Tamara Sol dancing bulerías at the Pink Flamenco with singer Carlton Ashton, percussionist Jason Vera y Aragó and guitarists Behzad Habibzai and Matteo Romero. October 28, 2007 12:52am

It's 5:27am on Wednesday as I type these words. After arriving home from Las Tapas (where I performed with Tamara and Pam), I went back to work teaching myself Macromedia Flash. It's just one of several steps that I'm taking as I redesign my website, hopefully in time for launch on January 10, 2008 (the 12th anniversary of this website!).

A number of my readers have been inquiring about what's up with the delay in website updates lately. I've already mentioned that I'm dealing with personal issues, but that's not the whole story. Each night I sit in front of my computer and begin writing a blog and stop halfway or don't even start at all. Thing is that I've been publishing pics of the same places and mostly the same people week after week. I love publishing pics of y'all of course but I need to do something different, for me.

You could compare this to performing onstage. As you know, I work several nights a week. And when you perform as much as I do, you strive to keep up a certain level of emotional energy because the audience expects more than a technically superb performance. They want something that will touch their hearts and move them in some way. Truth is that there are nights when us artists just aren't in the mood and it's nothing to be ashamed of. We're all human so we have to acknowledge that sometimes we might put out a few percentage points less artistry (I know you can't numerically quantify artistry, but just work with me here) than we're typically capable of.

Sometimes the dancers will admit to me after the show that they were feeling a bit tired and wanted to apologize or explain themselves about why their performance was less than 110%.

Jason, Behzad, Matteo and Carlton (dancing). October 28, 2007 12:54am

I'll notice of course but I try to not let it affect me. Subconsciously I'll just acknowledge to myself "OK, this dancer is having a slightly off night." then I'll just move on and get back to "being in the moment." And no, I'm not singling dancers out, because trust me on this: I have my own share of off nights too. But as professionals, we're still expected to put on a good performance no matter what. And if that's not possible, at least make it look like we've got everything under control.

And while this mental game in the name of peak performance works to a certain degree, us artists most importantly have to ask ourselves: "Is what I'm doing artistically satisfying?" It's sort of the same thing with my website right now. I mean yeah, I can still crank out blogs and publish updates and articles as I have for many years. But right now I'm just not "feeling it." Hence the current situation. But be patient. I haven't given up and in fact I've been hanging out at Barnes and Noble and reading just about all the web design books and magazines I can get my hands on. Did you know there are some books that focus specifically on website redesign?

Anywayz, I have to thank a couple of dancer friends who have been very helpful in giving me advice and feedback on some of my redesign ideas, and basically helping getting me out of my rut. You know you are!

I was chatting with one of them early this morning, and she was giving me a pep talk, she wrote:
I miss your blog Miguelito. There are some people out there that don't know you in person that love to read your blogs. I considered one myself one of them. They are so much fun!

Matteo and Carlton. October 28, 2007 12:56am

So this past Saturday was the Sala Rociera which if you don't already know is our semi-regular flamenco party which is open to the whole community. The focus is on creating a fun and friendly atmosphere where student dancers and guitarists can dance Sevillanas all night and try out their dances with live music performed by local professional artists.

We were a bit concerned about the turnout since there were a lot of Halloween parties going on this past Saturday--yeah I know Halloween is officially today (Wednesday). But you know how it is: nightclubs especially want to maximize their profits by hosting their Halloween party on the weekend instead.

But we had a decent amount of people. Then again, what do I know? I didn't arrive until midnightish anyway--I always arrive at that hour since I have a gig on Saturday nights. The party was going strong when I got there: Sevillanas music was playing (from a new Ipod sound system provided personally by one of the organizers) and many of our guests were dancing, socializing and generally having a great time.

Sohaila. October 28, 2007 12:57am

I brought along a couple of friends who were first-timers here at the Sala Rociera: my guitar student Matteo and a couple of employees from Tapeo one of whom is a serious ballroom dance student with a new interest in flamenco, yay!

