'm crazy but somebody's got to do it. Whatever, I'm in a self-congratulatory mode right now. hehe

Posted by Miguelito at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sara Jerez in Guajiras. August 23, 2006 12:21pm

It's 12:41 on Thursday as I type these words. Yup, yesterday (Wednesday) yours truly went out to downtown DC to attend the performance by Flamenco Aparicio. I looked around the audience for familiar faces from the flamenco community and didn't see any. Losers! Just kidding...sort of. ;-) Well, OK, so most of you have day jobs and couldn't take time off to see a free show on a beautiful day on your lunch break. Losers! Just kidding...kinda. :-)

Actually I did see Genoveva's boyfriend in his work attire--at least he made it out to the show. Way to go Drew!

Anywayz, I know, I know...I've been slacking a bit on da blogging. And I think I figured out why I've been in a lethargic slump all week: it's not just all the late nights followed by da early morning appointments. It was the all night Peruvian party last Friday that threw my body clock all outa whack! It's OK, it was worth it: beautiful girls, delicious food, party atmosphere and flamenco--what else can I ask for? :-)

So I took a few hundred pics at this performance which on one hand increases the likelihood that I'll get a decent shot, but on the other hand means I had to sift through a lot of pics and this morning, I was trying so hard to keep going despite my sleepy state. Right now, it's the caffeine shot that's keeping me going right now. Don't ya appreciate all the hard work I do for the flamenco community? I know I'm just whining like a spoiled brat. Sitting in front of a computer for hours selecting and editing flamenco pics and blogging about flamenco still beats a boring day job anyday!

So here ya go, for you losers who couldn't come out to da show (just kidding, sorta), I present Flamenco Aparicio...

August 23, 2006 12:23pm

August 23, 2006 12:25pm

Genoveva in soleá por bulerías. August 23, 2006 12:30pm

August 23, 2006 12:31pm

August 23, 2006 12:32pm

August 23, 2006 12:33pm

August 23, 2006 12:35pm

Sara in Fandangos de Huelva. August 23, 2006 12:40pm

Anna Menendez in Fandangos de Huelva. August 23, 2006 12:40pm

Anna, Genoveva, Edwin Aparicio and Sara in Fandangos de Huelva. August 23, 2006 12:42pm

Anna in soleá. August 23, 2006 12:44pm

August 23, 2006 12:45pm

August 23, 2006 12:47pm

August 23, 2006 12:47pm

August 23, 2006 12:49pm

August 23, 2006 12:50pm

August 23, 2006 12:55pm

Audience. August 23, 2006 12:57pm

Edwin in alegrías. August 23, 2006 12:59pm

August 23, 2006 1:00pm

August 23, 2006 1:01pm

August 23, 2006 1:04pm

Genoveva and Edwin in fin de fiesta bulerías. August 23, 2006 1:19pm

Anna, Genoveva, Edwin and Sara in fin de fiesta bulerías. August 23, 2006 1:20pm

August 23, 2006 1:20pm

August 23, 2006 1:21pm

August 23, 2006 1:21pm

I should mention that the musicans were guitarist Richard Marlow and percussionist Behzad Habibzai. You guys rock! :-)

Telemundo interview with Edwin. August 23, 2006 1:32pm

Edwin walks off into the distance. August 23, 2006 1:46pm

Long distance view of da stage. August 23, 2006 1:47pm

Later that evening, I did my usual show at Cafe Bonaparte, but no one came to take pics. Losers! Just kidding...sorta, kinda. :-)

Posted by Miguelito at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

View down King St on the way to Las Tapas. August 22, 2006 6:44pm

It's 6:17am on Wednesday as I type these words. This'll be yet another short and sweet entry since I got a few errands to get out of the way before heading to downtown DC for a noontime performance at Woodrow Wilson Plaza in the Ronald Reagan building. Except I'm going to be in the audience this time, hehe. Don't know who's performing exactly, but I believe the group will include dancers Edwin Aparicio and Anna Menendez, guitarist Richard Marlow and percussionist Behzad Habibzai--incidentally Behzad performed at this venue two years ago with Danzamarina (here's a pic).

Last night (Tuesday) at Las Tapas was a blast performing with dancers Edwin Aparicio and Anna Menendez of course, but having percussionist Gonzalo Grau made it even more special. I'm tellin' ya, this guy is really good on the cajón!

If you went to see Entresueño, you've heard him already and know what I'm talking about. He recently arrived in the DC area (previously lived in Boston), but I'm sure that as word gets around about this amazing Venezuelan-born musician, his schedule will quickly fill up.

Genoveva, Gonzalo Grau, Anna Menendez and Edwin Aparicio. August 22, 2006 8:42pm

If you haven't heard Gonzalo yet, you might find him occasionally accompanying Genoveva's classes at DC Dance Collective on Sunday nights. If you're interested in booking Gonzalo for a show or if you want to take cajón lessons (he's also a salsa percussionist and pianist) call 917-204-2254 or send him an email.

Anywayz, tonight I'll be performing at Cafe Bonaparte with singer Carlton Ashton at around 9:30pm. Call 202-333-8830.

