Sala Rociera party at the Pink Flamenco. January 27, 2007
Samantha Zerpa and Jason Vera y Aragón dancing Sevillanas. January 28, 2007 12:32am
It's 10:43am on Wednesday as I type these words. Last night I had the pleasure of playing alongside percussionist Gonzalo Grau at Las Tapas as I accompanied dancers Edwin Aparicio and Anna Menendez. It had been a while since Edwin last performed here, but it was a very pleasant surprise for me to have him back.
Working with these three awesome artists was the good part about last night. The not-so-good part was that I got there late, literally ten minutes past when the show was supposed to start, so in the interest of saving time I plugged my microphone directly into my monitor. I figured I saved about five minutes by not plugging in my mixer and reverb box. Needless to say, in this mad mad rush to get things started, I wasn't as focused as I wanted to be for these high-calibre flamenco performers.
But the show has to go on. And while I experienced a few momentary musical lapses in my distracted state of mind, I have to thank Gonzalo for his fabulous cajón accompaniment for keeping me on the beat. Hehe. There were moments when I was so mesmerized by the range of different sounds and funky rhythmic variations he came up with that I found myself paying more attention to him than the dancers. Without a doubt, Gonzalo brought the musicality of last night's show to a whole other level!
Anywayz, I'm finally getting around to blogging about last Saturday night's Sala Rociera which took place in my house, the Pink Flamenco. Before arriving at the party, I was hanging out at Tapeo after our last set for the evening, and my friend Chris jokingly asked me, "Hey Miguelito, you do realize there's a party going on at your house?"
I guess it seemed ironic to Chris that the party host seemed a little too relaxed to be chilling out elsewhere while the party already in full-swing taking place miles and miles away. I wouldn't call myself the host though. The truth is that I'm just one member of the Sala Rociera committee and my job is primarily to make sure the venue, in this case my house, is available and ready. Plus I provide the sound system for the Ipod and for the live music and I get the word out through my website and mailing list. Fellow committee members Aleksey Kulikov (filling-in at the last minute for Edwin Aparicio), Jen, Jason Vera y Aragón, Soheila and a few others were already there from the beginning of the party taking care of all the little but important details to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. That's the beauty of a committee: as long as everyone does their part, we can all relax knowing the other parts are well taken care of. 
Here are a few pics just to give you an idea of how the party went...
Samantha Zerpa. January 28, 2007 12:33am
The first few hours, the guests enjoy dancing to Sevillanas and rumba tunes from Jason's Ipod playing through my house sound system, which is tiny but is very very loud (it includes a powerful subwoofer for that extra deep bass sound). So when I walk in straight from my gig lugging my hundred pounds of equipment, I spend the first half an hour or so saying hello to old and new friends, get a drink, catch my breath and acclimate myself to the party mood before even thinking about setting up my gig sound system for the live music segment of the evening.
Natalie and Isabelita dancing Sevillanas accompanied by guitarist Torcuato Zamora and percussionist Jason Vera y Aragón. January 28, 2007 12:39am
Ultimately, it's the people that make the party, but the ambience of the Pink Flamenco does help it along with the colored lights, burning candles, eclectic decor, the well-used paint-chipping-off dance floor. It's a pretty relaxed atmosphere that encourages otherwise very shy people to let go a little and dance some Sevillanas and rumba. Even I danced a Sevillanas or two and you never see me dance! 
So sometime around 12:30am I got the microphones setup and Torcuato got the live music segment started with some Sevillanas. As you might expect, there's something extra special about live vocals that gets everyone up to dance! But this time around instead of taking pics of the whole room, I tended to focus on dance couples so you can better see the expressions of enjoyment on their faces.
Isabelita and Natalie. January 28, 2007 12:40am
After getting ourselves Sevillana-ed out, we usually segue to the flamenco dances like alegrías, bulerías and tangos...
Aleksey Kulikov and students of Natalia Monteleón. January 28, 2007 12:44am
Adriana. January 28, 2007 12:45am
Torcuato Zamora. January 28, 2007 12:49am
Sarah McKenney dancing alegrías with palmas by Juan Delgado and Aleksey Kulikov with Miguelito on guitar. January 28, 2007 1:17am (photo by Soheila)
While I'm always very happy to see Natalia Monteleón's students (thank you Natalia!) it would be cool to see more representation from other dance schools. One of the goals of the Sala Rociera is to give students an opportunity to try out dances they're working on with live and recorded music in a friendly supportive environment with their peers. While the music is provided by the local professional performers, student guitarists, percussionists and singers as well as other pros who happen to be in town are welcome to come and sit-in and join the party.
A rare sight: Richard Marlow and Miguelito playing guitar together. That's singer Carlton Ashton on the right. January 28, 2007 (photo by Soheila)
Richard and I, being busy performers, are usually playing at different venues almost every night so it's very rare that you'll find us playing in the same place. My thanks to Soheila for capturing this moment.
Samantha, Isabel Otero and Isabelita. January 28, 2007 1:56am
Even singer José Oretea dropped by after finishing up his gig at Las Tapas. As usual, the party momentum got kicked up a notch when he started singing...
Richard Marlow and José Oretea performing tangos. January 28, 2007 2:42am
Normally, the party would carry over well past 3:00am. I think one time it went on until 5:30am! But I needed my rest to get ready for my flamenco gig on Sunday. The hardcore flamencos that remained at this late hour (or early hour by flamenco standards) slowly left as we said our goodbyes. The very charming Juan Delgado gladly gave rides to quite a few people (thanks Juan!) and for all I know continued the party elsewhere. Hehe.
Party's over. Time to go to bed! January 28, 2007 3:13am
Still waiting for confirmation on this, but for now pencil in Saturday February 24, 2007 for the next Sala Rociera party. Read Carol Basilio's account of the Sala Rociera:: Fiesta Flamenca.
Anywayz, it's almost noon now and I promised myself I'd be out the door by that time to enjoy my day and night off. Although there is a strong possibility I may stop by the flamenco show at Cubano's tonight to say hello to Torcuato and Mariya. See you there!
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Comments
THANKS Miguel, I always have fun at these parties and I hope they NEVER NEVER NEVER come to an end. More importantly I learn more things each time I attend that helps me along in my beginner world of flamenco...Thanks to all the pros :-) see you next time!!!
Posted by: Natalie | January 31, 2007 1:21 PM
hi natalie. i'm glad you're enjoying the sala rociera parties. they're supposed to be fun it's great that you're learning something new each time. i love meeting beginner students all the time. gotta be nice to them too, cuz some of them will be the performers of the future! :-)
Posted by: Miguelito | February 6, 2007 3:20 PM