Discussing the program. From left: guitarist Wilver Hernández, singer Naíto, guitarist Hector Márquez, percussionist Mateo Romero and dancer Sarah Hart. May 28, 2010

It's 1-something pm on Monday...a mere 12 hours since I last published a blog entry today! It's 85° F and sunny outside and yes, I am indoors in front of my Mac, but I can't help it. The sacrifices I make for the DC flamenco community! :-) Seriously though I'm in the mood to publish something so here goes...

This past Friday, a group of some friends of mine that I like to call "Los Jovenes Flamencos," who all happen to be in their early 20's, performed in a fundraiser concert at St Michael Archangel Catholic Church in Silver Spring. I wasn't able to go, but fortunately Hector's sister Marylin and members of Wilver's family took pics. Enjoy!

Hector. May 28, 2010

Hector writes: "It was a night of flamenco and tapas to help raise money for the youth to go to the pilgrimage in Madrid, Spain in 2011. The show started off with Wilver playing a minera, next an alegría, fandango libre, and tientos to finish the first set. Mateo started off the second set with a tarantas then a tangos, soleá, and we finished off with a bulería! The event overall was a success and they treated us very well. It was a lot of fun performing with flamencos around the same age. We are all young and still learning about flamenco as we go along. The fact that there were three guitarists on stage and everyone took on a different role to play was interesting and proves that we don't just limit ourselves to just one aspect of flamenco."

Sarah. May 28, 2010

I had a chance to talk briefly with Hector on the phone...

Miguelito: So do you think you will all work together again in the near future?

Hector: Hell yeah!

M: Cool...so this was the first time with this combination of artists?

H: Yeah.

M: I remember you had more or less the same group in 2008 but with dancer Ginette Perea. It's good to see you all continuing to work, learn and grow together. So did you guys do a lot of rehearsal? Or did you wing it most of the way? Or a little of both?

H: A little of both.

M: What would say was the highlight of the show...the part that you're most proud of?

H: Everything to be honest, everything.

Mateo and Hector. May 28, 2010

Hector went on to explain that the night before they all celebrated Naíto's birthday. Knowing Hector and his friends they probably had an all-night juerga. And, I'm willing to bet they slept-in late and arrived at the gig with just enough time to discuss the program, get dressed and warmed-up and go onstage.

Of course being good friends and young flamenco artists with more or less the same level of accomplishment they already have mutual respect and camaraderie which is usually good for chemistry onstage. Without a doubt, these guys love to play and sing all night long and although I wasn't there for the performance last Friday, I'm sure what the audience saw was a bunch of friends having a good time expressing themselves the way they know best through the art of flamenco.

Wilver warming up. May 28, 2010

A little digression: I started performing in flamenco shows when I was 24, a late starter I guess you could say. I was the dance class guitarist for the Blanca Luz Dance Academy in Buena Park, California. Sure enough I was recruited to do shows early on. And while I did acquire some knowledge sitting alongside veteran flamencos at juergas in the Los Angeles area I really didn't know that much but went out and performed anyway. Not in a disrespectful way of course. I prepared as much as I could. Some things you can only learn with experience.

Thing is that there's only so much you can learn in a lesson and perfect in the practice room. You have to go out there and put yourself under the pressure of the stage. There are no do-overs. And things can and will go wrong and you have to deal with them and go on with the show.

I'm sure there were people saying things about me in the beginning (probably still to this day...haha) when I was putting myself out there in performance despite my inexperience. And some would say it to my face...not very pleasant I admit. But I learned from those encounters and am still learning. It's part of the initiation of becoming a performer.

Wilver onstage opening the show with a minera. May 28, 2010

Mateo, Naíto, Hector and Wilver. May 28, 2010

Being a veteran flamenco here in DC, it pleases me to see these young flamencos growing and learning very much in the same way I did when I was their age. They're actively studying on their own of course. And while I've passed on bits and pieces of wisdom over the years, I know that deep down inside it's better for them to learn from experience. And I better be nice to them, because they'll be the ones taking over my tablao shows when I get old and have arthritis!

