Miguelito and Emiliy Mazzotti at Tapeo. May 3, 2008 7:59pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

It's about 3:00am on Monday as I type these words. Yeah, it's true. This past Saturday was the last flamenco show at Tapeo which coincidentally was the two year anniversary of our show there. I first performed at Tapeo on May 3, 2006 with dancers Ginette Perea and María.

The reason for canceling the show is that starting next week Tapeo the restaurant is changing its menu to American cuisine and its name to something new. So unfortunately Tapeo is also gone along with the flamenco. Nothing personal—just the way it goes in the restaurant biz.

The least I could've wished for my last night performing here was beautiful warm weather, so we could perform outside—the shows in the patio are so much more enjoyable for us performers and the audience alike. According to my iPhone-toting friends, the temperature was 74F and despite the clouds, there was no rain.

The dancer for the evening was Emily Mazzotti. Despite it being our last time to present flamenco here, we were still very inspired. And why not? We were outdoors performing underneath the stars. And of course it helped tremendously that we had quite a few of our loyal fans in the audience cheering us on. Not to mention the many children that enjoyed our show and even participated!

When I introduced myself and Emily to our audience, I also took a moment to acknowledge our friends and supporters. Although normally it's not really cool to promote my other gigs at other competing restaurants and clubs, being that it was our last time here, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway for the sake of our fans who might want to follow us elsewhere.

Don't worry. I'm not get all mushy about our last show. :-) Just enjoy these final pics of Tapeo one last time and wish me luck as I go about my search for a new Saturday night gig.

Miguelito and Emily. May 3, 2008 8:00pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:00pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:03pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

Miguelito, Emily and unexpected guest dancer. :-) May 3, 2008 8:03pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:06pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:08pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

The flash didn't go off for this and the next pic. But it gives you an idea of the actual ambience. May 3, 2008 8:10pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:10pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:11pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:12pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

May 3, 2008 8:12pm (photo by Chris Mazzotti)

Some of our loyal fans: Chris, Rachel and Dave. May 3, 2008 8:28pm

More of our loyal fans. Kalli, Serenity and Carol. May 3, 2008 8:28pm

Not pictured but also in our audience were Gil, Andy and George plus a whole lot of other people whose faces I recognize but don't know yet by name. Thank you all for your support over the past two years!

P.S. in case you're interested, here are some pics from Sunday's Cinco de Mayo Festival on the National Mall.

Kiyo, Kyoko and Miguelito at Las Tapas. April 29, 2008 8:43pm (photo by Edwin Aparicio)

It's almost 4:00am on Thursday as I type these words. So this past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time Kiyo, a cajón player based in Miami who has worked extensively with Kyoko. Of course, I already knew about him from seeing his pics in Kyoko's website. And he knew a lot about me being a regular reader of my flamenco blog.

Anywayz, the good news is that Kyoko and Kiyo are moving to the DC area (and as an added bonus Kiyo is not only a percussionist but also a flamenco guitarist). Welcome to the DC flamenco community to you both!

Kyoko dancing soleá. April 29, 2008 9:03pm (photo by Kiyo)

Kyoko. April 29, 2008 9:04pm (photo by Kiyo)

Kyoko. April 29, 2008 9:05pm (photo by Kiyo)

Kyoko and Edwin Aparicio. April 29, 2008 9:08pm (photo by Kiyo)

Miguelito. April 29, 2008 9:09pm (photo by Kiyo)

Edwin dancing alegrías. April 29, 2008 9:09pm (photo by Kiyo)

Edwin. April 29, 2008 9:15pm (photo by Kiyo)

Edwin. April 29, 2008 9:19pm (photo by Kiyo)

Carlton Ashton. April 29, 2008 9:20pm (photo by Kiyo)

Speaking of Miami-based artists, let's not forget singer/guitarist Luís Linares "El Tiburón" who I met last week at Cafe Citron and who has also worked extensively with Kyoko. It would be cool if he moved here to DC too! We'll see. :-)

Speaking of which, it seems that we're getting a regular influx of flamenco artists to the nation's capital each year. Here are a few names that come to mind:

2005: Marsha Savchenko aka Rosa la Huracana, originally from Orlando, Florida—currently dividing her time between performing and teaching ballroom and flamenco in Old Town Alexandria.

