November 29, 2006 3:19pm

It's 12:36am on Thursday as I type these words. Got a serious amount of sleep on Wednesday, my day off after which I seriously needed to get out for some fresh air and stretch my legs. So I walked from my house, the Pink Flamenco about two miles all the way down to American University's Katzen Arts Center where the Spanish Embassy organized an exhibition of Carlos Saura's photographic work.

The majority of the photos document several of Saura's flamenco films including Bodas de Sangre (1981), Carmen (1983), Sevillanas (1992) and Flamenco (1995). Next to many of the framed large format black and whilte photos are placards with commentary giving insight into Saura's thoughts as he captured famous flamenco artists in action or just relaxing between takes.

I just took a few pics to give you little taste. If you want to see more, you'll have to go to the exhibition yourself...

November 29, 2006 3:22pm

I love this space...the curving walls teasingly keep the upcoming photos just enough out of view that you have to keep on moving to see the next ones.

November 29, 2006 3:25pm

This photos are arranged chronologically starting with behind-the-scenes shots of Bodas de Sangre and end with shots from Flamenco and an eclectic collection of individual portraits and candids from rehearsals..

November 29, 2006 3:31pm

Here are some close-ups from the film Sevillanas...

Camarón and Tomatito. November 29, 2006 3:32pm

Paco de Lucía and Manolo Sanlúcar. November 29, 2006 3:41pm

Sevillanas de Lebrija. November 29, 2006 3:46pm

November 29, 2006 3:51pm

This last one is from the film, Flamenco. Can you name the artist and palo?

November 29, 2006 3:59pm

If you're not familiar with the name Carlos Saura, here's a short bio in English at esflamenco.com and here's his official website in Spanish.

The exhibition at American University's Katzen Arts Center opened on November 14th, 2006 and will be up until January 21st, 2007. Viewing hours are 11:00am to 4:00pm Tuesday through Sunday. For details, visit the museum's website.

Posted by Miguelito at 12:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Sara Jerez and Anna Menéndez in Sevillanas. November 28, 2006 7:58pm (photo by Brian)

It's 6:12am on Wednesday as I type these words. This is unusual for me to naturally wake up at this hour but you know how I've been talking about my body clock being messed up again, right? Interestingly when I stopped by Olsson's Books in Old Town Alexandria yesterday (Tuesday) I came across this book: Take a Nap! Change your Life by Sara Mednick, PhD.

OK, ok...the idea of taking naps or of simply just getting a good night's rest to improve mental and physical health it's not exactly a new concept. I only skimmed the first two chapters and I found it hard to put the book down. It starts off with a brief history of how earlier civilizations practiced something called multiphasic sleep--basically meaning heeding the body's natural need for two or more sleep phases in a 24-hour period.

Prehistoric man supposedly slept several times a day for short periods for reasons of survival...he and his fellow cave dwellers had to take shifts to keep a lookout for predators. Fast forward to modern times, we no longer have to worry much about predators. We, Americans especially, try to squeeze our body's natural recuperation period in a single eight hour period each night---but if you're like most increasingly busy Americans, you probably get slightly less than eight.

Did you know that in ancient times, the Romans traditionally slept in two phases? At night and at noon. Noon was called sexta, meaning "sixth hour" according to the ancient Roman sundial. Anywayz, this word for the midday nap, sexta, later became the word siesta. The question I pose for you: do we need to go back to the tradition of taking an afternoon siesta?

Sara Jerez in Guajiras. November 28, 2006 8:03pm (photo by Brian)

November 28, 2006 8:04pm (photo by Brian)

November 28, 2006 8:05pm (photo by Brian)

Of course, introducing the idea of an afternoon siesta probably won't sit well with productivity-oriented corporate America. The author explains scientificially the benefits of taking an afternoon nap, not for several hours as a traditional siesta would require, but for a shorter period. And it also tries to break the stigma of napping as something only lazy people do. It seems the author hopes that corporate America will take notice of the productivity and health benefits of napping and perhaps someday soon, the idea of taking an afternoon nap will become a standard part of an American workday.

Anna Menéndez in soleá. November 28, 2006 8:07pm (photo by Brian)

November 28, 2006 8:08pm (photo by Brian)

November 28, 2006 8:09pm (photo by Brian)

OK, so I went off on a tangent, but it's a topic that's on my mind that I think might interest you anyway. But last night as I was onstage at Las Tapas, I realized that my performance level dropped noticeably mostly due to sleep-deprivation from this past weekend. I wasn't as mentally- focused as I usually am. And while my sleep schedule can be irregular sometimes, I'm hoping to find some kind of a solution. For those occasional times when simply getting a good night's rest isn't an option, taking naps seems to be a remedy. I'll stop by the bookstore today and continue reading this book, apply some of the techniques over the next few weeks and give you a report on my progress.

Oh yeah, and thanks to my guitarist friend Brian for taking pics.

It's Wednesday and I don't have a show tonight, yay! How am I going to spend this day? Well, I'm going to the Carlos Saura flamenco photo exhibition and spend quality time with a friend or two. One of those friends right now is my bed which is calling out to me as I type these words. So, I'm signing off for now. Good night! ;-)

Posted by Miguelito at 1:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Mariya, Samantha Zerpa and Miguelito. November 27, 2006 9:21pm (photo by Ronaldo)

It's 1:45am on Tuesday as I type these words. Although I consider myself a late night person, my body clock is so out of whack from this weekend that I'm actually feeling pretty sleepy right now. Ugh. But I can squeeze in a few minutes here to blog before I totally fade.

Anywayz, our singer Gerard Moreno was under a tight deadline to finish up some music-related research and had to excuse himself from the Citron gig at the last minute. Luckily I got dancer Samantha Zerpa to fill-in for him again. Thanks Samantha!

