Jani, Gerard Moreno, Ian McClain and Claudia at Cafe Citron. November 26, 2007

It's 8:12pm on Thursday as I type these words. It's my night off, but I have plans: going to see some of my belly dancer friends perform around 10:00pm at Palace of Wonders near Union Station. But I thought I'd just spend a few minutes publishing some pics from Monday night.

My friend Jani showed up and he agreed to take pics for me again. Thanks Jani! Thing is that I had my camera manually set on "slow-sync flash" mode and I didn't warn him about it. So a lot of the pics are blurry but very warm and colorful. Some of them do look pretty cool, anyway, even psychedelic.

I'm about to head out into night. So enjoy the pics...

Claudia and Gerard. November 26, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Jani)

It's a slow night, but we have an appreciative audience. November 26, 2007 9:35pm (photo by Jani)

Claudia, Miguelito and Gerard. November 26, 2007 9:38pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:45pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:46pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:46pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:47pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:48pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:51pm (photo by Jani)

November 26, 2007 9:57pm (photo by Jani)

It's so slow, even our bartender Jaime has time to check his phone. :-) November 26, 2007 10:02pm (photo by Jani)

Overall it was kind of a slow night, but it was pretty much the same at Ozio's when we stopped by there later that evening. I guess people were broke from after-Thanksgiving sales.

Anywayz, this weekend and the following weekend, Gala Theatre has some very exciting flamenco shows that you should check out. More info. Ciao for now!

Posted by Miguelito at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Miguelito playing soleá at Las Tapas. November 27, 2007 9:09pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

It's around 1:30am on Thursday as I type these words. It was my night off yesterday (Wednesday) so I ended up hanging out with some friends. Didn't talk about flamenco the whole night---well OK, we did play guitar a little bit back at my friend's apartment, but only a little. And as much as I love flamenco, I gotta take a break every now and then, even if it's only one day. It was a nice short break, but now I'm back home with a backlog of blog entries to catch up on, so here we go...

Last Tuesday I performed as usual at Las Tapas in Old Town Alexandria and had the privilege of sharing the stage with dancers Edwin Aparicio, Norberto Chamizo (based in Madrid) and singer Carlton Ashton. It's not very often that we have an all-male cast, hence the title of today's entry is "Men of Flamenco at Las Tapas." (And no, we didn't do Sevillanas.)

My friend Hector Márquez gladly volunteered to be my photographer for the evening. Thanks Hector! Enjoy the pics...

Edwin Aparicio dancing soleá. November 27, 2007 9:12pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:13pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:15pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:17pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:18pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:18pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

Edwin, Norberto Chamizo, Carlton Ashton and Miguelito. November 27, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

Norberto dancing alegrías. November 27, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:23pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:23pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:23pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:24pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

Carlton. November 27, 2007 9:24pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:25pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:28pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

November 27, 2007 9:30pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

Tuesday night after my gig at Las Tapas, one of my dancer friends wanted to learn how to use Photoshop to do some basic photo editing for a project. I estimated that we'd spend maybe two hours editing but I underestimated and our tutoring session eventually stretched out to five! We could've gone on, but I called it quits at sunrise.

Now that I'm back home, sitting in front of my computer again, it's a little bit after 2:00am and I'm wide awake thanks to last night's marathon Photoshop session which kinda screwed up my body clock. Not complaining though--you know me: my body clock is always screwed up anyway. :-) My friend needed my help and I gave it. On the plus side, I did have the energy to crank out this photo diary entry for your viewing pleasure. I hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I did. It was an especially fun and inspiring night at Las Tapas.

Posted by Miguelito at 1:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Estela Velez, Daniel and Jennifer rehearsing at Joy of Motion studios in Friendship Heights. November 25, 2007 3:30pm

Would you believe it's around 4:00am as I type these words? Come to think of it, I guess it's not that unusual for someone like me to be up this late. I got home around 1:30am last night after hanging out at Ozio supporting my fellow musician friends in the rumba group Duende Camarón. And since I was feeling inspired, I decided to stay up and edit photos from the Furia Flamenca rehearsal last Sunday afternoon. Check 'em out...