2006: Genevieve Guinn "La Genoveva", originally from Austin, Texas—a very much in-demand flamenco instructor at DC Dance Collective.

2007: Flor Pérez Taboada, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina—still settling in but already developing a small very loyal following at DC Dance Collective and Rendezvous studio.

2008: Kyoko and Kiyo—we'll see what the future holds!

In other news, Edwin Aparicio informs me that he has a show coming up next month at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Also, Furia Flamenca will be performing at the Embassy of Spain at 1:00pm this Saturday May 3, 2008 as part of the second annual European Union Open House.

Finally, for those of you who spend a lot of time watching flamenco vids on YouTube, you'll love this tip that I just heard about last night...

To view the HD version of the video you are watching, paste this special code to the end of the URL
&fmt=18

For example, if the original URL is
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bUtQQQPwRNc

To view the HD version, add the special code at the end so it would look like this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bUtQQQPwRNc&fmt=18

Press the enter key and see what happens. It really works!

Try it out on one of Edwin's videos. When you add the special code, you'll notice that the sound is much crisper and the picture is sharp.

Guitarist/singer César Oretea and percussionist Lelis Cueto at Ozio. April 28, 2008 11:08pm

It's 3:00am on Thursday as I type these words. And it's my second blog entry today, woohoo! :-) I almost always go to Ozio after my gig at Citron. And this past Monday Lelis Cueto, the percussionist who performs at Ozio, returned the favor and came to my show at Citron. Anywayz, here are da pics. Enjoy!

Lelis playing his new cajón built by César. April 28, 2008 11:09pm

César. April 28, 2008 11:09pm

Jason Vera y Aragón trying out the new cajón. April 28, 2008 11:13pm

Playing with the brushes. April 28, 2008 11:24pm

April 28, 2008 11:24pm

César. April 28, 2008 11:42pm

César and Lelis. April 28, 2008 11:44pm

César. April 28, 2008 11:45pm

César. April 28, 2008 11:57pm

Ozio Lounge features a live rumba performance every Monday from around 10:30pm until 1:00am. Call 202-822-6000 for more information.

A few minutes after sunset on a warm Friday night, there's plenty of people partying on the Georgetown waterfront. April 25, 2008 8:06pm

It's 2:00am on Thursday as I type these words. Been a busy week, so I'm just getting around to publishing some pics from Friday. Oh well—better late then never.

Mother Nature was nice to us, yet again, on a Friday night. It was sunny for awhile, but although the clouds filled the sky later in the evening, it stayed warm which meant that the crowds stayed at the Georgetown Waterfront longer. Of course, with the restaurant crowded, I had to wait a little longer to put away my sound system—it's quite difficult lugging a hundred pounds of sound equipment through a dining room packed with customers.

To pass the time, us artists and our friends chilled out in the seating area adjacent to the bar and started a jam session...

Pam de Ocampo and Hector Márquez jammin' por bulerías. April 25, 2008 11:05pm (photo by Ginette)

Pam and Hector. April 25, 2008 11:05pm (photo by Ginette)

Hector. April 25, 2008 11:06pm (photo by Ginette)

Ginette Perea and Jason Vera y Aragón. April 25, 2008 11:11pm

Pam, Jason and Ginette doing palmas. April 25, 2008 11:11pm

Miguelito. April 25, 2008 11:15pm (photo by Ginette)

Hector and Miguelito. April 25, 2008 11:16pm (photo by Ginette)

Cabanas Restaurant features flamenco shows on Friday nights around 8:00pm and 9:00pm. Call 202-944-4242 to make your reservations.

Serene interior of Red Maple. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

These pics just came in. Being a busy working flamenco guitarist is a lot of fun, but the only drawback is that I can't always go to my friends' gigs at night. I texted Kyoko yesterday asking her to have someone take some pics of her debut at Red Maple. She writes...

...Here are some pics from last night. Natalie took these photos for us. The young girl dancing sevillanas with me is Corina, a student of Natalia Monteleón's. She came up to talk to me after the first set, and when I learned that she has been taking flamenco dance lessons, I invited her to dance sevillanas with me in the second set. On trumpet is Jimmy Wilson - an awesome musician...