One of our regulars, Ronaldo, volunteered to be my photographer for the evening, but I didn't get around to asking him until the second show, so I only have a few pics. But what's especially cool is that in these few pics you can appreciate how much Samantha uses her facial expression to add that extra touch of drama that engages the audience.

Remember when I mentioned this in a previous blog? The audience truly wants to see you enjoying yourself onstage. And when they see it they respond either through enthusiastic applause, jaleos or heartfelt compliments after the show.

OK, I'll just shut up now and let you enjoy the pics. :-) I gotta go to bed pretty soon anyway...

Sevillanas. November 27, 2006 9:22pm (photo by Ronaldo)

November 27, 2006 9:24pm (photo by Ronaldo)

Samantha in alegrías. November 27, 2006 9:26pm (photo by Ronaldo)

November 27, 2006 9:28pm (photo by Ronaldo)

Mariya in tientos. November 27, 2006 9:32pm (photo by Ronaldo)

Mariya's already using bits and pieces of the tientos choreography she learned recently at Nélida Tirado's workshop here in DC.

November 27, 2006 9:32pm (photo by Ronaldo)

November 27, 2006 9:39pm (photo by Ronaldo)

I hope you enjoyed the pics. OK, it's 1:59am now. Yawn! Goodnight!

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Dance students Emily and Sarah with guitarist Juan Delgado. November 26, 2006 12:11am

Whew! It's 12:24am on Monday as I type these words. It's been a busy day. After going to bed at 4:00am after the Sala Rociera party, I got up at 9:00am, published a blog about Ana Martinez at 11:00am, went back to bed and woke up again at 7:00pm, published a blog about Tapeo, went out with a friend to the movies at 8:00pm (saw Borat again) and now here I am again back at the computer and finally getting around to publishing pics from the Sala Rociera and I still got more work to do. Ugh. But hey, it's all flamenco-related stuff so it's all good.

On Saturday, after a fun night at Tapeo performing with Ginette Perea and Sarah Hart and hanging out with friends (see previous blog entry), I made home to the Pink Flamenco around midnight expecting it to be a slow night on account of the fact that it was Thanksgiving weekend. Boy was I wrong! It was packed with people!

I had space heaters turned on all day to warm-up the party room/dance studio, but it seems that with all the people we had squeezed in here, we generated enough heat on our own. Hehe. In fact the windows were fogging up.

Saw a lot of familiar faces and some new ones. As much as I wanted to, I did not get around to meeting all the new faces. It's very encouraging to know that word is spreading little by little. We do put out a decent amount of publicity about these parties. People do know about it. I'm pretty sure of it. It's just a matter of convincing them all to make the effort to come out. It's just a matter of time.

Behzad Habibzai, Jason Marcinski, Ramin Rad, Jen and Richard Marlow. November 26, 2006 12:42am

In the above pic, by sheer coincidence, all in one place stood the DC members of the Flamenco-Teacher.com forum.

Sevillanas line dancing. November 26, 2006 12:57am

The "Pavorotti" of cante flamenco in DC: Torcuato Zamora with Edwin Aparicio doing palmas, Jason Vera y Aragón on cajón and Ramin Rad accompanying on guitar (not pictured). :-) November 26, 2006 1:11am

More Sevillanas line dancing. November 26, 2006 1:13am

Eventually, it would be great to get dance students from a wider variety of local flamenco schools to come to the Sala Rociera parties. Laurel-based teacher Natalia Monteleón has managed to convince many of her dance students to come. This was very evident when she asked them to all come up and dance Fandangos de Huelva with live guitar and cante provided by Torcuato Zamora. There were more people "onstage" than in the audience!

Fandangos de Huelva. November 26, 2006 1:25am

I encourage students from other schools to come to future parties. Besides the social opportunity of meeting other local flamenco students, you can try out your Sevillanas or other choreographies with live flamenco music. It's a good reality-check in your flamenco education. You've heard me rant about this before: recorded music is fun to a certain point, but you can't interact with a recording. Think about the reverse: can you imagine a guitarist accompanying a video?

Dancing with live music in some ways is more difficult because as a dancer you need to communicate what you want solely through the clear confidence in your movements. On the other hand a live musician can accomodate the dancer if she forgets a section or accidentaly gets out of compás. But more importantly, the live musician will support the emotional expression of the dancer and reflect that feeling in the music he spontaneously creates on the guitar. It's a pretty cool feeling when the guitarist notices every little nuance of your dancing and plays something to musically support it.

Recordings are good to a certain point. But eventually as a flamenco, you'll be dancing with live music. Might as well get exposed to it early. Don't become one of those "advanced" students who can perform complex choreographies with a recording but can't work with a guitarist to save her life. :-)

Oops. Looks like I did go off on a little rant anyway. Anywayz, back to reporting on the party...

November 26, 2006 1:31am

November 26, 2006 1:36am

Even Baltimore-based teacher/dancer Tamara Sol showed up and stayed 'til the end. She was smart enough to arrange to crash at a friend's house. November 26, 2006 1:37am

Sometimes I half-jokingly call Tamara the "sexy scientist." You see, three years ago, we had a Halloween party here at the Pink Flamenco and she arrived wearing a white lab coat, designer black frame eyeglasses etc--checkout the pics. Funny thing is that in real life she is a scientist and I'm sure most guys will agree with me on this: Tamara is sexy. Hehe.