Naíto, Sarah and Hector. May 28, 2010

Mateo, Naíto and Sarah. May 28, 2010

Mateo, Sarah, Naíto, Hector. May 28, 2010

Mateo, Sarah and Naíto. May 28, 2010

Mateo playing tarantas. May 28, 2010

Naíto and Hector. May 28, 2010

Sarah, Naíto and Hector. May 28, 2010

Naíto accompanying Hector in the fin de fiesta bulerías. May 28, 2010

Naíto, Hector, Wilver and Sarah. May 28, 2010

Mateo, Naíto, Wilver, Hector and Sarah. May 28, 2010

Congrats to Los Jovenes Flamencos! I'll definitely announce future performances. But in the meantime, stop by Bodega on the weekends and head back to the Matador Room. That's where you'll usually find Hector, Naíto, Wilver and Mateo playing and singing flamenco late at night. Be sure to tell them Miguelito sent you! ;-)

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Flamenco guitarist Miguelito and dancer Ginette. Seanie comments, "Study of Ginette, dancing from the waist up: She is sprawled on the floor, and Pérez crouches beside her as Blue shoots from a distance to compress the focal plane. Shot on a 185mm zoom MF Nikkor lens which is the favorite of model train enthusiasts." May 29, 2010 (photo by Seanie Blue)

It's 1-something am on Monday as I type these words..the last day of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Just got home after spending the evening at the Georgetown Waterfront with a friend. Of course we stopped by Bodega and after consuming a very potent pitcher-and-a-half of white sangría I seriously had to lie down. But that was an hour ago and now I'm sobered up and wide awake!

So this past Saturday my flamenco dancer friend Ginette and I returned to the new arts/music space "The Wonderbox" but this time to do a shoot with photographer Seanie Blue. Although we had been to the "Box" only once before, it was already feeling like home mostly because Seanie, being an artist himself, had a pretty good idea of what to say and do to make us feel comfortable.

Seanie comments, "...the session goes for 3.5 hours, has five costume changes, and consumes 1,238 photographs. Manual lenses, focused each time, dancing subject! But the results are cool."

I'm a performer and I'm onstage in front of people on a weekly basis, so you'd think, OK, so being in front of a camera in a photo shoot is no big deal. I'm not saying it was traumatic. It was just something new for me, being told which direction to turn my head, where to focus my eyes, shift my body weight, chin up. Hmmm...these kinds of directions do sound familiar: they're what dancers are used to hearing all the time!

Miguelito with Ginette. May 29, 2010 (photo by Seanie Blue)

But I'm not a dancer. I'm a flamenco guitarist and while I do think about "getting into character" when I'm onstage, most of my energy goes into playing the guitar, getting into the mood for each palo and accompanying the dancer and singer to the best of my ability. And if I look a little less than photogenic from time to time, it doesn't really matter all that much since the audience is drawn visually to the dancer, most of the time, right?

So Ginette and I arrive at The Wonderbox and we chat awhile with Seanie, get an idea of his vision and eventually we walk over to the studio. There were these fancy lights with shiny umbrellas on them which I expected to see. What I didn't expect was that these were all daisy-chained by a cable that terminated at Sean's camera. I think the way it works is that the lights give him illumination so he can focus his camera and when he presses the shutter button all the lights (three separate ones) go off with a flash.

Another study of Ginette. May 29, 2010 (photo by Seanie Blue)

But the flash is more than just to brighten things up of course. It allows Seanie to manipulate the direction and intensity of the light to achieve whatever his vision is. One thing he mentioned to us afterwards was that he had to compensate for the fact that I had darker skin tone than Ginette's...yeah I spend a lot of time outdoors. Not that he wanted us to look the same but so that I didn't appear excessively dark or that Ginette didn't appear ghostly white. So he had me closer to the lights most of the time.