Posted by Miguelito at 6:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 21, 2006 8:21am

Yesterday (Monday), I paid an early morning visit to my parents' house on the way to the dentist and my mom had a couple of nice surprises for me. As you probably know, last year I was interviewed for entertainment section articles in the Washington Post and Arlington Connection newspapers. Of course, I always grab a few copies when these papers come out to give to a few of my friends and family.

She obviously put a lot of work into assembling these two collages that frame the articles. Plus it means a lot to me that I'm making her proud--my mom is also a classically-trained musician (she majored in music at USC) and I followed in her footsteps and make a living playing flamenco guitar full-time.

August 21, 2006 8:24am

Also this past Saturday at Tapeo, a producer from WETA came to interview Ginette Perea and yours truly for an arts scene radio program called Out and About which will also include some sound bites of our performance. I'll let you know the exact date when it will be on the air--sometime during Hispanic Heritage Month which is September 15-October 15.

Yeah it's a small thrill to see my face and words in the papers. But c'mon, I've been working hard to build my good reputation in the local arts scene over the past 15 years so I do deserve whatever little coverage I get, but I seriously believe that my website had a lot to do with the media taking notice of us flamencos. So I'm going to pat myself on the back for that. Good job Miguelito! :-)

Fast forward a few hours later (and yeah the dental checkup went smoothly), I was at Cafe Citron getting ready for my show...

Yours truly warming-up before the show. August 21, 2006 6:55pm

Miguelito, Gerard and Mariya. August 21, 2006 9:18pm (photo by Raluca)

During the second set, after the Sevillanas Gerard and I usually play a rumba which we did except Gerard sang the birthday song instead as one of our friends brought out a cake to our dancer Mariya. Happy Birthday Mariya! (Thanks to Jason for providing the cake.)

Saw some old friends like Raluca who brought along more friends (thank you Raluca!).

Itziar (from País Vasco), Miguelito, Raluca (from Romania), Andre, John and Alana. August 21, 2006 9:48pm (photo by Ashok)

Karine and Jack. August 21, 2006 10:17pm

My friend Ashok brought along a bunch of friends too (thank you Ashok!).

Ciro, Ashok, Giulia, Isabel (from Ecuador), Arnaud (from France), Mariya and Davide (from Italy). August 21, 2006 10:29pm

Got home around midnight and went straight to bed. It's 8:54am on Monday now and I got a bunch of morning errands so once I publish this blog entry I'm out the door. Ciao for now!

P.S. just heard that when my mambo dancer roommate moves out in September/October, I'll have a flamenco dancer moving in upstairs, yay!

Posted by Miguelito at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Micaela Moreno, Miguelito, Pam de Ocampo and Carlton Ashton. August 20, 2006 2:51pm

It was a long but enjoyable day. Had to get up especially early so I could be out the door by 8:00am to catch the train and meet up with my ride before 9:00am. Pam and I made our rendez-vous at Mica's house in Delaware around 11:30am, got a quick delicious brunch and arrived at the Hispanic Festival gig a little before our time slot. We were cutting it a little too close, but I wasn't stressin' cuz I had a feeling the festival would be running behind schedule.

Our group included dancers Micaela Moreno and Pam de Ocampo (a fellow filipino, yay!), singer Carlton Ashton and yours truly Miguelito on guitar.

My view from the stage. August 20, 2006 3:19pm

Jammin' at Mica's house after the gig. August 20, 2006 4:08pm

On the way back we saw a gas station with a long line of cars. It's cheaper in Delaware! August 20, 2006 4:33pm

Awww, how purdy! :-) Sun about to set. August 20, 2006 6:53pm

I'm home now. No more pictures please. ;-) August 20, 2006 11:03pm

Got another early day Monday, ugh. I have a dental appointment at 8:00am. So no more commentary. It's 12:38am on Monday now--time for bed. Hope you enjoyed these few random pics. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sunset at Georgetown waterfront. August 18, 2006 6:38pm

It's 2:40pm on Saturday as I type these words. Right now there's a tango private lesson going on in the studio next to my room so I'm kinda stuck in here until they're done. At least the music is fun to listen to and judging by the laughter they seem to be having a good time.

Anywayz, did my usual gig at Cabanas last night and finally arrived home really early this morning from an all-night party and pretty much slept-in until now. Here are a few random pics...

Mariya, Miguelito and Ginette. August 18, 2006 9:28pm (photo by James)

There were a lot of customers, partly for us of course (we have some loyal fans and gained a few new ones) but the place was packed because of the "Restaurant Week" specially-priced dinners.

August 18, 2006 10:06pm (photo by James)

August 18, 2006 10:11pm (photo by James)

Afterwards, Jason and I were invited to a late-night party hosted at a Peruvian friend's house in Virginia. They had some delicious homemade food, yum!

My favorite Peruvian dish: papa a la huancaina. (Thank you Jossie!) August 19, 2006 12:11am

The DJ played everything from salsa to reggaeton to cumbia to bachata. But at one point we had some live performances of Marinera accompanied with cajón and singing. I tried my best to accompany on guitar of course.

There were also a number of flamenco dancers at the party and so later the host asked me to play some flamenco, I invited them to get up and do some bulerías.

Cindy, Daniela, Raquel and Jason. August 19, 2006 12:27am

I took many more pics throughout the evening, but my friends were understandably very picky about what to publish since they know people all over the world see my website. hehe.