Of course I've gotta mention my friend Carol Basilio who came all the way out from Philly to be at this party. Unfortunately, I didn't get her in any of my photos that night. Oh well. Where were you hiding Carol??? :-)

Kike, Emily, Sarah and Juan. November 26, 2006 1:38am

November 26, 2006 1:39am

Tamara doing a little bulerías solo. November 26, 2006 1:47am

Natalia Monteleón's turn to do a solo. November 26, 2006 1:49am

Carlton Ashton' turn. November 26, 2006 1:51am

Sarah, Pam and Emily get up to do a little bulería choreography. November 26, 2006 1:55am

November 26, 2006 1:56am

Tamara and Juan dancing Sevillanas. November 26, 2006 2:25am

Pam and Jason in Sevillanas. November 26, 2006 2:25am

Behzad congratulating Emily on her palmas. November 26, 2006 2:27am

Carlton and Jen doing the seated version of Sevillanas as Jason provides palmas. November 26, 2006 2:28am

Natalie and Pam doing Sevillanas. November 26, 2006 2:28am

Pam and Carlton in Sevillanas. November 26, 2006 2:31am

We're skipping the month of December on account of holiday-related schedule conflicts. So the Sala Rociera committee decided to schedule the next party on Saturday January 27, 2007. Mark your calendars! That gives you about two months to at least brush up on your Sevillanas. Get to work! :-)

It's 1:39am now. I managed to publish three blog entries in a 24-hour period. Pretty good, no? It's not just writing commentary. I have to select and edit photos too. It's labor-intensive but it's all in the name of flamenco. And through my photo blog, if I can persuade just one more person every now and then to come out to a local flamenco show or Sala Rociera party, I'll consider all my hard work a success. Going to take a nap for a few hours and work on some more stuff for my website. Goodnight for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sarah Hart. November 25, 2006 9:17pm (photo by Serenity)

It's 7:26pm on Sunday as I type these words. Around 11:00am this morning, I published a quick blog entry and decided to take a break, lay down and take a short nap. That short nap turned out to be eight hours long! It's OK. I needed it. Saturday was a long but very satisfying early day and late night. But I'm dying to get out of the house so I'm meeting up with a dancer friend around 8:00pm to go the movies and maybe get some dinner. That's half an hour from now, so I'll make this quick.

Anywayz, so after playing for Ana Martinez's class (see previous blog entry), I met up with a few dancer friends at El Patio and got some Argentinian food for a late lunch before heading down to Las Tapas around 6:00pm to pick up my sound system and transport it to Tapeo in time for my 7:30pm show.

The dancers were Ginette Perea and Sarah Hart. If you recall from last week, Ginette had a major car accident and although she didn't break any bones, she did have some whiplash and was a bit traumatized. But she recovered quickly and was more than happy to get back to dancing less than a week later. Good to have you back Ginette!

November 25, 2006 9:20pm (photo by Serenity)

It was an especially good show. Sometimes, everything just falls into place just right and when it does, you enjoy it while it lasts. My system was sounding good and my week-old strings were broken-in and making my guitar "sing" clearly while bringing out all the delicious harmonic overtones that make each strum of the guitar pure pleasure. And despite my sleep deprivation, I was in an especially good mood. I was happy to see Ginette. It was the first time I had seen her since the accident. I guess she was overwhelmed by how nicely I was treating her that she jokingly said to me, "Hmmm, I should get into accidents more often!" :-)

We had a number of friends in the audience including guitarist Charlie Moeser (from Richmond), Sarah's sister Lydia, Chris Kobar, Rachel and Serenity. We made some new friends including Charlotte and Gilberto.

It also had been a few weeks since I played for Sarah and she was dancing especially well.

Ginette Perea. November 25, 2006 9:25pm (photo by Serenity)

November 25, 2006 9:26pm (photo by Serenity)

It's days like these when I try to remember everything I did so I can repeat it all and make the day yet another day perfect! This is how pre-show rituals originate, for those of you who are superstitious. So what did I do differently on this particular Saturday? I played for Ana Martinez's class, got a juicy t-bone steak at El Patio.

November 25, 2006 9:25pm (photo by Serenity)

November 25, 2006 9:27pm (photo by Serenity)

November 25, 2006 9:27pm (photo by Serenity)

Chris Kobar, Serenity, Miguelito and Ginette. November 25, 2006 9:50pm (photo by Rachel)

My dinner. November 25, 2006 9:57pm

It's like 7:55pm and I should get ready to go out so I'll end this blog here and sign off for now. I'll be back late tonight to add the pics from Saturday night's Sala Rociera and a couple of other things. It's going to be another long night, but let's face it. I know that much about myself: night-time's when I do my best work. Ciao!

Posted by Miguelito at 7:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

November 25, 2006 10:53am

It's not too often that I get time off on a Saturday. Normally I'd play for classes at the American Dance Institute but it was closed for Thanksgiving weekend. So I took advantage of this holiday to go checkout Ana Martinez's classes and take pictures of her studio in her new home in Potomac, Maryland.

When you first walk in, you will notice the wooden relief sculpture on your left. In this next pic you can greater detail including a depiction of a female dancer in a bata de cola. I'm told that this is a representation of Ana Martinez. Very cool!

Closeup of the sculpture. November 25, 2006 10:53am

After some of the students put on their practice skirts, we checked out the framed black and white photos of Ana in her younger years...

November 25, 2006 10:54am

November 25, 2006 10:54am

November 25, 2006 10:55am

November 25, 2006 10:55am

While I do have some fond memories of Ana's old studio in Arlington, I do like this new one much better. It's more spacious. The floor is so much better. And the windows let the sunlight in on a clear Saturday morning. Of course, each person has their own personal preferences, but if I was a dance student, I'd consider this a great environment for learning.

November 25, 2006 10:56am

The turnout was decent considering that many people usually go out of town for Thanksgiving weekend. But another student or two came rushing in right at 11:00am. They lined up in two rows as Ana entered the studio, greeted them briefly and began the class. This first hour they focused on technique begininning with a variety of challenging footwork patterns in the rhythm of seguiriyas.