Morgan, Estela, Daniel and Jennifer. November 25, 2007 3:31pm

A little disclaimer: I don't know if you can tell the difference, but I used my smaller, lower-resolution camera for these shots. Thing is, I was meeting a few dancer friends for brunch earlier that day and I just didn't feel like carrying a big bulky camera with me. After the brunch, the dancers had a rehearsal to go to and I decided to tag along. If I knew ahead of time that I was going to photograph dancers, I would have brought my higher quality camera.

November 25, 2007 3:31pm

Oh well. Lesson learned. I'll carry my bigger camera around all the time from now on. Being that I'm the DC flamenco community's self-appointed official photographer and historian (Do you know anyone else crazy enough to try to keep up with the flamenco community like me?), I can't afford to miss a photo opportunity when it presents itself, usually unexpectedly.

Estela, Morgan, Daniel and Jennifer. November 25, 2007 3:33pm

Lauren, Katie, Bala and Heidi. November 25, 2007 3:50pm

Anywayz, Furia Flamenca was rehearsing for their upcoming Millennium Stage performance scheduled for 6:00pm Thursday December 13, 2007. Admission is FREE!

Estela giving palmas as guitarist Torcuato Zamora plays tanguillos de Cádiz. November 25, 2007 3:52pm

Sometimes rehearsals can be very stimulating for me artistically. Even though I was an observer, I was imagining myself playing the guitar for the dancers, coming up with musical ideas based on rhythmic patterns and emotional expressions. Sometimes I'd get myself artistically so drawn into the moment, that I probably missed a few photo opportunities. What can I say? I'm a flamenco first, then a photographer. :-)

Torcuato. November 25, 2007 3:53pm

Karina, Katie, Heidi and Lauren. November 25, 2007 3:55pm

Another cool thing about rehearsals is that there is a special kind of energy I can sense when I'm in a dance studio full of artistically-minded people all in an elevated mental state of concentration. It's in this mental state that cool ideas are usually born. Of course, there are days when no new artistic ideas are created, but just the artistic process itself can be very stimulating. It's almost like, for the one or two hours of an intensive rehearsal, you get closer and closer to an artistic truth.

If I'm not making any sense to you, you're probably not that artistic yourself, or maybe I'm just cranking out nonsense at 5:00 in the morning. You decide. :-)

Karina, Katie, Heidi, Lauren, Bala and Jennifer. November 25, 2007 3:55pm

November 25, 2007 4:01pm

Morgan, Nikki, Daniel and Antonio. November 25, 2007 4:03pm

Think about it. Why are all these people here in rehearsal on a Sunday afternoon? Most "normal" people on a day like this are likely resting and relaxing and gearing themselves up for a typically busy work week. OK, yeah, it is fun to put on costumes and enjoy being onstage with the stage lights shining upon them. I'll admit I enjoy that part myself. But there's to more to it than that. Flamenco touches them deeply in ways that can't be achieved in other art forms or non-artistic activities. I won't try to explain it here, because I know everyone has different ideas about why flamenco fulfills them.

November 25, 2007 4:05pm

November 25, 2007 4:05pm

Karina, Antonio, Lauren, Jennifer, Bala, Nikki and Katie. November 25, 2007 4:10pm

Katherine, Morgan, Antonio, Bala, Jennifer, Nikki and Katie. November 25, 2007 4:12pm

Morgan, Antonio and Lauren. November 25, 2007 4:12pm

OK, so while I wrote this blog, I've been listening to this song called "Destiny" by Zero 7--I told iTunes to play it repeatedly. My friend Kattecita turned me on to this song cuz she had it on her MySpace profile for the longest time and it just sort of grew on me. Seemed like a good song to inspire me while I write this blog at 5 in the morning. Thanks Kattecita!