Daniela and Miguelito. August 19, 2006 3:48am

It's OK, take my word for it. It was fun. Peruvians really know how to party and it went on literally all night long. As usual, we stayed until the end and joined in the after-party cleanup...

Raquel, Cindy and Jason. August 19, 2006 5:56am

They offered to let us crash on the couch, but we were awake enough to make it back home safely.

Sunrise. August 19, 2006 6:24am

When we passed by an IHOP, I insisted we stopover and get something to eat.

August 19, 2006 6:36am

Pigs in a blanket and hash browns. Yum! August 19, 2006 7:06am

I'm just going to take a really quick nap, before taking shower to wake up, get dressed and head out to my gig for tonight at Tapeo. The dancers will be Ginette Perea and Shahram Tehranian. A reporter from a major radio station will be coming to record some sound bites of the show and interview us afterwards. Yay! More publicity for the DC flamenco scene.

Posted by Miguelito at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Francesca, Jen and Anna Menendez. August 15, 2006 8:44pm (photo by Raquel)

It's 5:15am on Wednesday as I type these words. Oh well, I'm back to one of those weeks where I go to bed and wake up at wierd hours. It's OK cuz I don't have anything scheduled until 1:00pm--a rehearsal with a dancer at DC Dance Collective which is just a 10-minute walk from my house so I could sleep in, yay!

I was at that same studio at 2:00pm yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) playing for a private lesson for another dancer friend. She was planning on taking private lessons anyway to learn a new choreography and improve her technique, but I still had a hand in pushing her to make it happen now before her schedule quickly fills-up with university classes. We made this informal pact where in return she's going to keep bugging me about working on my CD. TIP: the buddy system helps in setting and accomplishing goals.

So I'm going to Guitar Center and picking up a Mackie Spike, a USB audio interface, so I could do some rough draft recordings at home before taking it to a serious studio. I promised I'd have one track completed by the time my dancer friend would have learned the new alegrías choreography, which will be two months from now: October 15th. TIP: when setting goals it helps to be very specific. We discussed all this, amongst other things, while casually enjoying drinks on the patio of the cafe around the corner on this warm and slightly humid Tuesday.

Fast forward a few hours later, I was at Las Tapas performing with dancers Ana Menendez and Jen. My dancer friends Raquel (studying with Ana Martinez) and Francesca (currently a salsera but someday a flamenca) showed up so naturally I got one of them to take pics.

My relatively new camera is not bad for the price ($120) but it's not as good as the one Canon Powershot I had before. Raquel turned the flash off and got some interesting action shots. Afterwards, she was telling me about how she loved the stage lighting behind the stage created a shadow play on the ceiling adding a very dramatic element to the performance...

Jen in tientos. August 15, 2006 8:48pm (photo by Raquel)

August 15, 2006 8:51pm (photo by Raquel)

Ana in alegrías. August 15, 2006 8:54pm (photo by Raquel)

August 15, 2006 8:55pm (photo by Raquel)

August 15, 2006 8:56pm (photo by Raquel)

August 15, 2006 9:02pm (photo by Raquel)

Of course, I was very flattered that Raquel and Franscesca came all the way from George Mason University on metro (an hour-long ride) just to see my show, and even then, they only arrived in time to catch the second set. I offered to at least buy them some dessert but they were in a hurry after the show to get back. The least I could do is accompany them to the metro.

As for today (Wednesday), I'm meeting up with a new dancer at 1:00pm at DC Dance Collective to become acquainted with her repertoire. Should be fun. You'd think that with all the dancers I know it would be easy to find subs at the last minute, but it's not. So yeah, I go out of my way sometimes to get to know new ones. It's still early so I'm going back to sleep. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 5:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ana (from Zaragoza, Spain) and Miguelito. August 14, 2006 9:40pm

Pictured above is my new friend Ana from Spain who unfortunately does not know how to dance Sevillanas...yet. Naturally, I gave her my card and she promised she'd check out my website and perhaps take some lessons sometime soon.

Anywayz, performing with me were singer Gerard Moreno, dancer Mariya and percussionist Jason Vera y Aragón with special appearances by singer José Oretea and dancer Shahram Tehranian.

Jason had his camera and got someone to take pics during the show, but it might be a few days before I can get those image files on my computer, sorry. I've got a backlog of pictures that I'm slowly catching up on, so please be patient.

My camera battery died before the first set even started. Ugh. But after the second set, I ran out to CVS and got some new batteries and managed to get a few pics of da wonderful people who support us artists: allow me introduce you to some of my friends...

Miguelito and Kathy. August 14, 2006 9:47pm

You remember Kathy. In my blog back in May, I posted pics from her recent trip to Spain. I first met her here at Citron in January 2004 and kept in contact even when she moved back to Miami for awhile (thank you MySpace!). With her new job, Kathy moved back to DC a week or two ago and is going to look into taking flamenco classes when she settles in.

Ana Paula (from Brazil), Kathy (from Colombia) and Teresa (from China) August 14, 2006 10:03pm

The lovely Ana Paula and Teresa are friends of Kathy and although they are regulars here at Citron, it was their first time to come on a Monday night for flamenco.