Luís Linares El Tiburón, Kyoko and Richard Marlow. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Luís and Kyoko. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Kyoko and Corina (a dance student of Natalia Monteleón. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Kyoko. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Luís, Richard and Kyoko. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Richard and Kyoko. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Luís and Natalie, the photographer. April 22, 2008 (photo by Kyoko)

Richard and Jimmy Wilson. April 22, 2008 (photo by Natalie)

Red Maple is in Baltimore. They feature flamenco performances on Tuesday nights. Call 410-547-0149 for more info and to make reservations.

My thanks to Kyoko for getting these pics to me so quickly!

April 22, 2008

Just a quick blog to show you what I received from a member of the audience last night at Las Tapas. The dancers were Pam de Ocampo and Emily Mazzotti. Awesome and inspiring evening, especially the second set when we were more relaxed and focused.

While I was upstairs practicing before the show, a young lady and her mother (I presume) passed by me on the way to the restroom. On their way back downstairs the mother took a moment to tell me how beautiful my guitar playing sounds and that she and her daughter would be looking forward to the show. Turns out the young lady had just started classical guitar lessons a few weeks ago!

I wasn't the only one that received a hand-drawn greeting card (like the one above). Both Pam and Emily got cards too. The young lady was so sweet and adorable. It's nights like these that make it all worth it to perform in restaurants and clubs. I love my job!

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, I'll be going to Las Tapas again, but this time in the morning, 11:30am to be specific. Together with Edwin Aparicio and Kyoko, we'll be doing a lecture/demonstration for children teaching them about Spain and flamenco. It's getting late. So I'd better go to sleep now. Ciao for now!

César Oretea, Alma Priego La Terremoto and Lelis Cueto at Ozio Lounge. April 22, 2008 12:00am

It's 4:00am on Wednesday as I type these words. This entry is a continuation of Monday night's festivities which began at Cafe Citron (see previous blog) and carried over to Ozio Lounge where my friends César and Lelis perform on Monday nights from 10:30pm until 1:00am.

In our group were Alma la Terremoto, Kyoko, Luís Linares "El Tiburón," Jason, Jani and myself. It was about a 5 minute walk from Citron to Ozio. Upon arriving we immediately got comfortable on the couch next to the performance area and filled the lounge with our insanely loud palmas. Hehe. César and Lelis didn't seem to mind. It was a slow night anyway and, thanks to us flamencos, we brought this usually busy bar to life.

Kyoko and Luís Linares "El Tiburón." April 22, 2008 12:35am

Luís and Miguelito. April 22, 2008 12:51am

Kyoko and Jason. April 22, 2008 12:52am

Kyoko. April 22, 2008 12:53am

Kyoko. April 22, 2008 12:54am

Jani Diylan, Alma and Jason Vera y Aragón. April 22, 2008 12:55am

Jani, Alma and Jason. April 22, 2008 12:57am

César and Lelis. April 22, 2008 1:00am

April 22, 2008 1:00am

For more information about César and Duende Camarón, visit the official website. OK, just one more quick blog then I'm calling it a night!

Jason Vera y Aragón, Kyoko, Laura, Luís Linares El Tiburón, Danielle and Alma Priego La Terremoto at Cafe Citron. April 21, 2008 9:40pm

My friend Alma Priego La Terremoto came to Citron last night. Quite a few other friends showed up including Jason, Danielle, Jani, Gloria, RJ, Iulia, Elena, Katya and Aseel. Diton from Vinoteca was there. We even had a couple of Miami flamencos in the audience: Kyoko and Luís Linares "El Tiburón".