Tamara. October 28, 2007 12:59am

Traditionally we begin the live music portion of the evening around midnight as us professional musicians finish our Saturday nights gigs around 11:00pm anyway. So we had a little bulerías session. It's not like we have a set program--it almost always starts out with this palo. Just the way it is: in my experience flamenco parties consist of 80% bulerías, 10% tangos and 10% everything else.

Tamara dancing alegrías. October 28, 2007 1:16am (photo by Bethany)

Dance students are encouraged to try out whatever choreographies they're working on. Local professional dancer Tamara Sol treated the guests to a performance of alegrías.

October 28, 2007 1:17am (photo by Bethany)

October 28, 2007 1:18am (photo by Bethany)

Guitarras. October 28, 2007 1:23am (photo by Bethany)

We had the special treat of having another flamenco singer in attendance: my new friend Hector Márquez. He and his malagueño friends having been coming to quite a few of my shows lately. I usually invite Hector to come up and sing a few letras por bulerías. (I even got him to sing a little last night, Tuesday, at Las Tapas). And so we had a spontaneous little juerga in the corner of the studio by the kitchen...

Hector Márquez, Miguelito, Behzad and Carlton. October 28, 2007 1:30am (photo by Bethany)

Carlton, Hector, Samuel, Miguelito and Behzad. October 28, 2007 1:31am (photo by Bethany)

Miguelito, Behzad, Jason, Tamara, Carlton and Hector. October 28, 2007 1:32am (photo by Bethany)

Later in the evening, I accompanied some of our guests to their cars and when I came back I took this shot through the window...

Matteo, Hector and Carlton. October 28, 2007 2:02am

Jóvenes flamencos: Matteo and Hector. October 28, 2007 2:24am

OK, it's 6:29am and now that I've finished this blog, I'm going to bed. Sunrise is around 7:30am and you know how it is with us vampires. I just want to be asleep while it's still dark outside--it's weird but I just find it harder to catch some Z's when the sun is already up.

When I get up (probably around noon or 1:00pm) I'll very likely start working on another blog entry for you--got some pics from Monday at Ozio again. Ciao for now and oh I almost forgot: Happy Halloween!

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José Oretea performing at Ozio. October 22, 2007 11:27pm

It's 1:06pm on Tuesday as I type these words. I actually took more than 100 pics last night at Ozio. But I only have a few for you here--I'll explain later. Anywayz, the show at Citron went well and despite the smaller turnout than expected, the audience was still very responsive. I performed with María and Gerard and although I didn't see any familiar faces in the audience, we did make a couple of new friends some of whom have studied some flamenco or want to start taking classes really soon.

One of my new friends was very impressed by my Russian speaking ability (I only studied it for two years in college but I practiced almost everyday!). However, she is a native speaker of Ukrainian which to my knowledge is similar to Russian but with enough differences to cause some miscommunication. Anywayz, she said that my Russian accent was so good that even she could understand me! I don't know if she was just flattering me, but being a musician does help. Languages are just like music in that we listen and imitate. Any linguists out there that can comment on this?

So after packing up my sound system and using up all my Citron drink tickets (c'mon, can't let them go to waste now can we?), we headed over to Ozio to hang out with the band Duende Camarón.

José and Indira Terraza with friends from Argentina. October 23, 2007 12:13am

The place was packed! I saw a couple of familiar faces but most of the people were new to me. Most of the guys were wearing suits and the women were more well-dressed than the usual. As for my friend Indira she had just arrived from some ritzy event where she was practically rubbing shoulders with all kinds of celebs--something she does all the time being that she's a radio/television host.

César Oretea. October 23, 2007 12:24am

José. October 23, 2007 12:38am

My new friend originally was going to stay for 45 minutes and then go home--she has a day job. You know how it is. But she stayed until the very end--around 1:00am! I think over the course of the evening we gained a new friend to join our Monday night flamenco bar crawl, yay! She explained to me that after a particularly rough week, a night out (even on a Monday) was just what she needed. And the combination of Citron and Ozio really hit the spot.