Jennifer, Nikki, Heidi and Katie. November 25, 2007 4:13pm

Antonio, Heidi, Daniel and Katie. November 25, 2007 4:16pm

Torcuato. November 25, 2007 5:01pm

Jennifer, Antonio, Daniel, Morgan and Estela. November 25, 2007 5:34pm

OK, I'm proud of myself for publishing two blog entries in two days! But now I gotta get some sleep so I can get up (probably around noon) with enough time to be productive (and chill out a bit too) before heading to my Tuesday night gig at Las Tapas. Performing with me will be dancers Edwin Aparicio, Norberto Chamizo and singer Carlton Ashton. This is something that doesn't happen too often so I recommend that you come check out the show tonight! Call (703)836-4000 to make your reservation.

Posted by Miguelito at 4:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Pam and Jason dancing Sevillanas at Tapeo. November 24, 2007 9:12pm (photo by Jani)

It's around 4:00pm on Monday as I type these words. Aw man...it's already dark outside! So I better finish this blog up quickly and get out of the house and enjoy what's left of the day before heading to my gig at Cafe Citron.

Anywayz, this past weekend, I had the pleasure of performing with New York-based dancer Ricky Santiago. Not that he came down solely to join us at Cabanas and Tapeo. Hehe. No, he was actually in the DC area to rehearse for an upcoming Edwin Aparicio production. I was fortunate enough to snag him for a couple of tablao gigs. Here are the pics. Enjoy!

Pam and Ricardo dancing Sevillanas. November 24, 2007 9:12pm (photo by Jani)

Pam dancing alegrías. November 24, 2007 9:14pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:17pm (photo by Jani)

Hector, Jason, Pam, Miguelito and Ricardo. November 24, 2007 9:17pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:19pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:21pm (photo by Jani)

Ricardo dancing farruca. November 24, 2007 9:24pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:27pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:27pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:28pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:30pm (photo by Jani)

November 24, 2007 9:35pm (photo by Jani)

Pam and Ricardo dancing fin de fiesta style bulerías. November 24, 2007 9:37pm (photo by Jani)

Pam, Ricardo, Rosie, Jason and Hector. November 24, 2007 10:34pm (photo by Jani)

Kawa and Jani, my photographer for the evening. Thanks Jani! November 24, 2007 10:35pm

Next stop: Las Tapas where a Moroccan band called Gibraltar performs on Saturday nights...

Kamel with his band, Gibraltar at Las Tapas. November 24, 2007 11:36pm

November 24, 2007 11:38pm

Hacene. November 24, 2007 11:38pm

Abdel, Kamel and Hacene. November 24, 2007 11:38pm

Kamel. November 24, 2007 11:38pm

Hector, Ricardo, Jani and Rosie doing palmas. November 24, 2007 11:39pm

Final stop: Layla's Lebanese Restaurant where Duende Camarón performs on Saturday nights (except this coming Saturday December 1st)

Armand, José and César at Layla's. November 25, 2007 12:07am

November 25, 2007 12:08am

Hector, Jason, Rosie and Ricardo. November 25, 2007 12:16am

Noel. November 25, 2007 12:23am

November 25, 2007 12:23am

November 25, 2007 12:29am

Rosie and Jason. November 25, 2007 12:33am

José. November 25, 2007 12:40am

November 25, 2007 12:40am

November 25, 2007 1:49am

Hector, César and Jason. November 25, 2007 2:04am

As for tonight (Monday), I'll be performing at Cafe Citron with singer Gerard Moreno and dancer Claudia Roman. We'll be heading over to Ozio's afterwards as usual. See you there!

P.S. in case you were wondering, it took me about an hour to put this blog post together. I had to sift through hundreds of photos from this past weekend, edit, upload and write up the HTML and I'm not even done yet. Got pics from Friday night at Tutto Bene and Sunday afternoon's rehearsal by Estela Velez's Furia Flamenca that I still have to get to. Be patient with me, please!

P.P.S. Just got back from Ozio (it's 1:49am on Tuesday). José informs me that they no longer perform at Layla's on Saturdays. Lucky for me and my friends, we happened to stop by on their last night at that venue. Stay tuned. I'll announce Duende Camarón's new show information when it becomes available.

Posted by Miguelito at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ricardo Santiago and Pamela de Ocampo at Las Tapas. November 20, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Brian Weik)

It's 3:11am on Wednesday as I type these words. Another one of those nights where I didn't intend to stay out late but ended up doing it anyway. Hehe. It was fun so it was worth it. Wow, can you believe that this is the third consecutive day in the row that I actually published a blog entry? I'm pretty proud of myself. Hehe.