Look at the mirror on the right, next to Isabel. You'll see a reflection of guitarist Paco de Málaga, Ana's husband. He came down to say hello and spent a few minutes providing palmas but had to leave to open up his store, the Guitar Gallery, in Cleveland Park.

November 25, 2006 11:00am

Ana is a very demanding instructor, and rightly so. Flamenco is not easy and if you're not doing the step right, she'll tell you right then and there. For the student, this is a good thing. You get immediate feedback on your progress. And while many students quietly dread when the teacher says, "OK, show me the step, one by one," it's probably the most valuable part of a group class. Yeah, I feel your pain, but trust me on this: this is good for you, really!

Daniela demonstrates her knowledge of the footwork pattern as Ana watches carefully. November 25, 2006 11:29am

Now it's Isabel's turn. November 25, 2006 11:29am

I was kind of put on the spot myself, when Paco asked me to play for the class. The main reason why I was here was to take pics and give you my readers yet another little peek into the DC flamenco scene. But I couldn't pass up this opportunity, plus Paco offered to let me play his personal instrument, a Conde Hermanos, the "Cadillac" of flamenco guitars!

Miguelito playing for Ana's class. November 25, 2006 11:46am

Back in 1997, I did a concert with Paco and Ana at Virginia Commonwealth University and obviously spent a good amount of time rehearsing and learning their material. But this was the first time that I played for one of Ana's classes.

Bear in mind that each teacher has her own style of cueing the guitarist. Some will countdown the compas "seven, EIGHT, nine TEN!" Others will just clap out the rhythm without saying a word and expect the guitarist, in this case me, to hear the accents and catch the compás instantly. As a guitarist, it's not the end of the world if you don't catch it the first time like I did, but you do lose a point or two of confidence from the teacher if you don't make up for it the second time around. In a way, a dance class is like a show. The guitarist and the teacher are giving a presentation to the students who are paying their hard-earned money to learn, so pay attention and concentrate!

Ana demonstrating the step. November 25, 2006 12:43pm

Got a LOT of blogging to do today, so I'm going to cut it here for now, take a break before getting back to work editing photos and writing about last night's gig at Tapeo and the Sala Rociera party, drafting a little promo for Edwin's upcoming show and transcribing a recorded interview with a relatively new local flamenco artist.

I went to bed at 4:00am this morning and got up around 9:00am. Despite the long night, I'm wide awake and feel fine. But it'll catch up to me and eventually I'll have to catch up on sleep. Hehe. I'm not complaining though. I'm living the flamenco life, so to speak. Although it would be nice every now and then to have some kind of regular schedule with consideration for a decent night's sleep. :-)

Anywayz, I hope you enjoyed this little peek into Ana's classes and that you'll consider giving her a try. I'll do an interview with Ana and Paco sometime soon. In the meantime, you can get more info by calling 301-299-0054.

Posted by Miguelito at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Raquel and Isabelita. November 24, 2006 7:41pm

It's 2:11am on Saturday as I type these words. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving (at least those of my readers living in the USA). I know I did.

Anywayz, Friday I had the night off from my gig at Cabanas for the Thanksgiving weekend. With a free Friday night I had to decide what to do? I chose to go and support my fellow flamencos at Tapeo, where they just started presenting a Sevillanas floor show on Friday nights--and don't forget about the Saturday night flamenco shows with yours truly.

As I was taking the metro and walking to Tapeo, it felt a bit odd not having a guitar case hanging off my left shoulder. Made me have occasional moments of panic, where I muttered to myself, "Aw $#!*, I forgot my guitar...oh never mind!" :-)

The dancers were Isabelita and Raquel, both of whom study flamenco with Ana Martinez. Isabelita's sister Gabriela (a former guitar student of Torcuato) and her mother Isabel were there too. And I just happened notice one of Natalia Monteleón's former students, Alicia Arroyo, having dinner with a friend in the back.

Enough talk. Here are da pics...

November 24, 2006 8:16pm

November 24, 2006 8:17pm

November 24, 2006 8:23pm

November 24, 2006 8:23pm

November 24, 2006 8:24pm

November 24, 2006 8:26pm

November 24, 2006 8:30pm

November 24, 2006 8:35pm

November 24, 2006 8:36pm

Raquel and Isabelita after the show. November 24, 2006 9:05pm

I was so in the mood to go out, on account of the fact that I had no guitar and no sound equipment to drag along with me. But common sense dictates that I do need to save up my energy for a long Saturday night which will include my flamenco show at Tapeo AND the Sala Rociera flamenco party which will likely go on until 3:00am or later. So I better go to bed. Ciao!

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Bouncer Shaky, Emily, Quique and Kariné. November 20, 2006 10:12pm

It's 10:29am on Tuesday as I type these words. Good news: last night was a blast at Citron. Bad news: no pics from the show. Good reason for no pics: my volunteer photographer was so taken in by the show that she forgot to take pics. Hehe....good answer!

Our singer Gerard had important business to take care of last night, so in his place I got a second dancer for the show. Guess who? Yeah, I called Samantha again. And once again she came through for me at the last minute--I called her at 4pm-ish and the show was at 8pm!

So besides myself, Samantha and Mariya, Jason kindly offered his inspiring musical assistance with the cajón. I cranked up the volume for the audience on this surprisingly crowded Monday here at Citron. They responded enthusiastically which made Samantha's first time to perform here even more inspiring. At one of the seats near the stage, I even heard a guy tell his friend, "I didn't know they had flamenco here. This is sooo cool!"

Later, I got a text message from one of my flamenco friends telling me she and two others were on their way, so I postponed the second set until 9:30pm (normally we start a little after 9:00pm) and we started off with a mini Sevillanas fest giving each of our friends and chance to dance a copla.