Anywayz, I don't know that much about the technical side of studio photography. But my job that day was to be one of the photographic subjects. He knew that Ginette would take to this naturally since being a dancer she was accustomed to painting a picture through the movement of dance. I on the other hand, was very dependent on direction from Seanie. And while most of the time, he'd ask me do things that I didn't naturally do (like look away from the dancer) or remind me to raise my chin (I'm used to chin down from watching my hands), he assured me that his job was to make us look good.

Miguelito and Ginette. Seanie comments, "The staircase was pulled from the old Tivoli Theatre, loaned by Ron at the Brass Knob Warehouse, and structured by Andy Cassatt." May 29, 2010 (photo by Seanie Blue)

Seanie comments poetically about one of the photos, "One of perhaps 10,000 poses Gin struck during a tiresome but thrilling shoot. She is a bundle of energy, a gyro of wills and unexpressed dreams; in the shadows of Michael's icy determination to make the instrument his perfect horse, leaping at a whisper instead of a touch, she is like a spill of lava into a nighttime of possibility. Working with these guys was utter pleasure."

The feeling is mutual Seanie!

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Miguelito playing guitar at the grand opening of The Wonderbox. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

It's 11-something am on Wednesday as I type these words. As usual, I'm doing my blogging at a cafe using free WiFi while getting my caffeine fix.

So this past Sunday, flamenco dancer Ginette Perea and I were invited to perform at the grand opening of The Wonderbox, a new art/music space in DC founded by Seanie Blue and Andy Cassatt.

Among the guests were many fellow artists from musicians to dancers to actors to photographers to videographers and more! And while I could've handed my camera to someone in the audience to take pics of our flamenco show, instead I waited to see what some of photographers in attendance that evening would come up with.

My friend Andrés Jacome Melkonian gave me permission to republish here some of his work...thanks Andrés!

Miguelito again. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Flamenco dancer Ginette Perea. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

Ginette. May 23, 2010 (photo by Andrés Jacome Melkonian)

After the show, Ginette, stunning as usual, mingling with some of the invited guests and artists. From left: Sandra Bishop, Ricardo, Andrés Jacome Melkonian and James Mercé Edwards. May 23, 2010 (photo by Miguelito)

As you can see, Sandra was in costume as "MozTart" for her performance later that evening. :-) Here's a sample of one of her hilarious videos on YouTube. And yeah, she's a flamenco dancer too. I used to do shows with Sandra all the time in the 90's.

The guy on right, James, is a filmmaker. I played guitar on the soundtrack (by composer Nicolas Laget) for one of his films last year!

Before the show, Ginette with Seanie Blue (one of the founders of Wonderbox) and the videographer Halldóra Mark. I've known Sean since the early 90's and did some flamenco performances with dancers in at least one of his films (Popé and the Alien) and many performance art pieces at the Blagden Alley ArtScience Warehouse.May 23, 2010 (photo by Miguelito)

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Farruca. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

It's 4-something pm on Friday as I type these words. The weather's gorgeous again and I'm indoors at my neighborhood Starbucks. Sipping an iced café americano by the window watching the people walk by...so much for concentrating on writing this blog. Oh well. :-)

So last Saturday Arte Flamenco performed in its 10th annual student recital. Of course, it was scheduled the same time as my weekly gig at Cafe Citron so I couldn't go, but thank God my new dancer friend Franciska came through with photos from the recital. Here's a small random selection for your enjoyment.

Sevillanas. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

I've performed for quite a few of Arte Flamenco's student recitals over the years so I have idea what it was like. I have a lot of good memories from the rehearsals, the recitals themselves and the after parties. Good times. Quite a few of her former students have gone on to become experienced soloists in the DC area working with me extensively in tablao: Marta Chico Martín, Sara Jerez, Courtney Bernal, Karina Araujo, Aleksey Kulikov, Pam de Ocampo and the list goes on.

