Flamenco night at Tapeo on Saturday January 13, 2007
Pam de Ocampo in alegrías. January 13, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Chris)
It's 11:43pm on Sunday as I type these words. Yesterday (Saturday) I had my usual schedule starting with playing for Anna Menendez's dance classes from 12:30pm to 3:00pm at the American Dance Institute. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to grab some lunch--I couldn't even make a quick stop at Starbucks for a quick jolt of my usual doppio espresso. But I made it through thanks to Anna: she was especially energetic and it kind of rubbed off on me too. Although by the end of the first class at 1:30pm I seriously needed some caffeine. The fresh air outside (not to mention the pleasant, albeit unseasonably warm weather) perked me up a bit as I walked briskly across the street for my caffeine fix. There was a bit of a line at Starbucks and the barista somehow forgot my order during the rush, ugh. It's a good thing that an espresso shot is the simplest drink to make. So she squeezed my order back in, I got my fix and got back to the studio just in time.
Anna gives me creative license when it comes to the warm-up. She just tells me to play whatever I feel like playing so I improvise something libre and I try to musically transport the class to Andalucía. I don't claim to actually accomplish this, but if nothing else I improvise something inspiring to set the mood.
As the warm-up becomes more rhythmic I try to play the musical accents to coincide with Anna's, decide which palo seems most suitable and make the appropriate changes in the music. Lately, however, Anna's been requesting some taranto. I like taranto anyway, although in a performance, the absence of a singer makes it difficult to determine the length of the phrases. So for the warm-up I try to keep the musical phrases consistent although I've noticed myself extending the phrases in a moment of inspiration. Does it confuse the dance students? Perhaps a little, but it's still good training for them anyway. When they work with a singer eventually, they'll have to get used to going with the flow, adapting as necessary at a moment's notice.
By 3:00pm I was famished. Needed some food since I skipped breakfast (bad, bad, bad!). And I was in the mood for some Argentinean cuisine again. Called up Jason but he didn't pick up. So I ended up going to El Patio like last week and ordered the same thing: carne salteada. It was good and it gave me the energy to squeeze in a few errands along the way to my gig that night at Tapeo where I performed with dancers Ginette Perea and Pam de Ocampo. Here are the pics...
January 13, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Chris)
It was a good night at Tapeo. We had a decent size crowd (a little smaller than usual probably due to the three day weekend). And I don't know what the exact temperature was, but it was warm enough that I didn't need a jacket at all! We could've had the show outside--that's how warm it was. Plus we had a couple of our regular fans in the audience along with a few new faces including this one cute little girl who was so inspired and enamored with my dancers she couldn't resist going onstage between our shows. I even got up onstage with her to show her how to stamp her feet, but she just looked up at me and smiled. Oh well. I know we helped create a new flamenco convert for when she grows up. :-) Later, when Ginette was practicing her footwork by the bar, I noticed the little girl was outside the restaurant with her hands and face pressed against the window watching us. I turned to look at her and smile and she smiled back, giggled then quickly ran off to join her parents. Cutest thing!
January 13, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Chris)
I was a little tired from insufficient sleep the night before so it took me some time to loosen up. The first show went well, but I know it would've been better if I was more relaxed. It's OK. That's the challenge of performing. If you do it almost everyday like I do, you come to expect it. On some days, the inspiration or energy (spiritual or physical) isn't always there and somehow you gotta make up for it and put on a good show for your audience no matter what. Of course it helps that I have dancers that I enjoy working with: Ginette and Pam. And I don't know if they picked up my lack of energy in the first set, but eventually their energy rubbed off on me and I was feeling better and better as the show progressed.
January 13, 2007 9:23pm (photo by Chris)
I ordered a mojito, one of my favorite drinks there, to help me loosen up a bit more. And by the second set I was in a really good mood. Although the audience wasn't as responsive as they were during the first set. But I didn't let that sap away my positive energy. I just focused back on the music and the beautiful dancing and for 20 minutes or so during our show, Ginette, Pam and I transported ourselves inspirationally to Spain. 
Miguelito playing intro to soleá por bulerías. January 13, 2007 9:24pm (photo by Chris)
Speaking of adapting to the moment, we were having some technical difficulties with our lights. Actually, I should say the singular form: light. These fragile but very important pieces of stage equipment do wear out. Ocassionally the dancers kick them, the audience sometimes trips on them when they walk on the stage (ugh!) and they do shake around a bit as I they travel on my luggage cart going from gig to gig.
Ginette Perea in soleá por bulerías. January 13, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Chris)
So we only had one light but it actually worked very nicely. Normally I'd use two lights with one on each side to illuminate the dancers such that the audience can better appreciate their movements and facial expression--not to mention being able to see yours truly. But with the light coming only from one side it made the show a bit more visually dramatic. The shadows were more pronounced since one light wasn't cancelling out the shadows of the other. Hmmm...the idea of using only one light appeals to me anyway---anything to reduce the amount of equipment I carry no matter how small sounds good to me. Hehe.
January 13, 2007 9:28pm (photo by Chris)
January 13, 2007 9:28pm (photo by Chris)
January 13, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Chris)
January 13, 2007 9:31pm (photo by Chris)
Miguelito playing at the bar after the show. January 13, 2007 9:43pm (photo by Ginette Perea)
January 13, 2007 10:16pm
I'm going to sign off for now. I have a few pics from my relaxing but very enjoyable Sunday but I'm going to get a good night's sleep and write some more when I wake up. But if you're not ready for bed yet, and want to read more flamenco blogs, checkout my colleague Carol Basilio's latest entry titled Old School Flamenco. Good night! 
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