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!