So the "game" that we old timers like to play is trying to predict who will be the future performers. What do you think?

Sevillanas. May 15, 2010 (video still by Ae-Hyun Shin)

I could make up some text to fill-in the space here, but it would be better to get some quotes from Arte Flamenco students. So if you were in the show or in the audience, please email me your thoughts and I might publish them here. Thanks!

In the meantime, you can get more info about Arte Flamenco and their director/teacher Natalia Monteleón at the Arte Flamenco website.

Claudia Román. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

Bulerías with singer Hector Márquez, dancer Natalia Monteleón and guitarist Henry Jova. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

Farruca. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Farruca. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Singer Hector Márquez. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Guitarist Henry Jova. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Guajiras. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

Sevillanas. May 15, 2010 (photo by Gail Kapsambelis)

Tientos. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Natalia Monteleón. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

Torcuato Zamora, Henry Jova and Hector Márquez. May 15, 2010 (video still by Maureen Martin)

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Flamenco dancer Ginette performing Sevillanas at Cafe Ciron. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

It's almost 2pm on Saturday as I type these words. The weather's sunny and breezy now but I'm indoors at my local Barnes and Noble cranking out a quickie blog. Not to worry, I promise I'll get some fresh air for a bit before getting ready for my flamenco gig tonight at Cafe Citron.

So yeah it's been a while since my dancer friend Ginette has performed at Cafe Citron. As you might imagine the past year or so, she's been busy with work and finishing up college. In fact, by the time you read this she'll have graduated by then...congrats Ginette!

Tonight's show (assuming you're reading this on Saturday) at Cafe Citron will also feature a dancer that hasn't been in my blog for awhile: Sara Candela. She recently moved back to the DC area from Chile and has been getting settled back in to the local flamenco scene again, teaching at Joe's Movement Emporium in Mount Ranier, Maryland and dancing here and there but mostly at El Manantial in Reston, Virginia.

There's a lot of stuff going flamenco-wise this weekend that is of interest to you my readers. But believe it or not, not all of it is here in DC. Read on...

Ginette. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

Let's see now...

Dancer Emily Mazzotti performed last night in New York in the season finale of American Bolero Dance Company's Tablao Flamenco with a stellar cast of New York flamenco artists.

A bunch of DC flamencos are up in New York to see dancer Rebecca Tomás and company in a program titled A Palo Seco. Rebecca comes down to DC from time to time to perform in Edwin Aparicio's productions. Here's some pics of Rebecca from a rehearsal a few years ago.

Ginette and Miguelito. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

My singer friend Hector Márquez is performing with Natalia Monteleón's Arte Flamenco in their 10th annual student recital at Slayton House in Columbia, Maryland.

Furia Flamenca dancer Daniel Paredez is giving a Sevillanas workshop starting 3:00pm at Joy of Motion Bethesda this Saturday afternoon over the next few weeks to teach the four coplas just in time for the upcoming DC Feria de Sevilla hosted by Centro Español de Washington. Speaking of which the DC Feria will be on Sunday June 13th from noon to 6:00pm at Strathmore and is the area's biggest and most anticipated event featuring local flamencos. Checkout pics from the Feria of 2007.

Miguelito and Ginette in soleá. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

So those are a few of the highlights for this weekend.

In other news, dancer Marsha Bonet-Savchenko's classes at Regan Dance Center Landmark Mall are starting to build momentum with the new session which started this past Wednesday. Besides the beginner and intermediate classes, she also has a class geared towards ballroom dancers who want to incorporate some flamenco arm stylings. The classes include live guitar accompaniment by yours truly.

Ginette and Miguelito. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

Yeah, as much as you love the local flamenco scene, you've been to all the local tablao shows multiple times right? In the mood for something different?