October 23, 2007 12:58am

José. October 23, 2007 12:59am

Indira. October 23, 2007 1:00am

Oh and you might expect I took a lot of pics but my friend didn't want me to publish any--oh well. I guess you'll have come out to next Monday's flamenco bar crawl to meet her.

OK, it's 1:25pm and I'm outta here. Going to squeeze in a little goof off time this afternoon before heading over to Citron to pick up my sound system, taking the metro to Alexandria and setting up at Las Tapas in time for my 7:45pm show. There is a strong possibility we may have a very talented guest male dancer from out of town. I won't say who it is. You'll just have to show up to find out. See you there!

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Claudia, Chris, Ginette, Serenity, Erica and Carol. September 20, 2007 8:44pm (photo by Miguelito)

It's 3:53pm on Sunday as I type these words. My gig tonight isn't until 7:00pm but I want to get out and enjoy the warm weather, so I'll make this quick.

Last night (Saturday) I performed at Tapeo (Pentagon City) as usual with dancers Ginette and Claudia. We had a lot of friends in the audience. Besides the ones pictured above, we also had local flamenco dance students Patricia and Aïda to cheer us on. Thank you ladies!

Miguelito playing the opening guitar solo. September 20, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Erica/Serenity)

Miguelito and Claudia. September 20, 2007 9:04pm (photo by Erica/Serenity)

Miguelito and Ginette. September 20, 2007 9:10pm (photo by Erica/Serenity)

Claudia and Ginette. September 20, 2007 9:10pm (photo by Erica/Serenity)

Ginette and Miguelito. September 20, 2007 9:13pm (photo by Erica/Serenity)

While the spirit and encouragement of our friends inspired us, there weren't that many people in the restaurant--perhaps it was the cooler weather that scared them off. Too bad, cuz they missed out on some very spirited performances by both Ginette and Claudia. Just one of those nights when everything comes together just the way you want it to. I like that.

Closing up for night and heading over to the next party. September 20, 2007 11:43pm (photo by Miguelito)

We ended up checking out a couple of bars in Arlington before ending up at a friend's for more drinks and conversation while enjoying a late night gorgeous view of the Arlington/Washington skyline.

OK, I'm outta here so I can get a taste of today's warm weather. Hopefully I'll see some of you on Monday night for our flamenco bar crawl--8:30pm at Cafe Citron for the flamenco show by yours truly, then 10:30pm at Ozio for rumba with Duende Camarón. And don't forget the Sala Rociera coming this Saturday October 27. I'll post details later tonight. Ciao for now!

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Ginette in soleá por bulerías with María and Miguelito at Cabanas. October 19, 2007 9:55pm (photo by Monica)

It's 2:53pm on Sunday as I type these words. Yeah, I stayed out late with friends last night (Saturday) and right now they're at the Renaissance Festival having a blast--I would've joined them, but I know I wouldn't make it back to DC in time for my evening private gig.

I caught up on some sleep this morning and I'm still a bit groggy so I got some trance music going in the background to wake me up and get me in a productive state of mind--don't ask me why, but it works. Speaking of trance, I do get teased by some of my flamenco friends for listening to electronic music. I even get chided for listening to Chambao--so called "flamenco chill." Oh whatever. All I have to say is that I have musical tastes beyond flamenco and in a way, listening to a wide variety of other kinds of music broadens my musical horizons and gives my ears a break, so I can come back to flamenco with a fresh perspective. Y'know what I mean?

So yeah, I know it's been more than a week since I last blogged. And a number of my regular readers have been bugging me about cranking out something out to satisfy their flamenco blogging fix. Well, trust me on this: just about everyday the past week and a half, I have honestly been trying to get inspired to publish photos and write and it just hasn't been happening. For one thing, I have some personal issues that I'm working out that have me a bit distracted. Not to worry. It's just a temporary phase I'm going through while I work stuff out--for lack of a better explanation, let's just chalk it up to middle age crisis--I am 40-something anyway.

