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...