Members of Arte Flamenco onstage at the Latino Fest at Patterson Park in Baltimore. June 22, 2008 12:14 (photo courtesy of Claudia Easton)

It's 1:45pm on Monday as I type these words. My dancer friend Claudia sent me pics from her performance with Arte Flamenco at the Latino Fest from Sunday June 22, 2008. She writes:

"There was a nice crowd for Latino Fest, and the festival set-up was much more fluid and professional, but the stage was definitely set up for a band, not Flamenco (giant speakers, lots of amps across the front, wires everywhere).  The crowd loved it, though, especially since Manolo [Leiva] came and sang a couple numbers for us..."

Midori dancing alegrías accompanied by guitarists Henry Jova and Jesús Serrano. June 22, 2008 12:32pm (photo courtesy of Claudia Easton)

"The show went very well. Natalia's students did great and are really improving with their performance ability, technique, coordination as a group.  They did Fandangos, Garrotín, Guajiras, and Sevillanas, which I sang for them. As a student of cante, I was very nervous to have Manolo there, especially since he has helped me so much! What a treat (and a contrast) to then hear him sing."

Manolo Leiva singing soleá. June 22, 2008 12:38pm (photo courtesy of Claudia Easton)

"I was honored and so happy to have Manolo sing Soleá for me; he was GREAT! Midori did an AWESOME Alegrías in the show, but as far as Natalia knows, this was the last Arte Flamenco show with Midori. She will be traveling a bit, and will be permanently returning to Japan in September."

Claudia dancing soleá. June 22, 2008 12:40pm (photo courtesy of Claudia Easton)

My thanks to Claudia for the pics and commentary. For more information about Arte Flamenco, visit their website at www.arteflamenco.us

UPDATE: my photographer friend David Coronel gave me permission to republish some of his Latino Fest pics in this blog. Thanks David! These pics give you some idea of what it was like at the Festival.

Mariachis. June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

This lady was dancing by herself but was having so much fun doing it! June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

Everytime I go to the Latino Fest, I always get the tropical umbrella drink and some real Mexican food--reminds me of home: Los Angeles. June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

Checkout the Latino Fest pics from 2004.

June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

Miguelito and dancer Daniela Maldonado. June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

"Un poquito mas suave..." :-) June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

This couple must've been championship ballroom dancers when they were younger. June 22, 2008 (photo by David Coronel)

As for tonight (Monday), I'll be at Cafe Citron with dancer Sara Jerez. Singer Gerard Moreno is out of town.

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Sara Jerez, Ginette Perea, Hector Márquez and Miguelito at Las Tapas. June 24, 2008 9:18pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Last night (Tuesday) at Las Tapas I ran into an old friend, Paul Bruhns. Years ago, he used to go out to local tablaos every single week. But now that he lives in Buffalo, New York where the flamenco scene is not quite as active as it is here in DC, coming to Las Tapas last night for him was like reliving the good ol' times!

Paul gladly volunteered to be our photographer for the evening. Enjoy!

Hector. June 24, 2008 9:19pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Miguelito. June 24, 2008 9:20pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Ginette dancing soleá. June 24, 2008 9:21pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Ginette. June 24, 2008 9:24pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Ginette. June 24, 2008 9:24pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Sara and Ginette dancing bulerías. June 24, 2008 9:27pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Sara and Ginette. June 24, 2008 9:28pm (photo by Paul Bruhns)

Paul Bruhns and Sara. June 24, 2008 9:03pm

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Jason Vera y Aragón and Pam de Campo dancing Sevillanas at Cafe Citron. June 2, 2008 9:40pm (photo by Mauricio Velarde)

Astronomically speaking, the summer official started with the summer solstice on Friday June 20th. For me, it began on June 2nd at Cafe Citron: it was first time in a long time that after the flamenco show, my friends and I stayed out pretty much all night...the weather was warm, people were more in a partying mood than usual, it seemed summer was already in the air!

My friend Mauricio Velarde happily volunteered to be my photographer during my second set. The dancer for the evening was Pam de Ocampo.