So Friday night was especially fun. Besides having Ginette and María performing regularly at Cabanas again, we had a special guest artist joining us...

October 19, 2007 9:57pm (photo by Monica)

The scheduling of the first show got off to a rough start thanks to the protest march on M St--Georgetown's main thoroughfare. A trip that normally takes ten minutes from Rosslyn to Cabanas turned into 45 minutes as we were redirected by DC cops to a take an unusually long detour. Ugh. That and the metro had a mechanical breakdown which added further to making me late for work.

October 19, 2007 9:58pm (photo by Monica)

But once we arrived at Cabanas, I was able to quickly shrug off the stress of the delays and focus on loosening myself up for the show. Got myself an ice cold Corona to aid in the process as I setup the stage and sound system.

María in alegrías with Miguelito. October 19, 2007 10:03pm (photo by Monica)

October 19, 2007 10:07pm (photo by Monica)

My friend Hector Márquez was in the audience. Having jammed with him last month at Las Tapas, I had some idea of what he was capable of, so I waved him over to have him join us onstage to sing some bulerías.

Singer Hector Márquez with Ginette, María and Miguelito. October 19, 2007 10:11pm (photo by Monica)

We do a decent job of putting on a show without cante--just something we here in DC have to deal with since we have very few singers. But having Hector joining us kicked up the energy of the show to another level. Even the manager of the restaurant took time to stop and watch for a few minutes--and this was a particularly busy night with lots of customers.

October 19, 2007 10:11pm (photo by Monica)

Ginette dancing bulerías. October 19, 2007 10:16pm (photo by Monica)

Hector, Ginette, Miguelito and María. October 19, 2007 10:16pm (photo by Monica)

After the show, we hung out until a little after midnight, got a quick pizza snack on the way to the car before we all went our separate ways for the night. I met up with a friend and went to a couple of clubs in Adams-Morgan: first stop at Bossa to hear Grupo Palenque led by my friend Jaime (he's one of the bartenders at Citron on Mondays), then we headed over to Rumba Cafe and said hello to a friend of mine who works there, then finally we ended up at Meze and hung out with friends and got a late night snack of Turkish-style tapas and called it a night.

OK, next up: a second blog entry for the day, believe it or not! Check back in a little bit for some pics from last night (Saturday) at Tapeo.

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Illuminated vodka bottles at Cafe Citron. October 8, 2007 8:13pm (photo by Bethany)

It's 12:15pm on Tuesday as I type these words. So many pics, so little time. Gonna have to keep the commentary brief cuz I got a lot of stuff to do today and need to get out of the house.

It's catching on...more people are coming out to join us on our Monday night bar crawl starting at Cafe Citron for the flamenco show from 8:30 until 10:00pm and then heading over to Ozio for the rumba "after party" with Duende Camarón.

Local flamenco dance teacher Gloria Monge and a few of her female students came out to join us. Also my former housemate Bethany showed up and gladly volunteered to be my photographer for the evening. Thanks B! Plus a fellow filipino came out to see my show: Raúl and I noticed our new Monday night regulars Ángel and Fernando were in attendance as well.

Hehe....funny thing is that a little after 10:00pm when we had already finished our show and I had packed up my sound system, DJ Helio was getting the party started with some Sevillanas and Gloria's students (all beautiful ladies, I might add) were dancing and without realizing making themselves the center of attention. Then five minutes later we were all out the door, Gloria, her students, Raúl, Ángel, Fernando, Richard, Sara, Montrell and myself, taking the party to Ozio. Sorry Citron.