Danielle and Marí dancing Sevillanas. April 21, 2008 9:58pm (photo by Jani)

Danielle and Marí. April 21, 2008 9:59pm (photo by Jani)

Alma Priego La Terremoto. April 21, 2008 9:59pm (photo by Jani)

Gerard Moreno. April 21, 2008 10:05pm (photo by Jani)

María dancing soleá. April 21, 2008 (photo by Jani) 10:09pm

María. April 21, 2008 10:10pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito. April 21, 2008 10:11pm (photo by Jani)

María and her audience. April 21, 2008 10:11pm (photo by Jani)

María and her audience. April 21, 2008 10:11pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito and María. April 21, 2008 10:11pm (photo by Jani)

April 21, 2008 10:11pm (photo by Jani)

April 21, 2008 10:15pm (photo by Jani)

April 21, 2008 10:17pm (photo by Jani)

Luís Linares El Tiburón joined us onstage to sing a few letras por bulerías. April 21, 2008 10:19pm (photo by Jani)

Gerard and Luís. April 21, 2008 10:20pm (photo by Jani)

Miami-based singer/guitarist Luís Linares "El Tiburón" is in DC this week for a gig and intends to make time to hang out with the local flamencos. Checkout his MySpace music profile.

Alma playing conga. April 21, 2008 11:13pm (photo by Jani)

Alma and Danielle. April 21, 2008 11:13pm (photo by Jani)

It was a fun night overall. We continued the party at Ozio with Duende Camarón until 1:00am and called it a night. When I get back home, maybe I'll publish more pics. Ciao for now!

Richard Marlow, José Oretea, Alma Priego La Terremoto, Anna Menéndez, Ramin Rad and Juan Delgado at Vinoteca. April 20, 2008 10:11pm

Yesterday after the Feria, I had plans to go to Vinoteca as I usually do for a Sunday night. My dancer friend of way back, Alma Priego La Terremoto was in town (all the way from New Jersey) specifically for the Feria which unfortunately had to cancel the flamenco stage shows due to the rain. So as you can imagine, she was dying for a fix of flamenco. Luckily we have tablao shows here in DC seven days a week (knock on wood), so I gave her the directions and met up with Alma at Vinoteca sometime after 8:00pm.

Anna Menéndez was the featured dancer for the evening accompanied by guitarist Richard Marlow and singer/guitarist Gerard Moreno. When Alma arrived, it was like a reunion. She already knew me, Richard, Anna and Ramin from way back (she moved to New Jersey in 1998--ten years ago!). She met Gerard, José, Juan and Ken for the first time. Anywayz, when the show started, we all sat along the bar area closest to the stage and provided palmas for inspiration and it wasn't long before it felt like old times again in the company Alma--she's so energetic, positive and full of life!

Ken McNaughton, Juan, José and Alma. April 20, 2008 10:24pm

Gerard Moreno. April 20, 2008 10:25pm

Gerard and Richard. April 20, 2008 10:29pm

Alma and customer dancing rumba. April 20, 2008 10:41pm

Alma and Ken. April 20, 2008 10:42pm

As you can tell by the timestamps on these pics, the performance went on well past 10pm. The owners wanted to try out extending the show a little later. To conclude the final performance of the evening, José was invited to sing a rumba, his specialty.

José joining Gerard and Richard onstage. April 20, 2008 10:49pm

José. April 20, 2008 10:50pm

José. April 20, 2008 10:53pm

José. April 20, 2008 10:55pm

José dancing with Alma. April 20, 2008 10:56pm

Alma dancing a little bulerías. April 20, 2008 11:34pm

Richard and Alma. April 20, 2008 11:58pm

It was great to see you Alma! Anywayz, as for tonight, If you need a flamenco fix, why not come to Café Citron tonight? The shows are at 8:30pm and 9:30pm. See you there!

P.S. I just noticed that this is my 404th post since January 2006! I've been using this very popular blogging software called Movable Type which obviously has been working quite well for me--easy to customize and very professional looking. I was kinda hoping to have noticed when I wrote post number 400. Oh well. In case you're wondering what a listing of 400+ blog posts looks like, checkout the blog archives.

All dressed-up with a fiesta to go to! :-) April 20, 2008 12:58pm

On Sunday morning, I got a text from my good friend Cindy telling me that the Feria was cancelled. As you can imagine, with the pouring rain, it's a challenge to host an outdoor festival. So I called up Centro Español president Irene Buscañana to get the official word before I made the announcement on my website--which, by the way, got a record number of visits on Sunday. No doubt hundreds of people consider DCFlamenco.com the flamenco info source for DC, yay!