Miguelito and Tess. August 14, 2006 10:28pm

Tess is a fellow musician (checkout her website) and a friend of Miles. And Miles, if you recall from last year, hung out with Behzad and I when we performed in the beautiful state of Maine last summer.

Miguelito and Madiha. August 14, 2006 10:40pm

My very good friend Madiha whom I met almost exactly two years ago here at Citron used to come every Monday back then and she would always bring her friends Ivana (from Slovakia), Gisele (from Perú) and Lilian (from Haiti)--I used to call them the international version of Sex in the City. :-) Lately though, she's only been coming to my Monday night show every now and then, but still it's cool cuz we've managed to keep in contact in the meantime (thank you MySpace!).

Tess and Miles. August 14, 2006 10:54pm

Calling it a night: Jason, Behzad, Tess, Carlton and Miles. August 14, 2006 11:49pm

Carlton gettin' in the bulerías mood. August 14, 2006 11:50pm

Other friends that came but not pictured: Shahram, Linette, Lillie, Ashok, Davide, Fadi, Fernando and Dino. My thanks as always to everyone who comes and supports us local flamencos! Check back here in a few days for pics from the performance itself. It's now 2:43am on Tuesday as I type these words. Still wide awake though, so I think I'll read a few more chapters of Shantaram until I drift off to sleep (Hey C! I'm on page 651 out of 900. What page are you on?) Good night!

Posted by Miguelito at 1:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paco de Málaga and Miguelito. August 12, 2006 12:58pm

It's been awhile since I paid a visit to the Guitar Gallery in Cleveland Park which is just a few metro stops from my neighborhood. So I dropped in and by a stroke of luck I made it in time to say hello to my friend Paco de Málaga just minutes before he left the store on his way to the airport. He and Ana Martinez left for Spain yesterday (Saturday) where they'll be vacationing for about a month. Ana will be back in time to start up her fall dance classes and Paco will have restocked his inventory of flamenco guitars and flamenco shoes and dance accessories.

I helped out awhile acting as interpreter when the customers didn't speak any Spanish. Julio, a very fine guitarist from Argentina, was manning the store. I was trying to recall some of my old classical repertoire and when I mentioned Agustin Barrios to him (classical guitarists will instantly recognize this name) his eyes lit up and he couldn't stop telling me all he knew about one of his favorite composers.

For over an hour Julio treated me to a private concert of many of his tango compositions interjecting a few little anecdotes about Barrios while I occasionally played along sightreading the manuscripts. Argentine tango is a very passionate art form, as many of you know. Different feel altogether of course, but still something that can move you emotionally if you allow it to. Thing is that as a flamenco it's too easy to fall into the trap of viewing other genres of music through the lens of flamenco. It happens sometimes and when I catch myself doing this, I remind myself to appreciate each different genre in its own context.

Fast forward a few hours later, I was at Tapeo in Pentagon City performing with Ginette and Mariya...

Ginette Perea and Miguelito. August 12, 2006 8:18pm (photo by Elena)

During our first show, I noticed a dancer friend named Elena in the audience and afterwards got her to volunteer as a photographer for the next show. The weather was perfect for a change with little humidity. We started the show a little bit later than usual, so with the darkening sky of the early evening, the stage lights added that necessary dramatic touch to entice more people to stop and watch our performance.

I had dinner before I got here and so I didn't order food but I had to at least get a cool refreshing drink. My choice...

Mojito. August 12, 2006 8:23pm

Ginette and Mariya. August 12, 2006 8:49pm (photo by Elena)

At about ten minutes to nine, we started the second show. By now the patio tables were all filled (yay!) and the interior dining area was maybe 3/4 full. And as soon as I started playing the intro to Sevillanas, people from all over the courtyard gathered 'round the stage to watch. There was even a group of people who setup a row of chairs just to watch the show--ahem, people if you do that, please order a drink or some food. Oh well, the more the merrier.

August 12, 2006 8:54pm (photo by Elena)

August 12, 2006 8:55pm (photo by Elena)

August 12, 2006 8:57pm (photo by Elena)

August 12, 2006 8:59pm (photo by Elena)

August 12, 2006 9:03pm (photo by Elena)

August 12, 2006 9:03pm (photo by Elena)

It was a good show and as is typical of fun experiences, time flew by and it was over before I knew it. My thanks to dancers Ginette Perea and Mariya and of course our loyal fans who come out to see us perform week after week!

It's 10:30am on Sunday now. Other than practicing guitar and spending a few relaxing hours at a cafe and reading a few more chapters of Shantaram: A Novel (I'm halfway through this 900 page epic!) I don't have any plans yet. If something comes up, you'll read about tomorrow, hehe. Ciao for now!

P.S. a week from today, I'll be performing at the Hispanic Festival in Millsboro, Delaware (checkout da pics from last year). A good excuse to come out and support your local flamencos and squeeze in a visit to nearby Rehoboth beach one last time. I'll post details later this week.

Posted by Miguelito at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cesar Oretea, Monica Serrano, Indira Terraza and Miguelito. August 10, 2006 10:45pm (photo by Joe)

Did my usual gig at the Andalucía Restaurant and afterwards the manager Monica was going to drop me off at my house. But it was such a beautiful night--cool and with little humidity--that I convinced her to take me to Guarapo instead. Hehe.