Jason sang a few letras for Mariya's alegrías. I didn't bring a mic stand so I had Jason sit next to me and sing into my guitar microphone. It worked! Plus, I had to reposition my chair and it turned out I had a better view of Samantha as she performed her tangos. This time I could see through her facial expression that she was really getting into the music, the palmas, the jaleo, the energy of the crowd, the overall ambience and just having a great time which is a very important thing to do as a performer. Too often we get so overwhelmed about performing "perfectly" that we forget to let go, at least a little bit, and just have fun. Trust me on this. The audience does notice and they truly want to see you having a good time.

Anywayz, the rest o' the pics are just random shots of a few of the many friends that came out to support our show...

Aseel, Mariya, Miguelito, Kariné, Samantha, Jason and Danielle. November 20, 2006 10:16pm

Mariya, Miguelito and Samantha. November 20, 2006 10:22pm

Kariné and Miguelito. November 20, 2006 10:23pm

DJ Boris Gluck and Citron manager Nancy Medina. November 20, 2006 11:18pm

After the second set, a lot of people left. And just when I thought the party was going to fade, a second wave of people came in and the party continued. I ended up staying until 1:00am-ish. Good times!

Thanks again to all the wonderful people who come out and support our show. Tonight I'll be performing at Las Tapas then I'll be off for a few days for the Thanksgiving holiday. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Miguelito playing opening guitar solo at Cabanas. November 17, 2006 8:16pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

Originally, one of my favorite dancers Ginette Perea was scheduled to perform with me this past weekend, but unfortunately she had a major car accident late on Thursday night. She's fine now but had to excuse herself from this past weekend's gigs so she could recover from the trauma. I'll be sending her some flowers this week and if you'd like to include your name and a "get well wish" on the greeting card, just email me.

So I had to find a substitute dancer, and fast! Of course, I know just about all the performers in the DC area, however most of the ones that I would normally call to sub were either taking Nélida Tirado's workshop or were already booked to perform that night. Did you know that on Fridays, besides Cabanas, there are three other venues employing DC flamenco dancers? Tapeo, La Tasca Clarendon and La Tasca Old Town. With two dancers at each venue, that's a total of eight positions to fill every Friday night!

I decided to give the newly-arrived Samantha Zerpa a try. You may remember her from my recent blog entry about her show in Venezuela. She recently emailed me telling me she had just arrived back in Virginia. I gave her a call on Friday morning asking her to perform at Cabanas and she said yes!

Here are a few pics of Samantha's DC area tablao debut. Thanks to my friend Carla Pacheco for volunteering to be my photographer for the evening.

Samantha Zerpa in alegrías. November 17, 2006 8:22pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 17, 2006 8:22pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 17, 2006 8:22pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 17, 2006 8:23pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 17, 2006 8:26pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 17, 2006 9:13pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

Fast forward to the following night, Saturday, at Tapeo. Samantha did such a good job on Friday, I invited her to dance at Tapeo with Sarah Hart.

Sarah Hart in soleá at Tapeo. November 18, 2006 8:07pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 18, 2006 8:08pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 18, 2006 8:09pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 18, 2006 8:09pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

November 18, 2006 8:11pm (photo by Carla Pacheco)

Sarah, Miguelito and Samantha. November 18, 2006 9:14pm

After the show, I was invited to an intimate house party in DC with a few friends and...

A spectacular rooftop view of DC--that's the Washington monument on the horizon. November 18, 2006 11:11pm

Tapas galore. November 18, 2006 11:23pm

Guinness. November 18, 2006 11:30pm

Gran Marnier served in funky tilted tumblers. November 19, 2006 12:55am

We had a good time lounging around, conversing and listening to an eclectic variety of music and admiring my friend's collection of gargoyles. Hehe. After that last glass of delicious liquer at the end of the party, I was so mellowed out and sleepy and was so tempted to crash there, but I managed to prop myself up off the comfortable floor pillows that I was laying down on, stood up and after thanking our gracious hostess, made it out the door and arrived home a little after 3:00am.

Fast forward to Sunday, I woke up late and stopped by DC Dance Collective in time to play for Anna Menendez's 4:00pm class. It has been several months since I last played for her Sunday evening class, not to mention Estela Velez's Sunday afternoon classes at Joy of Motion. (Estela: I'll stop by your classes soon.)

I don't know, I guess I've been busy doing other things on my Sundays. Anywayz, it was good to be back although our class "cheerleader," the always vivacious Angélica, wasn't there to kick up the energy level a notch. But what was cool about this afternoon was that we worked on a palo that I'm not familiar with: bamberas. The only info I had to go on in figuring out how to accompany the bambera was the unfamiliar melody of the letra that Anna sang, that it had a solea por bulerías feel and that the key was por arriba. Here's a link that describes a bambera and includes an mp3 soundbite. Assuming what I read is true, the bambera is a folk song that has been flamenco-ized. Enough "research" for now.

It's 12:10am on Monday. Time for bed. With all these recent late nights and suddenly colder weather, I'm already feeling a hint of scratchiness in my throat. Can't afford to get sick. Good night!

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Jason Vera y Aragón and Kariné in Sevillanas. November 13, 2006 9:42pm (photo by Keith)

It's 10:20am on Tuesday as I type these words. I went to bed as soon as I got home last night and got a good night's rest, yay! So I'm going to finish up this blog entry and head out around noon to pick up my sound system at Citron, drop it off at Las Tapas, take care of a few other errands and chill out this afternoon.

So last night's show at Cafe Citron was pretty decent. The turnout wasn't bad for an unseasonably warm Monday in November. There was a very enthusiastic gathering of Venezuelans crowding behind the stage giving all kinds of jaleo and palmas. Kariné was telling me afterwards that when we got this one girl up to dance on our stage during the rumba, a lot of the guys in the club were practically lining up to watch, hehe. OK, so this girl was kind of cute anyway, but there's something exciting about being able to inspire someone from the audience to join our show.

