At the Gala Theatre-Tivoli: the audience anxiously waiting for the show to start. December 10, 2006 4:03pm (photo by Ginette)

It's 11:47am as I type these words. Actually I started writing this blog around 1:00am this morning but I was starting to fade, so I went to bed and got up a short while ago and here I am back in front of da computer again... anywayz, I had the pleasure of attending a performance of Edwin Aparicio's Camino / al flamenco last night (Sunday) at the Gala Theatre-Tivoli.

I had seen this show last year, but enough time had passed since then, that it seemed fresh to me, plus there were a few new cast members and changes to the program. Bear in mind, that I see and work with many of these artists on a regular basis here in DC, so I'm an especially difficult-to-please member of the audience. Of course, on top of that there was a bit of extra delay due to computer-related ticketing problems. In this day and age, these three words are a major cause for stress: "Computer is down." :-)

So as you can see in the picture above, there were quite a few audience members wandering about, socializing etc. But I was already seated comfortably, albeit in the one of the last rows again, enjoying the company of Ginette and her mom. In front of us were Jen, Jason and Drew. In the "balcony" was Kariné and Jan. I could go on and on. So many familiar friendly faces. Basically, it was the DC flamenco community coming together to have an enjoyable, inspiring evening supporting our local up-and-coming artists.

But flamenco performances always start late, so I just factor that into my expectations for the evening. Of course, the later a show starts, the greater the anticipation on the part of the audience. So at least among the less patient, the thoughts were along the lines of "OK, you made us wait this long, this better be good!"

Well, judging by the wild applause and cheers of the audience, the cast of Camino / al flamenco definitely came through with some very inspiring goosebump-inducing moments throughout the evening. It was so good that I don't think anyone remembered, until I mentioned it just now, that the show started very late.

But for the record, I'm not just spouting out praise here for the sake of positive publicity for our local artists. I do have some criticsm, but it's very minor and I'll save it for when I see members of the cast in the coming weeks.

I took a few hundred pics, in low-light, from one of the last rows, with a cheap consumer-quality digital camera, so forgive the blurriness. But for the benefit of those you who couldn't come, these will give you some idea of what you missed...