It was a good choice cuz I haven't been here for awhile. They now have a DJ here on Thursday nights that keeps the crowd dancing between the rumba shows by Duende Camarón. According to my friend Indira the place was more crowded than usual.

Armand, José Oretea and Cesar. August 10, 2006 11:11pm

Later this month, José and Cesar will be going to Bolivia for a month. They have such a huge loyal following here in the DC area that I can't imagine what it will be like here at Guarapo and their other regular venues while they're gone. We'll see.

Anyway, I stuck around for one set, and left around 11:30pm like a good boy to make sure I could catch the last train home to the Pink Flamenco. ;-)

August 10, 2006 11:17pm

As for tonight, I'll be at Cabanas with dancers Ginette Perea and Mariya. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Drivin' to the theatre in the woods. August 8, 2006 5:06pm

Did a summer concert series gig last night in Wilmington, Delaware at Bellevue State Park. Here's a brief peek into the preparation process for the show:

It was a little more than 100 miles drive outside of DC. With the lil' bit o' traffic it took us about two hours to get there. But the majority of the trip was fun: windows rolled down, radio cranked up, arms hanging out the window and surfin' in the wind..the joys of a mid afternoon drive on a pleasant summer day! The speed limit was 65 so naturally everyone sped along at 75 or more. :-)

We factored in some extra time for dealing with traffic, getting lost and making rest stops to stretch out our legs. But we still ended up getting there with about 90 minutes to chill out before showtime. Nice!

Carlton found himself a comfortable spot on the grass underneath a shady tree. Meanwhile, I headed towards the stage to checkout the sound situation...

August 8, 2006 5:09pm

August 8, 2006 5:10pm

Although we were half an hour early, the sound engineer had no objections to getting started right away. Our technical needs were simple: one microphone each for the guitar and vocals plus another microphone on the floor for the footwork.

View from my seat. August 8, 2006 5:37pm

I played a little bit of quiet and loud material to give the sound guy, Joe, an idea of my dynamic range. Carlton sang a little. Then we both performed together so Joe can set the balance between vocals and guitar. I told him to just crank up the sound in the monitor so we can hear ourselves clearly---sound has a tendency to dissipate in outdoor gigs like this one.

The monitor speaker...very very important! August 8, 2006 5:37pm

Our dancer Micaela was on her way separately and was arriving in a few minutes, but the sound system was working great so we went backstage to change and discuss the evening's program.

Beautiful skies above. :-) August 8, 2006 5:37pm

Soon this lawn will be filled with people. August 8, 2006 5:50pm

Soundcheck done. Stage is set. August 8, 2006 5:51pm

Warmin' up backstage. August 8, 2006 6:09pm

Touched base briefly with the tech crew and at 6:30pm on the dot, Joe read the scripted intro, audience applauded and it was showtime!

I opened up with a guitar solo and with the first few notes, I noticed that Joe added a slight touch of echo ambience to the mix in the monitor speaker. Nice! The sun was still out, but by now the long shadows of the nearby trees were covering the stage. The side lights were just strong enough to direct the attention of the audience to me. I closed my eyes and savored the sparkling full sound of my guitar coming through loud and clear through the system (thanks Joe!) and the rest of the show went smoothly from there.

Afterwards. August 8, 2006 7:24pm

We're pros in that we can take whatever unexpected technical problems come at us, deal with it and still perform as if everything is perfect. Of course it helps when you have fellow performers like Micaela Moreno and Carlton Ashton and you have a sound guy like Joe Sheehan. Thanks guys!

The client was very pleased with our performance and expressed appreciation for my onstage commentary about flamenco. You see, this performance is partially funded by an arts and culture grant that stipulates the performance must include some educational content.

It was a good night but we had homes to return to. Mica went back to Lincoln, Delaware (near Rehoboth) and Carlton and I went back to the DC area and made it back a little after 10pm. It was still early, so I stayed out a little longer stopping by Dupont Circle and made it home a little after midnight. hehe.

As for tonight, I'll be performing at Cafe Bonaparte with Carlton and Behzad. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mariya and Peter. August 7, 2006 9:31pm

If you can believe it, it's 5:28am on Tuesday as I type these words! Yeah, I'm actually awake at this hour, so I might as well work on the blog and publish the few pics I got from last night. Pictured above is Citron's manager, Peter, with Mariya.

Didn't get around to finding someone to take pics during the show, but at least I got some of the people who come out and support us. Take a look...

Frank Guillen and Mel. August 7, 2006 10:04pm

Frank is the new guitarist in town. He studied flamenco guitar accompaniment at the Cristina Heeren Flamenco Foundation in Sevilla. You may have heard him play in recent dance classes taught by María Roncal or Mariya at the DC Dance Collective. Welcome to the DC community Frank!

Karine and Miguelito. August 7, 2006 10:05pm

I know Karine from American Dance Institute. She takes classes there taught by Anna Menendez where I provide the live guitar accompaniment.

Danielle and Miguelito. August 7, 2006 10:46pm

Danielle is currently a student of María Roncal. She started learning flamenco with Sara Candela who just happened to perform here at Citron last Monday. I first met Danielle at my Tapeo gig a few weeks ago but now she is becoming a regular here at Citron on Monday nights, yay!