What's interesting about the above pic is that photographer Keith captured Kariné in what seems to be a moment of calmness. I can't speak for her, of course, but the cool thing about flamenco is amount of satisfaction you can get out of it, even if it's just for a fleeting moment.

Anywayz, check out these other pics from the rest of the show...

Mariya in soleá. November 13, 2006 9:52pm (photo by Keith)

November 13, 2006 9:52pm (photo by Keith)

November 13, 2006 9:52pm (photo by Keith)

November 13, 2006 9:53pm (photo by Keith)

November 13, 2006 9:54pm (photo by Keith)

November 13, 2006 10:01pm (photo by Keith)

Kariné and Keith. November 13, 2006 10:12pm

Iulia, bouncer Shaky and manager Nancy Medina. November 13, 2006 10:14pm

It's not too often that I can get two of my "bosses" in one pic (see below). I used to perform on the weekends at El Rincón Español in Adams-Morgan with dancer Micaela Moreno from 1997-1998 when Victor was the chef and manager there. He's always been a supporter of flamenco over the years. Nancy is the Monday night manager at Citron and a good friend and just overall a very cool person. She knows her job and she treats the customers and people she works with very well.

Victor Martín and Nancy. November 13, 2006 10:18pm

After breaking down my sound system and lights, Jason and I went down Connecticut Ave to Julia's Empanadas for a quick late night bite and when we came back DJ Helio was playing a string of Arabic tracks that got Mariya and Aseel inspired...

Mariya and Aseel. November 13, 2006 11:08pm

November 13, 2006 11:09pm

It's 10:43am and I'm signing off. I'll be performing at Las Tapas tonight. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Furia Flamenca in Tangos. November 12, 2006 8:08pm

Last night (Sunday) I had the pleasure of attending an all-flamenco program at Joy of Motion's Jack Guidone Theater featuring Furia Flamenca, members of the Spanish Dance Society and guest artist Antonio Vargas.

I got there early enough (or so I thought) to get the best seat for taking pics. But half an hour to showtime there was already a long line waiting to get in. You'd think that with the suddenly cold weather and heavy rain, a good portion of the concertgoers would be discouraged from attending. Apparently not in this case.

I didn't really get a good look around the seating area (as I was busy quickly learning the numerous options on my friend's sophisticated digital camera) but if it wasn't sold out, it was certainly very close to it. I got a third row seat which wasn't bad since I was next to the aisle with a fairly clear view down the center of the stage, although occasionally my line of sight was blocked by the rows of people in front of me. It's OK. Kinda gives some of the pics a feel for what it's like really be there.

I didn't get around to using my camera until after the intermission so I wasn't able to show you pics from all the numbers (my apologies to the Spanish Dance Society). Here are the pics. Enjoy!

November 12, 2006 8:09pm

November 12, 2006 8:09pm

November 12, 2006 8:09pm

November 12, 2006 8:09pm

November 12, 2006 8:10pm

Torcuato Zamora, Antonio Vargas and Estela Velez. November 12, 2006 9:12pm

Antonio in Farruca. November 12, 2006 8:15pm

November 12, 2006 8:19pm

November 12, 2006 8:23pm

Fin de fiesta bulerías. November 12, 2006 8:26

November 12, 2006 8:26pm

November 12, 2006 8:28pm

November 12, 2006 8:28pm

November 12, 2006 8:30pm

November 12, 2006 8:30pm

Torcuato dances a bulería as Antonio accompanies on guitar. November 12, 2006 8:32pm

Backstage after the show...

Spanish Dance Society: Lourdes Elias and Allisa Bernstein. November 12, 2006 8:45pm

Bala Veerasawami and Lauren Raivel. November 12, 2006 8:47pm

Karina Valverde and Estela Velez. November 12, 2006 8:50pm

Antonio Vargas, Joy of Motion's executive and artistic director Douglas Yeuell and Ceci. November 12, 2006 8:50pm

Katherine Page, Estela Velez, Antonio Vargas, Aref Alvandy, Bala Veeraswami, Lauren Raivel, Sylvia Melecio, Torcuato Zamora, Daniel Paredez and Ceci. November 12, 2006 8:58pm

The program:

Alegrías del Monton (excerpt)
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Torcuato Zamora
Dancers: Furia Flamenca Company Members: Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Estela Velez
Apprentices: Jennifer Carmichael, Karina Valverde

Farruca
Choreography: Spanish Dance Society
Dancers: Students of JOMDC Flamenco/Spanish Dance Begginer classes: Adrienne Coleman, Paula Granada, Elizabeth Leavitt, Diana Manguilli, Maria Spangenberg, Marina Vergara

Soleá por Bulerías
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Manuel Salado
Dancers: Students from the Summer 2006 Flamenco Performance Class: Aref Alvandy, Marina Bornolova, Theresa Brown, Jennifer Carmichael, Mark Henricksen, Lauren Raivel, Kathedrine Page, Daniel Paredez, Carla Roque-Cruz, Heidi Thibodeau, Karina Valverde

Maruja Limón (Rumba Flamenca)
Choreography: Spanish Dance Society
Dancers: Students of JOMDC Flamenco/Spanish Dance Teen Class: Emma Baker, Allisa Bernstein, Sophie De Weal, Lourdes Elias (instructor), Lilly Thomas, Kayla Quinn

Guajiras
Music: Las Guitarras de España
Dancers: Selected students from the Summer 2005 Flamenco Performance Class: Lauren Raivel, Ramona Jackson, Karina Valverde

Alegrías
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Torcuato Zamora
Dancer: Estela Velez

