Flamenco lecture at George Mason University. May 24, 2007
Miguelito giving lecture at George Mason University (Manassas campus) May 24, 2007 12:27pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
It's 11:21am on Friday. Been a busy morning and I'm trying to finish up here so I can be outta here by noon to enjoy the beautiful hot day. So this'll be a quickie with minimal commentary.
So yesterday (Thursday), dancers Ginette Perea, Sarah Hart and yours truly performed at George Mason University's Verizon Theatre (Manassas campus). We were the culminating event of a day-long program titled "Students Striving for Cultural Competence."
The title of my lecture was "The History and Cultural Importance of Flamenco Dance." Yeah, it's a pretty lofty subject but I kept it light but made sure to touch upon the more relevant points that tied in with the cultural diversity theme of the day.
Our audience of 270 was made up of high school students, teachers, staff and VIP's of the Prince William County Public School system. Danielle Goldberg, a local flamenco dance student and friend hired us on behalf of the organizers of this event. Thanks Danielle! Here are more pics...
Sarah Hart and Ginette Perea dancing Sevillanas. May 24, 2007 12:29pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
May 24, 2007 12:32pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
Ginette demonstrating castanet technique. May 24, 2007 12:37pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
Sarah dancing tientos. May 24, 2007 12:42pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
May 24, 2007 12:45pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
Demonstrating contratiempo palmas. May 24, 2007 12:52pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
Ginette dancing alegrías. May 24, 2007 12:56pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
May 24, 2007 12:58pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
Fin de fiesta bulerías. May 24, 2007 1:09pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
May 24, 2007 1:09pm (photo by Danielle Goldberg)
I didn't realize how far Manassas was until I checked it on MapQuest. Ugh. Although our performance wasn't until noon, I had to get up very early (by musician standards 
) just to allow time for getting lost and dealing with traffic. But we arrived about 15 minutes before showtime and pulled it off flawlessly. I don't think anyone could hear my tummy growling--I skipped breakfast and was already starving during the show.
Afterwards, the students were all saying "Ole!" and the teachers were giving us compliments left and right. One of them was quite impressed that I made the connection between the word Ole and the word Allah. This one teacher who happened to be from Algeria mentioned that in his country, audience members shout out "Allah" to artists to compliment them on their performance and also to compliment God for giving them their artistic talents. Pretty cool, huh?
Anywayz, it's 11:34am and it's time for me to get dressed and get out and enjoy the day. As for tonight I'll be performing at Cabanas with dancers Ginette Perea and Pam de Ocampo. To accomodate the crowds during the warmer months, we now do three shows every Friday night! See you there.
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