Miguelito, Gerard Moreno, Pam and Jason. June 2, 2008 9:40pm (photo by Mauricio Velarde)

Pam dancing alegrías. June 2, 2008 9:52pm (photo by Mauricio Velarde)

Pam. June 2, 2008 9:52pm (photo by Mauricio Velarde)

Several members of Mauricio's band came out support us...

Mauricio Velarde, Beth Loosmore, Paco and Gabriel Lora. June 2, 2008 10:03pm

A couple of my dancer friends from Furia Flamenca showed up too...

Miguelito, Karina Valverde and Bala. June 2, 2008 10:05pm (photo by Mauricio Velarde)

Plus my singer friend Hector Márquez came out too...

Pam and Hector Márquez. June 2, 2008 10:26pm

Afterwards, we took a walk down the street to Ozio to support our fellow musicians and came back to Citron around 1:00am...

A few hours later, the party continues at Citron! June 3, 2008 1:20am

June 3, 2008 1:45am

Miguelito, Josefina, Jason, Laura and Mauricio. June 3, 2008 2:02am

We stayed until last call and decided to get a late night dinner in Chinatown. And yeah, we took this pic in the middle of the street. It was 3-something am, and it seemed like a good idea at the time since there was practically no traffic. :-) But check it out: the car is driving around us!

Laura, Jason and Josefina. June 2, 2008 3:34am

I realize this blog is kinda late and out of sequence, but what can I say? I've been busy! There was a LOT of stuff that went on this past week that I couldn't attend. That's not to say the other events were not important, but c'mon...I can't be in two places at the same time!

Stuff I missed last week:
Marija Temo's Tangos fiesta workshop
Barbara Martinez's performance at Cafe Bonaparte with Behzad Habibzai
Tino van der Sman's guitar workshop
Carmen de Vicente's annual concert at Gunston
Arte Flamenco's performance at Latino Fest in Baltimore

If you have pics from any of the above events, please email me a few good ones, and I'll publish a blog about it soon.

As for tonight (Monday), I'll be performing at Cafe Citron with singer Gerard Moreno and dancer TBA. As usual I'm sleep deprived and my common sense tells me I should get a decent night's rest, but knowing me that's not going to happen...yet again! :-) Ciao for now!

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Dancer Ginette dancing soleá at Cafe Citron. June 16, 2008 9:50pm (photo by Jani)

It's 2:47pm on Thursday as I type these words. Here are some random pics from last Monday at Cafe Citron taken by my friend Jani. Enjoy!

Miguelito. June 16, 2008 9:42pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito. June 16, 2008 9:43pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito. June 16, 2008 9:44pm (photo by Jani)

Ginette. June 16, 2008 9:50pm (photo by Jani)

Ginette. June 16, 2008 9:51pm (photo by Jani)

Ginette and Miguelito. June 16, 2008 10:03pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito and Josefina (former hostess at Las Tapas). June 16, 2008 10:08pm (photo by Jani)

Gerard Moreno and "Naíto." June 16, 2008 10:08pm

Rosario, Carla and Josefina. June 16, 2008 11:04pm

Idi, "Naíto" and Alfonso. June 16, 2008 11:10pm

As for tonight (Thursday), I'll be performing at Las Tapas, but I'm not sure who the dancers will be. If you happen to be around a television at 9:00pm (EST), flamenco dancer Timo Núñez will be performing on the reality show So You Think You Can Dance. He's performed as a guest artist in several of Edwin Aparicio's productions here in DC. Timo's also made a few appearances in several DC area tablaos. Here are some pics from his performance at Cabanas last December.

UPDATE: here's the video of Timo Núñez's performance on So You Think You Can Dance:

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Guitarist Behzad Habibzai. May 31, 2008 6:10pm

It's 1:50pm on Wednesday as I type these words. Been more than a week since I last blogged and although the beautiful, relatively cooler, weather is calling out to me, I just had to publish at least one quickie blog entry. These are from Arte Flamenco's performance at the Washington Folk Festival. Enjoy!