Asha and Miguelito. August 7, 2006 11:33pm

I met Asha last week. She's an amazing web designer. Checkout her site. She's a friend of Chris Kobar, another web designer, who studied flamenco briefly with the Spanish Dance Society.

Jena and Miguelito. August 7, 2006 11:57pm

Jena drops by for the Monday night flamenco show here at Citron every now and then. She studied flamenco in Spain for a few years and I did manage to get her to dance some Sevillanas here a couple of times. But unfortunately she's moving to London. She promised to keep in touch. Good luck Jena!

August 8, 2006 12:00am

As I caught up with my friends, I lost track of the time. And as you know, the metro closes at midnight. Thank God I was able to convince a friend to give me a ride. Got home at a decent hour but here I am now, up again and it's almost 6:00am on Tuesday.

Anywayz, when Citron opens at around 11:00am, I have to go and pick up my sound system and bring it back home. Then I'm meeting up with Carlton this afternoon to head towards Delaware for a gig with Micaela Moreno tonight. In the meantime, Behzad's subbing for me tonight at Las Tapas.

I really should go back to bed and get some rest so I can have energy for tonight. Good night....er, I mean, good morning! ;-)

Posted by Miguelito at 5:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 6, 2006 2:11pm

It's 8:54am on Monday as I type these words. Still in a lazy mood, so just a few pics and some short commentary...

Yesterday was another perfect summer day: warm but not humid. On my way to Virginia, I stopped by my neighborhood Starbucks and got my usual doppio espresso and sat at a table in the sun, put on some digital tunes, closed my eyes and lost myself in the music.

I brought along a book that a friend gave to me for my birthday: Shantaram: A Novel. It's about 900 pages long and although it's a paperback, it's kinda bulky and heavy to carry around for an always-on-the-move kinda guy like me. I'll probably end up reading this one in short spurts here and there the few times I find it convenient to actually carry this novel with me. It's OK though. I love books, you know that. And like in college, I can keep up with several books at the same time.

It's basically a story about a prison escapee from Australia who flees to India to hide out and over time assimiliates himself into the local community. As you can imagine, it's a pure joy to savor the author's richly detailed descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of this fascinating culture. Just giving you the heads up so in the next few weeks, if you notice me obsessing about India, you'll know where it's coming from. :-)

Anywayz, my friends Cindy and Raquel picked me up at the metro in Virginia to head back to the house for a flamenco jam session...

August 6, 2006 7:41pm

Isabel joined us and we started warming up doing some braceo as I played some soleá. Cindy's dad had a professional sound system that he setup complete with a microphone. So we cranked up the volume and I was actually able to hear myself as these three lovely ladies started working on zapateado.

Now I'm no dance teacher but over the past 15 years, I've been to more dance classes than your average dance student. Well OK, I wasn't taking the classes but I was the accompanist and I still had to carefully listen to what the teacher said to the students. So in a way, I have learned a lot intellectually.

I gave Cindy, Isabel and Raquel whatever advice I could give about technique. But most of all I gave them what no dance teacher can give: feedback from an accompanist's perspective. You see, when the day comes that you're actually performing onstage with a guitarist, the quality of the performance weighs heavily on how well you communicate with that guitarist.

Part of that communication is verbal when you give a quick description of the choreographic sequence before the show and part of it is when you all else fails and you have to discreetly stage-whisper your demands onstage. e.g. "Escobilla!" or "Falseta!" or "Solo de pies!" But most of it will be communication through the dancing itself. If you're serious about becoming a performer, I highly recommend practicing as much as possible with a live guitarist and also getting this book by Paco Sevilla: Flamenco Dance: Secrets of the Professionals. A lot of the advice I would give dancers myself, Paco already covers in great detail in this book.

OK, I digressed. As the rehearsal progressed, Cindy's family and friends came down to check us out and we basically gave a little performance for them. Then it was the family's turn to return the favor. Cindy and her dad perfofmed the marinera, a Peruvian folk dance...

August 6, 2006 8:04pm

Then the family joined in and we had a musical jam session...

August 6, 2006 8:53pm

We topped off the evening with a delicious dinner prepared by Cindy's mom. It was a pork dish called chancho which, interestingly, reminded me of a filipino/Spanish dish called adobo. It was accompanied by white rice with peas and pearl onions, caesar salad and baked potatoes with rosemary. Of course they also had some orange-colored salsa picante which I absolutely loved and of course lots of red wine! There was plenty of food to go around so I gladly helped myself to several servings. However, with all this wine and food and fun, I was ready go to sleep (and it was only 10:30pm). I got home a little after midnight, surfed the Internet for an hour and went to bed. Overall a very satisfying evening! My thanks to Cindy, Raquel, Isabel and Cindy's family for everything.

Posted by Miguelito at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Claudia, Miguelito and Ginette Perea. August 5, 2006 9:51pm (photo by Youssef)

This is the only DC area tablao, where the performance is outdoors. When we open up with Sevillanas, it's like announcing to the courtyard "The show's about to start!". And all of a sudden the crowd gathers around the outdoor patio of Tapeo to watch. There are even people who "park" some chairs in front of the restaurant for the best view--although I wish they would actually order something--the food at Tapeo is pretty good! Now that we had our audience comfortably seated, we continue with the dance solos.