Anywayz, Irene informed me that although the amphitheatre stage shows (which was to feature performances by several local flamenco dance companies) were cancelled, some of the food booths would remain open just in case people decided to show up. Without the flamenco shows, I didn't think there would be that many people. But I was wrong.

I decided to go with the intent of photographing what little would be going on just to document the event--being that I am the self-appointed reporter for the DC flamenco scene. It wasn't thousands of people as would be expected had the weather been beautiful, but more like a few hundred. Just the right amount to have a decent festival crowd and fiestas in one of the casetas.

Doesn't look like much now. But this is where party central will be. April 20, 2008 12:58pm

Thing is that when the party got started, everyone converged on "party central" because that's where the excitement was going on. Unless of course you were stuck standing in the long lines for food--yes, despite the pouring rain, the people patiently waited for the opportunity to buy some delicious samples Spanish cuisine.

My new friend making my lunch. April 20, 2008 12:59pm

Adding water to the pan of my paella. :-) April 20, 2008 1:00pm

Paella! Yum! April 20, 2008 1:00pm

Rain's not going to stop people from getting some delicious Spanish food. April 20, 2008 1:02pm

Preparing a plato of jamón, chorizo y pan. April 20, 2008 1:09pm

Pouring a glass of refreshing sangría. April 20, 2008 1:09pm

Tortilla española, pan, jamón y chorizo. April 20, 2008 1:10pm

April 20, 2008 1:13pm

April 20, 2008 1:14pm

Músicos. April 20, 2008 1:18pm

Sevillanas. April 20, 2008 1:21pm

April 20, 2008 1:22pm

April 20, 2008 1:24pm

Salva Rociera sing-along. April 20, 2008 1:29pm

Rain's stopped for a short while. April 20, 2008 1:30pm

Guitarist Torcuato Zamora posing with VIP's. April 20, 2008 1:30pm

Singer Hector Márquez and Torcuato. April 20, 2008 1:33pm

Yet another batch of paella! April 20, 2008 1:35pm

Músicos with some of the dancers. April 20, 2008 1:37pm

More Sevillanas dancing. April 20, 2008 1:39pm

April 20, 2008 1:39pm

April 20, 2008 1:40pm

Torcuato and Javier Bustamante. April 20, 2008 1:42pm

Sevillanas. April 20, 2008 1:44pm

More Sevillanas. April 20, 2008 1:46pm

Still more Sevilanas. April 20, 2008 1:47pm

Javier. April 20, 2008 1:50pm

Torcuato. April 20, 2008 1:50pm

That's me Miguelito putting down the camera long enough to actually participate! April 20, 2008 2:30pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

At this point, people were screaming as the rain was coming down so hard that a stream of water was flowing across the floor. But of course it didn't stop the party! April 20, 2008 2:30pm (photo by Hector Márquez)

Once I picked up the guitar and joined in the party, I lost track of time. One sevillanas after the other. Then some rumbas. Then back to Sevillanas. Then some fandangos de Huelva. Back to Sevillanas. At one point the caseta felt like a sauna--kinda like the tiny basement dance floor of Café Citron when it's packed with a hundred dancing people on a warm summer night. It was hot in there. But with all the people determined to carry on despite the rain, you couldn't help but get drawn into the spirit of the Feria de Sevilla.

Centro Español de Washington will be organizing a picnic at Seneca Park sometime in May. Date and details, when confirmed, will be posted on their website.

Young flamencas. April 19, 2008 11:34am

It's almost 3:00am on Sunday as I type these words. A few days ago, I got a tip that the students of Ana Martinez were going to rehearse on Saturday morning. But as usual for Saturdays I was scheduled to play for a dance class at 12:30pm in Rockville. Turns out that Strathmore is along the way, so I dropped-in on the rehearsal for about a half hour and took pics, paid my respects to Paco de Málaga and Ana Martinez and said hello to some of my dancer friends who were onstage before I hopped back on the metro. Enjoy!