Intermission

Fandangos de Huelva
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Torcuato Zamora
Dancers: Furia Flamenca Company Members: Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Estela Velez
Apprentices: Katie Brady, Heidi Thibodeau, Karina Valverde, Bala Veeraswami

Paseo del Rocío (Sevillanas)
Choreography: Spanish Dance Society
Music: Torcuato Zamora
Dancers: Spanish Dance Young Adults: Allisa Berstein and Lourdes Elias (instructor), Kayla Quinn

Tangos
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Torcuato Zamora
Dancers: Furia Flamenca Company Members: Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Estela Velez
Apprentices: Aref Alvandy, Katie Brady, Antonio Castro-Ossorio, Teresa Cepada, Jennifer Carmichael, Dana Herndon, Ramona Jackson, Daniel Paredez, Lauren Raivel, Nikki Strong, Heidi Thibodeau, Karina Valverde, Bala Veeraswami

Guitar Solo
Performer: Torcuato Zamora

Farruca
Choreography: Antonio Vargas
Music Torcuato Zamora
Dancer: Antonio Vargas

Fin de Fiesta!

Here's the link to the Washington Post's review of the show. Also check out this article I wrote about Antonio five years ago titled "Baile is part of a trilogy."

Posted by Miguelito at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Aru and Miguelito. November 4, 2006 1:00am

Just a quick blog entry to sum up my weekend. Sorry no pics of flamenco this time, but as wonderful as flamenco is, it's good to get a little bit of something else to balance things out don't you think? Anywayz, after my Friday night gig at Cabanas, I headed over to Dupont Circle for a party at Aru's apartment. You remember Aru, she's the one who helped me put together a show at the International Student House two years in a row.

So it was a dinner party featuring dishes from Spain and India, yum!. I did meet a flamenco dancer there just by chance. Her name is Cristina. But I wasn't able to convince her to dance some Sevillanas for the guests, oh well. I invited her to come to Citron for my Monday night flamenco show. There was a contingent of Desi so I requested Aru to put on some bhangra...

Bhangra dancing. November 4, 2006 1:21am

Fast foward to Saturday evening...I did my usual gig at Tapeo and enjoyed a pan of paella and a sampling of tapas from one of my dancers.

Paella clasica--seafood paella with shrimp, mussels, cod, scallops and squid. November 4, 2006 9:58pm

Champiñones al ajillo--mushrooms sauteed in garlic butter and parsley. November 4, 2006 10:15pm

Carpaccio manchego--ultrathin slices of beef dressed with olive oil, Manchego cheese and olives. November 4, 2006 10:15pm

Almost finished! November 4, 2006 10:15pm

Vieras al azafrán--sauteed scallops in saffron cream sauce. November 4, 2006 10:17pm

Fun evening combination: flamenco, spanish food and ice skating (not necessarily in that order).

Ice skating rink in front of tapeo. November 4, 2006 10:38pm

After Tapeo, headed across street (to my former apartment building) and to join the party already in progress...

Just-for-fun gambling--no real money involved. November 5, 2006 12:48am

Plenty of alcohol. November 5, 2006 2:29am

Fun friends. November 5, 2006 2:52am

Gorgeous view. November 5, 2006 3:02am

Didn't get to bed until 4 or 5am so I pretty much slept in all day Sunday and woke up in time to catch a the last showing of Borat at 9:50pm at my neighborhood cinema and believe it or not it was nearly sold out!

Got home after midnight and I just felt in the mood to work on something new for my website: an interactive map. Check it out.

As for tonight, I'll be at Cafe Citron and I'm sure I'll have some flamenco pics for ya. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Samantha (left) with a fellow dancer. October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

I first met Samantha this past July at Cafe Citron. She's a dance student that was visiting for a few weeks from Caracas, Venezuela. She sent me some pics from a performance from last week. It took place at the tablao El Jaleo in a town called El Hatillo. She writes:

Hola Miguelito! Al fin tengo las fotos del Jaleo, aquí te envio algunas con los nombres de todo el elenco. Muchos Saludos, nos vemos pronto. -Samantha

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

Here's the list of credits, courtesy of Samantha:

Solista: Veronica Palacios
Elenco: Gabriela Ayllon, Ana Taranton, Jessica Fandiño, Jeaninne Mendez-Vigo, Fabiana Rivas, Ysabella Sanchez, Patricia Simmons, Andrea Suels, Samantha Zerpa
Invitados: Daniel Riera, Eduardo Gonzalez, Eliéser Moreno, Carlos Meza “El Torbellino”
Percusión: Juan Carlos Herrera
Dirección y Producción: Siudy Quintero
Fotos: Julio Suárez

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

October 2006 (photo by Julio Suárez)

There's a possilibity that Samantha may be moving to the DC area sometime soon to join our very enthusiastic flamenco community as a student and someday as a performer. Of course, she originally found out about flamenco in DC thanks to my website and was thrilled to learn that we have so much going on.

Just can't help but wonder: can you imagine how difficult it would be for a first-time visitor to DC to find out about the local flamenco scene if DCFLAMENCO.COM never existed? OK, here I go off on a tangent...

Sure...nowadays a lot of local flamencos have their own website, but these are for promoting individual artists, dance companies or teachers. And you'd have to google them and look at a LOT of individual websites. But thanks to myself and my many wonderful information sources, you have only have to visit ONE website to find out say 90 percent of the who, what, when and where of the DC flamenco scene. I mean, I personally know more local flamencos than just about anyone and I try my best to keep up with everyone's performances, workshops etc but admittedly sometimes I miss a few announcements. Nobody's perfect and I am a busy person as it is but it's not out of my reach to strive to close up that gap of missing flamenco info.

