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.