Thank God the humidity wasn't as bad as last week. Of course, we still worked up a sweat as we poured our heart and soul into our performance, but the more pleasant weather helped to lure more people out of their air-conditioned condos to get out and enjoy a perfect evening of flamenco, friends, tapas, cool drinks and fresh air.

The dancers were Claudia and Ginette Perea. This was the first time the two performed together and judging by the enthusiastic response of the audience, together, with my fabulous accompaniment (hehe), we put on a pretty good show. It's more than just dancing, singing (Claudia provided the cante) and playing guitar with feeling. We performers have to act as a team, being sensitive to each other artistically and at the same time connect with the audience. It's hard to explain, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you get enough experience onstage.

My friend Carla promised she'd email some pics from the performance. In the meantime, here are a few of the people who come out and support us.

UPDATE: Carla just sent me some pics...

Ginette, Miguelito and Claudia. August 5, 2006 8:07pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 8:07pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 8:10pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 8:10pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 8:56pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 8:59pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:03pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:07pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:12pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:13pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:13pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:17pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:20pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:24pm (photo by Carla)

August 5, 2006 9:24pm (photo by Carla)

Ginette, Miguelito and Carla Pacheco. August 5, 2006 9:55pm (photo by Claudia)

Carla, a former high school classmate of Ginette's, is currently studying with María Roncal at DC Dance Collective.

Miguelito and flamenco fan. August 5, 2006 9:56pm (photo by Claudia)

One of our most enthusiastic fans. He comes just about every week. I should at least teach him a few jaleos.

Andy, James, Ginette and Alex. August 5, 2006 10:02pm

You remember James. He usually comes to our show at Cabanas. I think this was his first time to enjoy the show here at Tapeo. He brought along his friends, Andy and Alex, that he's known since high school.

Sandra, Ginette and Gina. August 5, 2006 10:06pm

Family friend Sandra, Ginette and her mom Gina.

Check back here later, for pics from the show. As for tonight, no gig, but I am meeting up with some dancer friends for a flamenco jam session. It'll be fun and of course I'll try to get some pics. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mariya, Miguelito and Ginette Perea. August 4, 2006 9:41pm (photo by Branko)

It's 4:33am on Saturday. Yeah, I really should go straight to bed late as it is already, but c'mon, staying up for a another few minutes more to post these pics won't do much harm. :-)

Last night was a good night at Cabanas. It was the first time in a few months that I had both Mariya and Ginette Perea performing with me in the same evening. And it so happened that we had a full house plus the audience was very responsive but with so many people in the dining area we didn't have much space between the stage and the nearby tables so it made the job of this evening's volunteer photographer, Branko, much more difficult.

Ginette in soleá por bulerías. August 4, 2006 9:49pm (photo by Branko)

For one thing, he couldn't get close enough to the stage without having to stand in front of a customer's line of sight. I had to crop out the audience members from these pics to focus the attention on us performers. The important thing is that you can see that we are focused in the moment and having a good time.

Mariya in tientos. August 4, 2006 9:57pm (photo by Branko)

I gotta remind Branko to take a lot more pics (he only took four during the show). It's OK. I have a feeling he'll be showing up a lot at future performances anyway, so he'll get to practice using my camera and hopefully get more good shots.

Here's a nice pic of Branko and Ginette...

Branko and Ginette. August 4, 2006 10:22pm

It's almost 5:00am. It's getting pretty late, even for me. Off to bed now!

One last thing: tonight (Saturday) I'll be performing at Tapeo with dancers Ginette Perea and Claudia. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 4:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dana Shoenberg in soleá. August 1, 2006 8:55pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

Yeah, I've been slacking on the blog. Don't know what to tell ya, except that this stifllingy hot weather makes me lazy. Anywayz, I don't feel like writing but at least here are a few pics from the past few days. Enjoy!

August 1, 2006 8:56pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

August 1, 2006 8:58pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

Sarah Hart in tientos. August 1, 2006 9:08pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

August 1, 2006 9:08pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

August 1, 2006 9:10pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

It's summertime and it was hot so Carla, Dana and Sarah joined me for some après-flamenco ice cream, yum! August 1, 2006 10:11pm

Meanwhile at more or less the same time at Red Maple in Baltimore, some of my friends were doing their part to introduce flamenco art and culture to the general public...

Cesar and José of Duende Camarón. August 1, 2006 (photo by Javier Bustamante)

Tamara Sol. August 1, 2006 (photo by Javier Bustamante)

Tamara and Fausti. August 1, 2006 (photo by Javier Bustamante)

Despite not having a gig Wednesday, I just had to get out of the house. But I still had to do some catching up on email and thank God my new Palm TX Handheld (one of my birthday presents, thank you) has wireless Internet capability. So I went to a mega bookstore with air conditioning, found myself a comfy chair and went to work!

Do you know which bookstore has this fabulous view? August 2, 2006 3:05pm

Checking Yahoo! mail on a tiny but bright screen. August 2, 2006 3:08pm

I had the night off so I decided to support my fellow flamencos at Las Tapas.