I'm not really in a whiney mood--well, ok I'm just now getting around to venting about something from last week. I mean I do get a fair amount of praise for all my hard work and dedication, but just wanted to give you all a gentle reminder every now and then so you don't take this all for granted. End of tangent. :-)

Anywayz, just want to say thanks to Samantha for sending me the pics. Looks like you had a lot of fun. Flamenco is supposed to be enjoyable. Keep it up!

Posted by Miguelito at 1:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Mariya and Miguelito in Guajiras. November 1, 2006 8:51pm (photo by Jamie)

It's 12:18am on Thursday as I type these words. I got home about an hour ago and am just getting around to uploading the pics from earlier this evening where was I subbed for Torcuato at his Wednesday night gig at Cubano's in Silver Spring, Maryland.

I sort of underestimated the travel time cuz I arrived at Cubano's with just barely enough time to literally walk in, setup the sound system and stage lights, plug in microphone and start the show without a second to catch my breath. Of course, in the mad rush to get started I broke my thumbnail which wasn't such a bad thing anyway--it was just about due to be trimmed down anyway.

It's just that ideally I'd trim the nail a few hours before the show so I could carefully file it into the optimum shape for playing guitar. But of course, as fate would have it, I didn't have the luxury of time, so I only had a minute to do a once-over to smooth out the visibly rough edges, drop my file on the floor, turn up the volume on the mixer and begin the opening guitar solo.

November 1, 2006 8:52pm (photo by Jamie)

These two ladies next to the stage said hello to me while I was setting up. I only had a second to greet them back but I made up for it later. Mariya and I joined them at their table between sets and we got to know them a little.

November 1, 2006 8:53pm (photo by Jamie)

Turns out one of them, Georgia, is a regular reader of my website and blog. So like many of my readers, she knew quite a few personal details about myself which I reveal in my writings. Of course, I was very flattered when she recognized me when I walked in. It's cool being a minor celebrity. Hehe. Anywayz, Georgia's not a flamenco dancer, yet. But she is a big fan of Duende Camarón.

November 1, 2006 8:55pm (photo by Jamie)

Georgia and her friend Jamie know each other from when they used to work together at George Washington University where (if you know your Miguelito flamenco history) I used to regularly play for flamenco dance classes 15 years ago in the Marvin Center dance studio.

As always, having friends in the audience (in this case new ones) made the evening here at Cubano's special. I mean c'mon. Anyone who reads my website regularly has got to be fanatic of flamenco. It's always more fun to peform for people who have an understanding about flamenco. Thank you ladies! Of course, I invited them to come to my Monday night gig at Cafe Citron.

Mariya, Georgia (from Jamaica), Miguelito and Jamie (from Nepal). November 1, 2006 9:02pm (photo by Keith)

Tonight (Thursday) I'll be performing at the Andalucía with dancer Pam de Ocampo. Call 301-770-1880 to make a reservation. See you there!

Mica and Al in da limo. October 30, 2006 7:23pm

I got home from Delaware around noon Tuesday and found my flamenco dancer housemate in the kitchen.

So she said, "I went to Cafe Citron last night and you weren't there."

Feeling like I let her down, I replied, "Yeah, I wasn't there."

I was tempted to explain why, but I was pretty tired, so I just smiled, turned around and went to bed for some much needed rest and decided to save the explaining for my blog which I'm writing now.

Yeah, it's kinda funny how she had recently moved into DC and I had invited my housemate several times to come to my show at Cafe Citron. The laid-back atmosphere and the proximity of the stage to the audience makes it feel like a party--we're always inviting friends onstage to dance Sevillanas, bulerías, tangos etc. Of course, the one day that I decide to take the night off (I've only taken three nights off at Citron in five years!), happens to be the night that she decides to go. Oh well.

As far as I'm concerned, it's cool though...turned out my longtime dancer friend Micaela Moreno aka "Mica" was celebrating her 30th birthday that night and I absolutely couldn't miss it. Yeah, it was on a Monday night and it was two hours away and yeah, I missed my favorite gig of the week, but a 30th birthday only comes once and she's a very close friend.

A little background: I first met Mica in 1995 when she was 19 years old at the Viva Flamenco studio in Rockville where she was studying and performing with dancer/teacher Ena Camargo. We performed together a lot and she became one of my favorite dancers. Soon after that I started my website in 1996 and posted lots of pics of Mica in her shows. Back then in ancient times, I was using a film camera and scanner to publish pics on my website.

In the early days of DCFLAMENCO.COM, some of my friends jokingly referred to my site as the Mica and Edwin website on account of the fact that I published pics of them and just them all the time. This old pic is the earliest one I could dig up at a moment's notice: it's from February 1997 in the stairwell at a now-closed once very famous Spanish restaurant called El Bodegón.

Fast forward nine years later, Mica got married and moved to Delaware and still occasionally performs flamenco when she can get a hold of a guitarist (apparently there are none in Delaware). I omitted the photos of the other party guests since you probably don't know them anyway. But of course, I have some food pics for your enjoyment...

Pan roasted mussels, tomato compote, chorizo, jalapeño and fish stock. October 30, 2006 8:15pm

Mica's husband Al (they met when Mica was dancing at Catalán West in downtown DC) planned a big surprise including a white stretch limo, special list of invited guests and dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant in Lewes, Delaware called Fish On!.

Fresh cut fried calamari, caper tartar sauce. October 30, 2006 8:16pm

My entree: spicy lobster spaghetti, lobster, chorizo, jalapeñ diced tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil. October 30, 2006 9:01pm

Diana's entree: crab imperial stuffed jumbo shrimp, shoestring fries, lemon, tartar sauce. October 30, 2006 9:01pm

Happy 30th Mica! October 30, 2006 9:50pm

After dropping off the other guests, we had one last toast in the limo before continuing the party at home. October 30, 2006 10:36pm

Tonight, I'll be at Cubano's in Silver Spring with dancer Mariya.

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