Self-portrait. :-) October 8, 2007 8:19pm (photo by Bethany)

Painting in the loft. October 8, 2007 8:31pm (photo by Bethany)

View from the loft. October 8, 2007 8:38pm (photo by Bethany)

Sara Jerez. October 8, 2007 8:43pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:44pm (photo by Bethany)

Christina and Sara. October 8, 2007 8:44pm (photo by Bethany)

Monica and Sara. October 8, 2007 8:45pm (photo by Bethany)

Gerard's friend Montrell sat in with us for the rumba.

Guest artist Montrell on sax. October 8, 2007 8:48pm (photo by Bethany)

Closeup of Montrell's hands. October 8, 2007 8:50pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:51pm (photo by Bethany)

Also joining us onstage was Sara's husband, guitarist Richard Marlow providing palmas. Thanks Richard!

Sara dancing Guajiras. October 8, 2007 8:54pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:54pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:57pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:57pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:58pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 8:58pm (photo by Bethany)

Closeup of Sara's dress. October 8, 2007 9:01pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 9:03pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 9:03pm (photo by Bethany)

October 8, 2007 9:10pm (photo by Bethany)

Bethany and Sara. October 8, 2007 9:23pm

From left: Kathy, Gloria, Monica, Cristina and Valeria at Cafe Citron. October 8, 2007 9:31pm

I've known Gloria Monge for years. It's just that our paths rarely cross especially since she teaches way out in Reston. Here's an old blog entry from 2005 with pics of me at her dance class.

From left: Kathy, Monica, Miguelito, Christina, Valeria and Gloria Monge at Ozio. October 9, 2007 12:08am (photo by Raúl)

Raúl, Miguelito and Ángel. October 9, 2007 12:12am

César, Armand and José. October 9, 2007 12:22am

Palmas. October 9, 2007 12:22am

Dance party. October 9, 2007 12:26am

End of the night walk to the cars, but the party continues. :-) October 9, 2007 12:29am

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our Monday night party. As for tonight, I'll be performing at Las Tapas. There's a strong possibility the dancers will be Edwin Aparicio and Tamara Sol Flys. OK, I'm outta here. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Ginette and Isabel Otero with Miguelito at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington DC. October 7, 2007 (photo by Dejan)

It's 10:37am on Tuesday as I type these words for this quick blog entry. Dejan, a friend of Ginette's, took a picture of us performing at Freedom Plaza last Sunday to celebrate Día de la Raza aka Columbus Day. The dancers were Ginette and Isabel and yes, as you can see, they are dancing not on a wooden stage, but on cement!

But that didn't stop them from putting on a great performance despite the conditions. So what do we do in a situation like this? First of all, I requested a microphone for the floor and whenever Ginette and Isabel had a footwork section they would do it right next to the microphone itself. It did pick up the sound enough that the audience could hear the musical interaction of the footwork with my guitar playing.

Secondly, I took a moment to explain to the audience the importance of being able to hear and appreciate the footwork in flamenco. The important thing was not to blame anyone for the less-than-ideal conditions. (The audience doesn't really want to know who to blame--they just want to be entertained.) I believe that once you make the audience aware of what we performers are challenged with, they are likely to be impressed to see how we overcome the challenge or how we shift the focus to some other aspect of the show that they eventually forget the fact that they were supposed to hear footwork.

Thirdly, I requested for another microphone that we could use for palmas and jaleo. These are very important in a flamenco performance as you know. And in this case, it was a way for us to include some kind of rhythmic percussive element to make up for the lack of clearly audible footwork.

Fourthly, after doing all we could given the limited time and available resources, we just had to let go and enjoy yourselves because flamenco is supposed to be fun and the audience can pick up on it when you truly are having a good time. And we did!