So last night (Tuesday) I was performing at Las Tapas as usual. The dancers were Pamela de Ocampo and Ricardo Santiago (who had just arrived from New York a few hours earlier). It's always a blast with Pamela, but I wasn't expecting to see Ricardo walk in the door, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me when he did. Awesome dancer.

My guitarist friend Brian Weik showed up for our performance so naturally I recruited him to be my official photographer for the evening. Enjoy the pics!

Pamela dancing seguiriyas. November 20, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Brian Weik)

Of course, I've known Pamela for years. But what's cool about flamenco is that it brings out another side of Pamela's personality that I don't see when we're just casually hanging out. Most of the time, she's facing the audience, regardless of which way her body is turned--a trademark of a good flamenco performer who engages her audience. Unfortunately for me, from where I'm sitting onstage, I don't get see her facial expressions as much as the audience does. But thanks to Brian's photos, I can see what the audience sees...

November 20, 2007 8:55pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 8:57pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 8:58pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 8:59pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 9:00pm (photo by Brian Weik)

Ricardo (or Ricky as his friends call him) is a very easygoing guy. Yeah, he could've asked me to rehearse 15 minutes before the show and memorize all the llamadas and complicated choreographic sequences. But sometimes (not always), it's better to direct our efforts to bring out the emotional energy of the performance and just basically have faith that the music and choreography mesh together closely enough.

Risky perhaps? Well it does take a lot of concentration to pull this off. But ideally in that state of mind, us performers are "in the moment" and very much aware of the subtleties of the music and the choreography as it unfolds.

Actually the first time several months ago when I performed with Ricardo, we had no rehearsal whatsoever. In fact, I didn't even know what he was going to dance until he got up onstage and he told me moments before I played the intro. I was a bit nervous, since I had never played for Ricardo before and had no idea what to expect of his dancing or the sequence of the choreography. I had to concentrate much much more than I typically do with dancers I'm familiar with. Not suprisingly, our performance had that extra energy that comes from taking a risk and enjoying the "high" of actually being able to pull it off. The mantra to go by: feel the fear and do it anyway. :-)

Ricardo dancing farruca. November 20, 2007 9:02pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 9:03pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 9:11pm (photo by Brian Weik)

November 20, 2007 9:11pm (photo by Brian Weik)

As a gesture of appreciation for the photos Brian took, the least I could do was buy him a drink across the street at Bistro Europa. I was supposed to meet up with a friend of mine that works there anyway. Plus it turned out they had a live band and, surprise, surprise we stayed until the last set ended at 2:00am. Good times!

It's almost 4:00am and I should get some sleep. I wish you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Good night!

P.S. I just heard back from Ricardo and Pamela. Ricardo will be dancing at Cabanas this Friday November 23rd (with another dancer TBA). On Saturday November 24th at Tapeo (they just redesigned their website), the two dancers will be Ricardo and Pamela. Should be fun, so please come!

Posted by Miguelito at 2:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Miguelito, Gerard Moreno and Sara Jerez at Cafe Citron. November 19, 2007 9:44pm (photo by Jani)

It's 10:44am on Tuesday as I type these words. Despite my better judgment, I stayed out late again last night--with the flu virus going around I really need to get some rest and build up my immune system y'know?

Anywayz, so last night (Monday) I performed at Cafe Citron as usual with singer Gerard Moreno and the dancer for the evening turned out to be Sara Jerez. We had a decent audience. Didn't find any dancers to join in for Sevillanas, but we had the pleasure of expert palmas and jaleo by my fellow guitarristas Richard Marlow and Hector Márquez. We even got Hector to sing a few letras por bulerías!

My friend Jani gladly volunteered to be my photographer for the evening. Thanks Jani! Enjoy the pics...