Singer Carlton Ashton and Behzad. May 31, 2008 6:11pm

Jason Vera y Aragón and Natalia Monteleón dancing Sevillanas. May 31, 2008 6:12pm

Jason and Natalia. May 31, 2008 6:12pm

Behzad playing an introduction to Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:14pm

Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:15pm

Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:15pm

Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:16pm

Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:16pm

Guajiras. May 31, 2008 6:18pm

Carlton and Behzad. May 31, 2008 6:23pm

Carton singing tangos. May 31, 2008 6:23pm

Carlton. May 31, 2008 6:24pm

Garrotín. May 31, 2008 6:27pm

Garrotín. May 31, 2008 6:28pm

Garrotín. May 31, 2008 6:29pm

Garrotín. May 31, 2008 6:29pm

Garrotín. May 31, 2008 6:32pm

Jacqui, Terrie and Isabel pose for pic backstage. May 31, 2008 7:02pm

Natalia, Jason, Sonja Teri and her younger brother. May 31, 2008 7:03pm

Behzad and Jason. May 31, 2008 7:09pm

Behzad and Jason. May 31, 2008 7:11pm

Behzad and Jason. May 31, 2008 7:12pm

This last pic is a tribute to a blog entry I published eight years ago (check out the very last pic on the very last page). For more information about Arte Flamenco, visit their official website.

My friend Daniela is sending me an instant message right now telling me to get out of the house and enjoy the day. Well I'm done here, so it's time for me to work on my tan. :-)

As for tonight, I'll be performing at Cubano's in Silver Spring (301-563-4020) with dancer Ginette Perea. Singer Hector Márquez might stop by too. See you there!

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Ginette, Mateo Romero and Isabelita Otero at Cabanas. May 30, 2008 9:55pm

It's 1pm-ish on Monday as I type these words. Gotta a serious backlog of pics from this weekend. These are from Friday night at Cabanas and Isabelita's birthday party afterwards. Enjoy!

Ginette, Isabelita, Jason, Vic and Serenity. May 30, 2008 9:58pm

Isabelita and Ginette dancing Sevillanas. May 30, 2008 10:13pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Hector Márquez singing alegrías. May 30, 2008 10:18pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Isabelita. May 30, 2008 10:23pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Isabelita. May 30, 2008 10:23pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Ginette dancing soleá. May 30, 2008 10:30pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Ginette. May 30, 2008 10:30pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Ginette. May 30, 2008 10:32pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Ginette. May 30, 2008 10:33pm (photo by Jason Vera y Aragón)

Rachel and Ginette. May 30, 2008 10:56pm

It was a gorgeous summery night, so naturally half of our friends went out to people watch, grab a smoke etc.

Kalli, Dan, Rachel, Greg and Dave. May 30, 2008 11:07pm

Jason and Stacey. May 30, 2008 11:11pm

Around 11:15pm, the birthday party officially started, on its own. It was impossible to round-up all the friends from outside and bring 'em in for the birthday song. Oh well. Los Jovenes Flamencos got the flamenco fiesta going soon afterwards.

Isabelita. May 30, 2008 11:18pm

Mateo and Hector. May 30, 2008 11:18pm

Gaby, Isabelita and Hector. May 30, 2008 11:18pm

Ginette and "Naíto." May 30, 2008 11:19pm

Isabelita and Ginette. May 30, 2008 11:22pm

Isabelita. May 30, 2008 11:23pm

"Naíto and Hector. May 30, 2008 11:32pm

As for tonight (Monday), I'll be performing at Cafe Citron with Pam de Ocampo and Gerard Moreno. My singer friend Hector might show up too along with a few other flamencos. See you there!

Stay tuned cuz in the couple of days I'll be publishing pics of Arte Flamenco from their performance at the Washington Folk Festival this past Saturday, the final Sevillanas show at La Tasca Clarendon this past Saturday and finally, Furia Flamenca's performance at the Awaken the Dancer Within Extravaganza from Sunday night. Whew!

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