On the way to Las Tapas: it's already 7:30pm, enough already, go away sun! ;-) August 2, 2006 7:29pm

Sara Jerez listening as Behzad Habibzai plays the intro to Guajiras. August 2, 2006 8:07pm

Sara and Behzad in soleá. August 2, 2006 8:22pm

August 2, 2006 8:23pm

August 2, 2006 8:26pm

August 2, 2006 8:28pm

As for tonight, I'll be performing at the Andalucía Restaurant with dancer Sarah Hart. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On the far right is Samantha, a young flamenco dancer visiting from Venezuela, her mom Valerie, her father Juan and grandmother Ginny. July 31, 2006 9:37pm

It's 11:05am on Tuesday as I type these words. Didn't get any good pics from the show last night, oh well. But at least I have a few of the wonderful people who came to see us perform.

I'm little groggy right now cuz I didn't get enough sleep the previous night. Thing is that I got a last minute call to give some school shows for Monday morning. Normally I'd sleep in relatively late (by 9-to-5 people's standards) but I had to get up at 7:30am, shower, get dressed etc, and transport myself, my guitar and sound system to a summer camp program at a school in Arlington.

You know me...with the many dancers I work with in the tablaos I usually have no time to rehearse, let alone finding out who the dancers will be until they walk onstage. So I'm mentally prepared to expect to wing it pretty much all the time. Such was the case yesterday morning (Monday).

The first school show was scheduled to begin at 9:30am. I arrived, checked out the performance space and had the sound setup by 9:15am but still no dancer. By now the classroom was filling up with 40 or so elementary school age students. Very well behaved and already giving me that innocent look in their eyes as if to say, "OK, mister, what are you going to teach us?"

I was already going over a worst case scenario: what to do if the dancer does not arrive. How will I fill-up my alloted presentation time and keep the attention of young children for the full duration? I consulted one of the teachers who was the resident guitar teacher and he gave me the run-down of what the students know about the guitar and music in general and what to focus on. Nice!

Miguelito, Berdan Ozbey, Asha Aysegul Ozbey, Yildiz Ozbey and Christopher Kobar. July 31, 2006 9:57pm

At about show time, the dancer arrived which meant we'd have to wait another five minutes or so while she quickly changed into costume. In her defense, it's always a little disorienting to arrive at a large school building, not knowing which entrance to use, finding many doors locked and wandering the labrynthine network of hallways to find the way to the main office.

This was summer camp, so the overall attitude of the staff was laid back. Our presentation was meant to educate and to entertain with an emphasis on the latter.

Danielle and Jason Vera y Aragón. July 31, 2006 10:43pm

We opened up with a fandangos de Huelva so we could demonstrate the use of the castanets. Kids love castanets! I admit I did flub a couple of notes because I was going over my presentation as I played the guitar--bad, bad, bad!

Then it finally dawned on me how I'd enlighten these children about one of the cool concepts about flamenco: that the dancer leads the guitarist. Since this was a music camp, I assumed that these kids were being classically trained and learning about reading standard music notation.

So I asked the group, "How many of you play the guitar?" and nearly everyone's hand went up.

"OK, now how many of you know how to read music?" and more or less the same number of hands went up.

"In flamenco, we guitarists never have music stands in front of us, but still we 'read' something else to know what notes to play on the guitar. Can anyone tell me what that is?" This time only a scant few hands went up and I randomly chose the first person who caught me eye.

"The dancer," a young girl said.

"That's right! Let's give her a hand.

Then we went on to demonstrate a bulerías where the dancer would perform an unpredetermined number of compases and end with a llamada to demonstrate this concept.

Preeta, Sarika, Miguelito and Monica. July 31, 2006 10:51pm

I'm not going to talk about our whole presentation, but you get the idea. We repeated the presentation at two other schools and were done by 1:00pm. I was so ready to go back to bed, which I did. Woke up at 5:00pm, took a cold shower to wake up, got dressed and made it to Citron to setup the sound and lights.

Aseel, Miguelito and Rae. July 31, 2006 11:58pm

What was annoying was that this couple decided to sit on the couch where I normally setup my sound system. But I couldn't tell a paying customer to leave. So I just took a leisurely walk around Dupont and I was hungry anyway so i got myself an early dinner of kubideh kabob at Moby Dick, yum!

Turned out that the couple didn't leave until 10 minutes before showtime, grrrr, so I didn't get the stage setup when I wanted to. So many cables and buttons and other details to be mindful of and it certainly doesn't help when you're rushed. So I didn't get the sound setup the way I wanted to which was kinda annoying but when it came time for the show, I just had to let it go and devote my emotional energy to the performance.

A number of people in the audience contacted me a few days earlier to tell me they were coming for the show. I always love having friends in the audience. Among them were Samantha, a flamenco dancer from Venezuela (performing at a tablao in Caracas called El Jaleo in El Hatillo) and her family, Chris Kobar and his girlfriend Asha and family, and of course my good friends Sarika, Preeta, Monica and Neha.

Overall it was a good night, but by the time I arrived home (around 1:30am), I went straight to bed and quickly fell asleep.

For tonight, I actually know who the dancers will be: Dana Shoenberg and Sarah Hart. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)