November 19, 2007 9:53pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 9:53pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 9:54pm (photo by Jani)

Hector Márquez and Richard Marlow provided palmas. November 19, 2007 9:54pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 9:55pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 9:57pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 10:00pm (photo by Jani)

November 19, 2007 10:02pm (photo by Jani)

Afterwards, all of us flamencos headed over to Ozio to enjoy rumbas by Duende Camarón. There weren't that many people but the audience was very supportive. My original intention was to stay for an hour or so and leave before midnight and go home early for a change. Of course, that didn't happen and most of us stayed until the last set. Good times!

As for tonight, I'll be performing at Las Tapas. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

José Oretea, Richard Marlow, Edwin Aparicio and Tamara Sol at Las Tapas. November 15, 2007 9:09pm

It's 12:45pm on Monday as I type these words. This past weekend, I upgraded my blogging software to the latest version (Movable Type 4.01) so bear with me while I work out any bugs and accustom myself to the new features.

Anywayz, if you haven't heard already, my dancer friend Tamara Sol performed at Las Tapas this past Thursday probably for the last time for a while since she's moving back to her home state of Arizona today, Monday. Naturally, I brought my camera and took a lot of pictures to document this special event. Enjoy!

José and Richard. November 15, 2007 9:09pm

Tamara Sol dancing soleá por bulerías. November 15, 2007 9:10pm

November 15, 2007 9:11pm

November 15, 2007 9:11pm

November 15, 2007 9:12pm

November 15, 2007 9:14pm

November 15, 2007 9:15pm

Edwin dancing alegrías. November 15, 2007 9:21pm

November 15, 2007 9:27pm

November 15, 2007 9:28pm

November 15, 2007 9:30pm

November 15, 2007 9:33pm

November 15, 2007 9:34pm

José, Carlton Ashton, Aleksey Kulikov, Richard, Tamara, Edwin and Juan Delgado. November 15, 2007 9:35pm

Aleksey dancing bulerías. November 15, 2007 9:38pm

November 15, 2007 9:38pm

Carlton doing a bulerías solo. November 15, 2007 9:40pm

Edwin's turn. November 15, 2007 9:41pm

Tamara and Edwin finishing up the bulerías. November 15, 2007 9:43pm

November 15, 2007 9:44pm

November 15, 2007 10:09pm

Carlton, Bedriye Ozdag, Juan, Edwin, Margia, Tamara, Aleksey, Richard, Ayhan Ozdag and Miguelito. November 15, 2007 10:10pm (photo by Hector)

Hector Márquez singing a bulerías. November 15, 2007 10:59pm

Miguelito and Tamara. November 15, 2007 11:06pm

I'm a little bummed that Tamara's gone back to Arizona, but she'll be back again soon. I just know it!

In any case, I'm hoping to put together a front page article about Tamara based on contributions from readers like you! So please email me your thoughts about Tamara, her many contributions and accomplishments in the DC flamenco community (especially the Baltimore scene!) etc.

If you don't know Tamara, you can learn a little more about her by visiting her website.

Posted by Miguelito at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Duende Camarón onstage at Tutto Bene in Arlington. November 9, 2007 11:10pm

It's 10:00am on Monday as I type these words. Good morning! Today is Veterans Day so a lot of places are closed including Cafe Citron where you'd normally find yours truly performing flamenco on a Monday night. Oh well, I do need the rest anyway.

Between performing every night (since Thursday last week) and spending lots of time at home resting in bed (to get over the flu--it's pretty much gone now thank God!), I've finally managed to get a moment to publish these pics from Tutto Bene. The rumba group Duende Camarón performed there late Friday night. Hopefully this will become a regular Friday night gig for them. Call Tutto Bene at (703) 522-1005 to confirm.

Enjoy the pics!

César Oretea. November 9, 2007 11:10pm

So Friday night after my gig at Cabanas, my friends and I headed over to Tutto Bene since I heard Duende Camarón were performing there for the first time. You know how it is: the first night at a new gig is important because you want to give the owners the impression that you can fill up the place with customers. I love their shows anyway, but my friends and I were also doing our part to support the new gig.

Cesar Oretea. November 9, 2007 11:13pm

While Tutto Bene has an Italian name and serves Italian food, it is Bolivian owned and operated. And on the weekends when they serve Bolivian cuisine, I've been here numerous times with my latino friends mostly who tell me the food here is very good. The salteñas here are awesome!