Actually writing this blog was my way of taking a break from editing photos from last night's show at Cafe Citron. So stay tuned. Later today, I'll have lots of beautiful pics courtesy of my friend (and former Pink Flamenco housemate) Bethany. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:35 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Edwin and friends at Ozio. Clockwise from left: Pam, Sohaila, Jason, Tamara, Edwin, Genevieve, Aleksey, Richard, Antonia and Juan. October 1, 2007 11:21pm

It's 1:09pm on Tuesday as I type these words. Last night (Monday) after my gig at Cafe Citron, my friends and I headed over to Ozio as usual to enjoy the music of Duende Camarón and of course to celebrate dancer Edwin Aparicio's birthday. While the party was open to the public, the ones that showed up were Edwin's fellow flamenco performers and friends. Anywayz, I took more than 300 pics and randomly picked a few for your viewing pleasure. You should recognize most of the faces. Enjoy!

Pam and Carlton. October 1, 2007 11:45pm

Jason and Tamara. October 1, 2007 11:49pm

Genevieve. October 1, 2007 11:49pm

Tamara. October 2, 2007 12:07am

Sohaila. October 2, 2007 12:08am

Pam and Tamara. October 2, 2007 12:27am

Edwin and Genevieve. October 2, 2007 12:29am

Edwin and Genevieve. October 2, 2007 12:29am

From left: Sohaila, Richard, José, Carlton, Armand, ? and Jason. October 2, 2007 12:30am

Edwin and Genevieve. October 2, 2007 12:30am

Genevieve, Richard and Edwin. October 2, 2007 12:37am

Carlton. October 2, 2007 12:40am

Carlton. October 2, 2007 12:40am

Carlton. October 2, 2007 12:40am

Pam, Antonia and Juan. October 2, 2007 12:46am

From the left: Carlton, Pam, Antonia, Juan, Miguelito, Edwin, Genevieve, Richard, Sohaila and Tamara. October 2, 2007 12:53am

José and Genevieve. October 2, 2007 1:00am

José. October 2, 2007 1:05am

Tamara. October 2, 2007 1:27am

From the left: Carlton, Genevieve, Edwin, José, Sohaila, Tamara, Richard, Juan and Antonia. October 2, 2007 1:30am

As for tonight, I'll be performing at Las Tapas. I'm not sure who's dancing tonight, but there's a possibility it will be Edwin Aparicio and Tamara Sol. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 12:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Torcuato Zamora at Fiesta DC Latino Festival in Mt Pleasant. September 30, 2007 3:57pm

Good morning! It's actually 12:50pm on Monday but I for a night person like me, this IS morning! Anywayz, I gotta lot of stuff to do today. I'll make this quick.

Yesterday (Sunday), I went to the Mt Pleasant neighborhood in Washington DC where the Fiesta DC Latino Festival took place. At 4:00pm Furia Flamenca was scheduled to go onstage and I arrived a little late so I had to make do with my shooting position since I was standing in a very tightly packed (but very enthusiastic) crowd. Enjoy!

Daniel in Guajiras. September 30, 2007 3:57pm

Daniel and Furia Flamenca director Estela Velez. September 30, 2007 4:00pm

Estela. September 30, 2007 4:01pm

Estela. September 30, 2007 4:02pm

Karina. September 30, 2007 4:04pm

Torcuato. September 30, 2007 4:05pm

Jennifer. September 30, 2007 4:07pm

Mark. September 30, 2007 4:09pm

Katie and Jennifer. September 30, 2007 4:11pm

Estela, Jennifer and Nikki. September 30, 2007 4:11pm

Estela. September 30, 2007 4:12pm

Daniel. September 30, 2007 4:15pm

Mark and Katherine. September 30, 2007 4:15pm

Karina. September 30, 2007 4:16pm

Daniel. September 30, 2007 4:19pm

Karina. September 30, 2007 4:22pm

Karina. September 30, 2007 4:22pm

It's 1:00pm, time for me to get out of the house and do stuff. I'll be at Cafe Citron tonight as usual with singer Gerard Moreno and most likely dancer Sara Jerez. Please come for the show at 8:30pm or 9:30pm and then we'll head on over to Ozio Bar at 10:00pm to enjoy rumbas by Duende Camarón and also to celebrate dancer Edwin Aparicio's birthday. For those of you with day jobs, be ready to call in sick on Tuesday. Hehe. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)