Furia Flamenca at Dance Place April 1, 2007
Guajiras. April 1, 2007 7:23pm
Tight schedule again yesterday (Sunday). I went to bed around 5:00am Sunday morning after Saturday night's Sala Rociera party ended. Got up around 10:00am did some web-related work, met up with one of my guitar students at noon to give a lesson. Instead of playing for Estela's 1:30pm class at Joy of Motion, we went out for lunch--I hadn't had breakfast and I was famished. Decided to try my neighborhood Clyde's Restaurant but as good as the food was (I had Maryland crabcake), the portions were tiny and we left still feeling hungry (Next time we're going to Cheescake Factory!)
Around 4:00pm we headed over to DC Dance Collective (I just love the fact that my house is walking distance from two flamenco dance studios!) to play for Anna Menendez's dance class. When class ended at 5:30pm I said goodbye to my guitar student and got on the metro and made it to Dance Place around 6:40pm. Saw singer Jorge Porta and percussionist Behzad Habibzai outside the theater and said a brief hello before rushing inside to grab the best available seat which turned out to be the nosebleeder section. Ugh. I managed to get a few passable quality photos with my cheap-ass digital camera.
Here's the program:
Alegrías del Mantón
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singer: Margarita Ossorio
Dancers: Jennifer Carmichael, Morgan Heyer, Tammy Lemley, Lillian Mattiaqccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Karina Valverde and Amy Weishampel
Guajiras (pictured above)
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singer: Jorge Porta
Dancers: Daniel Paredez and Estela Velez
April 1, 2007 7:23pm
April 1, 2007 7:25pm
April 1, 2007 7:26pm
April 1, 2007 7:27pm
Guitar Solo
Guitarist: Torcuato Zamora
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Behzad Habibzai and Torcuato Zamora in Zorongo Gitano/bulerías. April 1, 2007 7:36pm
Farruca
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Dancers: Antonio Castro-Ossorio, Morgan Heyer, Ramona Jackson, Tammy Lemley, Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Daniel Paredez, Lauren Raivel, Nikki Strong, Estela Velez and Bala Veeraswami
Farruca. April 1, 2007 7:39pm
April 1, 2007 7:39pm
April 1, 2007 7:40pm
April 1, 2007 7:40pm
Martinete
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarist: Torcuato Zamora
Anvil: Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Reciter: Margarita Ossorio
Dancers: The Company
Martinete. April 1, 2007 7:48pm
April 1, 2007 7:49pm
April 1, 2007 7:53pm
April 1, 2007 7:56pm
I was politely asked by the usher to stop taking pictures during the first act. Ugh. I tried to explain that I was taking pics for Furia Flamenca and went on to take some more but was not allowed during the second half. It's not as if I was using a flash and disrupting the performance--I even went as far as covering the LCD display with my hand so the light from the display wouldn't distract the people sitting behind me but I probably ended looking like I was sneakily taking pics. Then again, I didn't make arrangements to get official permission before the show. So it's kind of my fault for arousing the suspicion of the usher. The important thing was that I was there supporting my fellow flamencos and managed to get a few pics to give you an idea of what it was like. Here's the rest of the program...
Tangos
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singer: Torcuato Zamora
Dancer: The Company
Alegrías
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singer: Torcuato Zamora
Dancer: Estela Velez
Music Solo
Guitarist: Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singers: Jorge Porta and Guillermo Christie
Fandangos de Huelva
Choreography: Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singer: Margarita Ossorio
Dancers: Morgan Heyer, Tammy Lemley, Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Katherine Page, Daniel Paredez, Heidi Thibodeau, Karina Valverde, Estela Velez and Amy Weishampel
Sevillanas
Choreography: Traditional with variations by Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Singers: Guillermo Christie, Margarita Ossorio, Jorge Porta and Torcuato Zamora
Dancers: The Company
Bulerías
Choreography: Section I--Antonio Vargas, Section II--Estela Velez
Music: Traditional
Guitarists: Torcuato Zamora and Guillermo Christie
Cajón: Behzad Habibzai
Dancers Section I--Antonio Castro-Ossorio, Mark Henriksen, Dana Herndon, Ramona Jackson, Katherine Page, Daniel Paredez, Lauren Raivel, Heidi Thibodeau, Karina Valverde and Bala Veeraswami
Dancers Section II--Jennifer Carmichael, Morgan Heyer, Tammy Lemley, Lillian Mattiaccio, Sylvia Melecio, Nikki Strong, Estela Velez and Amy Weishampel
Artistic Director: Estela Velez
Assistant to the Director: Sylvia Melecio
Rehearsal Mistresses: Sylvia Melecio and Katherine Page
Costuming: Carmen Morales, Katherine Page and Estela Velez
Technical Director/Lighting Designer, Expressions Series: Cheles Rhynes
Technical Director, Dance Place: Nicholette Routhier
Special thanks to my dancer friend Karina Valverde for getting me a free ticket. Thanks Karina---I owe you one! 
Read the review of Saturday night's show in today's Washington Post.
I'm in such a rush to get out of the house on this warm beautiful day, I'll leave it to you, my readers, to add comments. Thanks!
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