Since it was a Friday night, they only served Italian. So I got the gnocchi with meat sauce for about $12 and it was very good as expected (the service unfortunately was not so good). It pretty much filled me up which was a good thing cuz the friends that I ran into that night were buying me drinks left and right. This doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough that I know to fill-up on some sustenance early in the evening to prepare for the alcohol.

November 9, 2007 11:18pm

The show was well-attended considering it was the first night here. Thing is that the dining room here at Tutto Bene is very large and spacious. So the customers were spread out all over the place: either seated next to the stage and dance floor or all the way back at the other end of the room to sit at the bar. In the old days at Las Tapas, the stage, the dance floor and the bar were right to next to each other in a very tight space making it feel like a cozy house party. It was easy to pack the place at Las Tapas, but not so easy here at Tutto Bene.

Having said that, Tutto Bene has one advantage over Tapas in that the dance floor is very spacious. I can remember numerous times at Las Tapas when the occasional over-enthusiastic or spastic dancer would accidentally bump into a microphone stand or speaker (and sometimes with a drink in hand). Think about it (see the pic below) and imagine that if you had a microphone right in front of your mouth, you wouldn't want anyone bumping into your microphone stand now would you?

José Oretea. November 9, 2007 11:56pm

Apparently, José agrees with me.

José Oretea. November 10, 2007 12:58am

I can remember in the old days, Duende Camarón had a cajón player and bassist every week although later they started using a sequencer (an electronic piece of music equipment which digitally "plays" instruments) to provide percussion and bass accompaniment for José and Cesar's guitar playing.

But here at Tutto Bene, they decided to try out using a live percussionist who had everything from congas to timbales etc. They do have the extra space onstage for more musicians anyway. If things go well here, they might even start using a live bassist and keyboardist too. We'll see.

November 10, 2007 12:03am

November 10, 2007 12:04am

November 10, 2007 12:42am

November 10, 2007 12:52am

November 10, 2007 1:00am

November 10, 2007 2:05am

So there you have it: a little peek at Duende Camarón's latest gig. Show your support and come out this Friday. Call Tutto Bene at (703) 522-1005 to confirm.

In other news: dancer Tamara Sol we'll be giving her last performances in the DC area this week at Las Tapas. She's moving back to Arizona very soon. Let's send her off in style and pack the place with flamencos this Thursday night. She'll be sharing the stage with dancer Edwin Aparicio and guitarist Richard Marlow. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some guest appearances by some of the other local flamencos. Make your reservation now by calling (703) 836-4000. (But just in case you can't make it this Thursday, Tamara is also performing this Tuesday at Las Tapas.) See you there!

As for tonight, the Cafe Citron is closed for Veterans Day. Duende Camarón will probably be performing at Ozio as usual though. Who's going?

Posted by Miguelito at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ginette Perea dancing soleá at Tapeo. November 10, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Gina)

It's 6:46am on Sunday as I type these words. I've either just gotten up early or have been up all night--you figure it out.

Anywayz, last night (Saturday) I was performing at Tapeo in Pentagon City as usual. What was different was that we had a local arts scene promoter and a camera man to capture our performance and a pre-show interview on digital video.

Not that we change our performance significantly when we're being filmed. But you can't help but to think that every move and every note is being recorded for posterity. Frightening, right? Perhaps a teensy-weentsy bit. Being scared a little doesn't make us wimps though. It just means that we care very much about how flamenco is portrayed and we just want to make sure we get it right to the best of our abilities.

As you well know, we do this first of all because we love it, so once the show gets going, we surrender ourselves to the power of the music and dance and the whole flamenco experience and at that point, (camera or no camera) nothing else matters.

Mateo, Miguelito and Ginette. November 10, 2007 9:25pm (photo by Gina)

We had a lot of friends in the audience who cheered us on. But even the people we didn't know contributed significantly to the applause which is a good thing. Why? If we decide to use some of the video footage of the performance for promotional purposes, it's good to have the sound of an enthusiastic audience responding to our show.