Here's a suggestion. It's not an official show, but stop by Bodega in Georgetown on a Friday or Saturday late night and you're likely to find my flamenco friends Hector, Naíto and Wilver (I like to call them Los Jovenes Flamencos) hanging out in the Matador Room in the back jamming and occasionally getting a juerga going. With the weather getting nicer can you imagine a flamenco party in Bodega's patio? Remember the many juergas from 2008? Perhaps we should get these going again. I'll coordinate with Hector, Naíto and Wilver and let you know.

Speaking of Bodega, this month they celebrate their second anniversary of being open for business, congrats!

Miguelito and Ginette. May 8, 2010 (photo by Jani)

OK...it's about 3pm now. Time for me to get out and breathe some fresh air outdoors and get a little sun before heading to Cafe Citron for tonight's flamenco show.

Our friends in the audience: Jani, Esin and Ayhan. Thanks for your support! May 8, 2010

Our friend Ayhan made a little sketch of our show. Thanks Ayhan! May 8, 2010

My volunteer photographer for the evening, Jani, with Ginette. May 8, 2010

Hope you enjoyed the pics and the little flamenco scene update. Ciao for now!

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Singer Gerard Moreno and Miguelito rehearsing with the students in the dance class studio. May 6, 2010 (photo by Nikki Everette)

It's midnight on Thursday as I type these words. Yup and this'll be the second blog entry tonight!

After about a year-and-a-half "sabbatical" I got back into playing for dance classes again in the Spring of 2010.

I was already playing for Marsha Bonet-Savchenko's classes at Regan Dance Center (in Landmark Mall, Alexandria, Virginia). I mentioned Marsha already in a blog a few weeks ago.

Then my singer/guitarist friend Gerard Moreno referred me to professor Miriam Phillips aka "La Miri" who teaches flamenco at the University of Maryland, College Park.

When I showed up for La Miri's class for the first time I was actually a few minutes late. Of course I had played for hundreds of dance classes over the years (I've probably been to more dance classes than your average flamenco dance student!) with many different teachers, so I was pretty confident that I could handle whatever she asked me to play.

It was also my first time to meet La Miri in person so I didn't really set myself up for making a good first impression. Grrr...but as I walked in she was in the middle of making some introductory remarks about the history of flamenco so I quietly grabbed a chair, picked a suitable place to sit, tuned my guitar and waited for her cue.

Working on individual interpretation. May 6, 2010 (photo by Nikki Everette)

She asked me to tell the class about myself, so I did. But it turned out that they knew about me anyway because she had referred her students to my website, DCFlamenco.com already, yay! Long story short...my reputation preceded me, so to speak, La Miri and I "clicked" right away and things got off to a good start on the very first day.

The class is an upper division course geared towards dance majors but there were auditors. So basically it was a mix of levels and abilities. Bearing that in mind, professor Phillips kept it simple by focusing on a palo with an easy-to-grasp compás: Farruca. So just about every Tuesday and Thursday for 13 weeks that's what we worked on: basic flamenco technique and choreography for Farruca.

In performance: final pose of the Farruca. May 6, 2010 (photo by Nikki Everette)

I'm not going to lie to you. Playing the same compás of Farruca over and over again can be very tedious, but my role as the class dance accompanist is still very important. For one thing, I'm helping the students learn to associate specific routines in the choreography with specific musical sounds. So that when they're at home working on it (or at least thinking about it) they're also hearing the music in their heads.

Also, when professor Phillips is breaking down the more complicated steps at a slower tempo, I'm also providing accompaniment at that slower tempo customizing the music to best support rhythm of the step. Of course you can do that too, to a certain extent, with Solo Compás recordings which present the rhythms of flamenco at various speeds for instructional purposes. But it's so much more efficient with a live experienced accompanist! No need to press play or find a track on a CD or iPod...pffft! Most of the time I could read the professor's mind and knew exactly what she wanted me to play and what tempo and she didn't have to even cue me!