And besides, the interplay of the audience is important in flamenco. Every now and then when it seems appropriate, I teach the audience the word Olé. For your average American, it's unusual to shout words in the middle of a show. So I have to "give them permission" by teaching them jaleos like Olé. Y'know what I mean?

Mateo playing cajón. November 10, 2007 9:26pm (photo by Gina)

Hector about to sing a letra of bulerías. November 10, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Gina)

We've been performing here at Tapeo just about every week for a year and half now. Between the audience, the great food and staff and owners that treat us well, and the many friends that come and support us we have a great time every week. But recently we've been incorporating live cante into our shows--the way flamenco really should be done anyway.

Claudia, one of our regular dancers, usually sings in our show: everything from alegrías to soleá to bulerías. Also for the past few weeks, I've been inviting my good friend Hector Márquez to join us onstage to sing a few letras por bulerías to end our show. Having live cante raises the quality of the performance to another higher level.

Yeah, it's a no-brainer. Of course cante makes it better. But here in DC we don't have that many singers. Some might argue that aside from Manolo Leiva we don't have any real flamenco singers here in the DC area--just local flamenco aficionados who are willing to give cante a try and who have more aire than technique. Still whenever we do have cante of any level, it's something very special--as it should be!

Hector and Ginette. November 10, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Gina)

OK, it's a little after 7:00am now and I should get myself to bed. I'm starting to feel tired now, if you can believe that!

So last night (Saturday) after my gig at Tapeo, a friend and I went to a private house party for like two minutes. We walked in and made one quick round and departed. Although we were invited by a friend of a friend, I didn't see a single familiar face there which is fine--the idea of making new friends is exciting. But we were kinda hoping there would be food: the substantial kind--not just chips and dip.

My other friends, that we were supposed to meet up with, called and said they were arriving later, but we were hungry so we took a detour in search of a nearby eatery, got frustrated with parking (Adams-Morgan where parking is always a b!tch), went our separate ways and I ended up getting a late night dinner in Adams-Morgan and on the way home I ran into another friend (Actually it was one of my fans. He said, "Hey you're that guitarist from Citron, right? Love your music. Come hang out with us.") who got me into this club in Dupont called Andalú. It's been a few years since I last checked this place out...you'd think that someone like me who has performed in the Dupont Circle neighborhood for more than ten years would have visited every club in the vicinity by now (I used to perform at Cafe Japone and Escándalo ).

Actually I think I've come close to visiting all the clubs at least once, but it's not like I go to all of them regularly. Anywayz, I couldn't see any connection between ambience of Andalú and the culture of Southern Spain. Cool place though. It was packed with people having a good time--mostly standing around drinking though. But just thought I'd mention that Andalú has nothing to do with Spain (at least as far as I could tell in the short time I was there--it was already 1:30am when I got there.) And yeah, people have asked me if there is a flamenco show there and the answer is No.

Speaking of clubs, I just got word that Cafe Citron will be closed this Monday November 12th in observance of Veterans Day. So no flamenco at Citron this Monday. Duende Camarón might be at Ozio but call ahead to confirm.

Seriously I need to get some rest. I have a private gig tonight (Sunday) playing solo guitar. I actually prefer doing shows with dancers as you well know, but this solo guitar gig pays well. So I'll do it. Maybe I'll meet some prospective clients afterwards.

Good night...um I mean good morning!

Posted by Miguelito at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My computer setup at home. November 5, 2007 3:10am

It's 2:19am on Monday as I type these words. This is my first blog that I've published using my new Mac mini, yay! I had been saving up to buy a new computer for a while now and when my main one "died" last week, I had to get a new one ahead of schedule and I'm glad I did. Good thing that I had all my important files (3 year's worth of photos and website-related files etc) backed up on a MyBook external hard drive so I didn't lose anything critical. So, as you might expect, I've been spending a good chunk of time at Barnes and Noble reading up on Macs since this is my first time to own one. I'm loving it so far!