In performance: Sevillanas. That's Gerard and I in the back on the left. This is in the Dance Theater at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. May 6, 2010 (photo by Nikki Everette)

Fast forward 13 weeks later...professor Philllips' flamenco class had the exciting opportunity to participate in an informal works-in-progress concert sharing the program with other dance student performances. Singer Gerard Moreno joined us onstage which added so much to capturing the mood of the Farruca and the Sevillanas.

I had a blast and I'm pretty sure the students did too. Hopefully at least of few of them have been inspired to explore flamenco further. But I know what the other flamencos in the DC community are wondering: are there some future performers aka competitors amongst these students? I do see some potential, but I'm not going to elaborate. ;-)

Yeah, that's one of the perks of playing for dance classes: you get to see students progress and you can keep an eye out for prospective talent, nurture them and recruit the more talented ones for my roster of dancers for my shows! Muahahaha!!! Just kidding...kinda sorta. :-)

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DC-based flamenco singer Maestro Manolo Leiva with visiting Chicago flamenco dancers Cristina Gutierrez (left) and Grey Kelley. May 4, 2010

It's 10-something pm on Thursday as I type these words. Yeah I chose to stay in and catch up on sleep but at this rate I'll be up for a couple of hours working on this blog and maybe a second one later tonight.

So last week on May 3rd and 4th, the DC area's most prestigious and expensive Spanish restaurant, Taberna del Alabardero, presented a two-night run of the show, Forever Flamenco by artists from Chicago namely:

Dancer/director Azucena Vega
Cristina Gutierrez, dancer
Grey Kelley, dancer
Ricardo Santiago, dancer
and guitarist David Chiriboga.

The poster announces Jesús de Araceli but he couldn't make it at the last minute (I heard it was due to visa problems) so guitarist David Chiriboga took his place.

Soul & Duende is a flamenco dance company based in Chicago and Madrid, Spain

Of course, being a performer myself, I was busy both nights the Taberna show took place. But after I finished up my show at Las Tapas on Tuesday, I rushed on over to say hello, take a few pics and hang out with the flamencos from Chicago.

Dancer Debra Belo and singer/guitarist Marija Temo with Pablo Rodarte who literally just flew in from Colorado to give a workshop in DC. May 4, 2010

Saw a couple of familiar faces as soon as I walked in such as Sarah Hart, Jason Vera y Aragón, Marija Temo and a few others who wish to remain anonymous, wink wink. ;-) I heard that Edwin Aparicio stopped by earlier.

Anywayz, I said a quick hello to the locals and welcomed the artists visiting from out-of-town but not just the Chicagoans. Dancer Ricardo Santiago came down from New York. Dancer Pablo Rodarte flew in from Denver and came straight to Taberna from the airport! Local legendary singer Manolo Leiva even came out...as it turns out his picture is on the wall of celebrities here at Taberna.

Maestro Manolo Leiva and Pablo Rodarte with Chicago-based dancer Azucena Vega. May 4, 2010

Although I did miss the show, at least I got to make a few new friends. And yeah I added them all on Facebook as soon as I got home that night. Haha. As for Azucena Vega, I did play for a workshop she gave more than ten years ago at Joana del Río's home studio in Vienna, Virginia.

It was my first time to meet Pablo Rodarte. If you visit his website, you'll read on the very first page: "Pablo Rodarte and Gloria Mandelik are the only Americans who have been recognized and honored in the celebrated film documentary 'Rito y Geografia del Baile Flamenco.'"

Wow...that's quite an honor! Anywayz, I heard that the workshop he gave at Joy of Motion studio was a success. One class focused on palmas and contratiempo and other I think was a class to learn choreography for tangos and bulerías.

From left...DC-based dancers Sarah Hart and Jason Vera y Aragón with Cristina Gutierrez, Ricardo Santiago (really from New York but comes to DC so often he's one of us now), Chicago-based guitarist David Chiriboga and DC based-singer Hector Márquez. May 4, 2010

So that's about it. Just a quick report of what went on at Taberna in case you didn't make it. Stay tuned...I'm going to crank out another quick blog later tonight. Ciao for now!

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