On Saturday, after dance class, I stopped by Guitar Center since I was in the neighborhood. I wanted to check out the computer audio interfaces so I could get started making professional quality recordings at home and finally get back to work on my CD. The Mac really works well for this purpose. They had a couple of enticing value packages that combine a digital audio interface like Mbox 2 Mini with industry standard software like Pro Tools LE, studio-quality monitors and a basic microphone. If you're a professional musician, you've definitely heard of these.

My new Mac mini! Quiet but very powerful and it looks very cool! November 5, 2007 3:14am

Anywayz, enough geekiness. Here are the pics from Saturday's show at Tapeo...

Hector Márquez, Matteo Romero and Miguelito at Tapeo. November 3, 2007 9:00pm (photo by Ben)

As you well know, I perform every Saturday night here at Tapeo. The food is good and we have a decent number of regulars in the audience. My guitar student Matteo has been performing with us for a while now and he too has a few regulars: usually his parents and fellow musician friends. But we had a very special treat on this particular evening--it was the first time Hector Márquez came to check out the show here and naturally we asked him to join us onstage.

Hector, Matteo, Miguelito and Claudia. November 3, 2007 9:04pm (photo by Ben)

Ginette, Claudia and myself already work very well together. So bringing Hector up onstage with us with no rehearsal didn't phase us at all. It's like we go onstage with the attitude that if everything goes perfectly, great! If there are a few rough spots, that's fine. We know each other well enough (artistically and personally) that we can make adjustments and keep the show going--a very important skill that can only be acquired with stage experience!

Claudia, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:05pm (photo by Ben)

As you might expect, having live cante in our show raises the emotional energy show to another level. And it came through in my own guitar playing and Matteo's too as well as in Ginette's and Claudia's dancing. The audience responded accordingly with lots of enthusiastic applause and spirited spontaneous shouts of Olé!

Ginette Perea, Claudia, Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:04pm (photo by Ben)

I had a lot of personal stuff on my mind which I mentioned in the previous blog. And while it can be distracting, it also gave me a boost of emotional energy which I channeled into my music. All I can say is that flamenco can be very therapeutic. Does it solve my problems? Nope. But it does help me release some of the tension so I be more relaxed and focused. Hearing the applause and the jaleos afterwards seemed like an acknowledgment from the audience as if they were saying, "I know what you're feeling--I've been there too!" Felt good.

Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:10pm (photo by Ben)

Matteo's father was in the audience and he brought a long a couple of friends. One of whom was Ben, who I had just met. I had no idea of his photographic skills but he was willing to take some pictures during the show so that was good enough for me. I'm so glad he chose to take pics without the flash, because he captured quite a few beautiful moments the way I like 'em. In the pictures you can get a better idea of the added drama and character thanks to the stage lighting which normally would be washed out if a flash was used. Really makes a difference in the quality of the show--I mean, of course, we have to focus on the dancing, singing and guitar playing first. But let's not forget that we're performers too and that means presentation is also very important too!

Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:11pm (photo by Ben)

Hector, Matteo, Miguelito and Ginette. November 3, 2007 9:13pm (photo by Ben)

Claudia, Ginette, Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:14pm (photo by Ben)

Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:20pm (photo by Ben)

Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Ben)

Claudia, Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Ben)

Hector, Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:22pm (photo by Ben)

Ginette. November 3, 2007 9:28pm (photo by Ben)

Matteo and Miguelito. November 3, 2007 9:29pm (photo by Ben)

Matteo working on seguiriyas compás while sitting at the bar. November 3, 2007 9:56pm

Los Jóvenes Flamencos: Hector, Matteo and Ginette jamming on tangos. November 3, 2007 10:18pm

A few of our loyal fans: Serenity, Chris and Erica. November 3, 2007 10:22pm

After Tapeo, a group of us got a delicious late night dinner at a kabob place nearby and completed the experience with communal hookah and relaxed conversation. Nice way to wind down and afterwards, on my full stomach I felt like going straight to bed which I did early for a change around 2 or 3am.

Here I am again just a few hours before sunrise...it's almost 4:00am and I should get some sleep. As for tonight (Monday), I'll be performing at Cafe Citron with singer/guitarist Gerard Moreno and dancer Sara Jerez. Afterwards, we'll be heading over to Ozio as usual. See you there!

Posted by Miguelito at 2:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)