Los niños. April 19, 2008 11:34am

April 19, 2008 11:34am

Mariana. April 19, 2008 11:39am

Mariana. April 19, 2008 11:40am

Mariana accompanied by Paco de Málaga. April 19, 2008 11:40am

Mariana. April 19, 2008 11:41am

Mariana and Paco. April 19, 2008 11:41am

Mariana and Paco. April 19, 2008 11:41am

Mariana and Paco. April 19, 2008 11:42am

Mariana and Paco. April 19, 2008 11:42am

Mariana. April 19, 2008 11:42am

Paco and Mariana. April 19, 2008 11:43am

Mariana and Ana Martínez. April 19, 2008 11:43am

Of course I couldn't stay for the whole rehearsal, but I hope you enjoyed the few pics I published for you here.

Anywayz, it's a little after 3:00am now and although I'm normally in vampire mode, I'm actually tired. It was a long but very enjoyable day: between the rehearsal at Strathmore, Anna Menendez's afternoon dance classes in Rockville and performing outdoors at Tapeo with Ginette Perea on a beautiful warm night, I think overdosed on flamenco for a day--if that's possible! :-)

Seriously though, I better wrap this up and go to bed, so I can get a good night's rest for a change. I'll definitely need it, cuz around noon (on Sunday) I'll be back at Strathmore for Centro Español de Washington's Feria de Sevilla, the DC area's biggest local flamenco festival. I'll have my camera, of course, so don't surprised if I take your picture, OK? See you there!

UPDATE: the Feria has been CANCELLED due to rain. I spoke with the organizers from Centro Español de Washington this morning. They are working on a reschedule for sometime in May. I'll announce the new date if and when it is confirmed.

Anna Menendez and Kyoko at Las Tapas. April 17, 2008 7:57pm

It's 3:30am on Friday as I type these words. Just got done sifting through the many photos from last night's show at Las Tapas featuring dancers Anna Menendez and Kyoko with guitarist Richard Marlow. Enjoy!

Richard Marlow. April 17, 2008 9:02pm

Richard. April 17, 2008 9:05pm

Kyoko dancing tientos. April 17, 2008 9:08pm

Kyoko. April 17, 2008 9:08pm

Kyoko. April 17, 2008 9:10pm

Kyoko. April 17, 2008 9:10pm

Kyoko. April 17, 2008 9:11pm

Kyoko. April 17, 2008 9:12pm

Anna about to begin her soleá. April 17, 2008 9:14pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:14pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:15pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:15pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:16pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:16pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:22pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:22pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:23pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:25pm

Anna. April 17, 2008 9:25pm

Richard, Anna and Kyoko in fin de fiesta bulerías. April 17, 2008 9:26pm

April 17, 2008 9:27pm

Jason Vera y Aragón, Kyoko and José Oretea. April 17, 2008 11:32pm

Kyoko, a former DC area resident (and fellow website guru--she masterfully maintains FloridaFlamenco.com!), is in town for a couple of weeks so if you missed her performance last night, don't worry. She's scheduled to dance here and at other venues. I'll try to announce her dates as they are confirmed. Actually come to think of it, I do know that she will be at Red Maple in Baltimore this coming Tuesday April 22nd.

As for tonight (Friday), as usual I'll be at Cabanas in Georgetown Harbour with dancers Ginette Perea and Shahram. See you there!

Carlton Ashton and Behzad Habibzai at Café Bonaparte. April 16, 2008 8:06pm

It's 5:45am on Thursday as I type these words. Last night (Wednesday) was very chill--spent the evening listening to my friends perform for a small but appreciative crowd. i.e. myself, Jason Vera y Aragón and our new friend that we just met, Catherine. Don't get me wrong, business was good. There were quite a few other tables in this tiny tiny place filled with paying customers, but they were more into their own conversations than in the show itself.

I sat at the end of bar the whole evening--it's the prime spot for taking photos. For the short period when the two tables directly in front of me were unoccupied, I took advantage of the situation and snapped off a bunch of shots. What follows is a random selection.

Carlton Ashton and Behzad Habibzai at Café Bonaparte. April 16, 2008 8:06pm

Bear in mind, that I couldn't move around much: it seemed like every two seconds a waitress glided past me. There'd be a quick blur of black in my camera's viewfinder and they'd be gone. Earlier in the evening, I'd sense their presence out of the corner of my eye as they stood waiting for me to take a pic and uttered a quick, "Go ahead." As the evening progressed, they learned to stop asking to pass by and simply went about their business.

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:06pm

For those of you who haven't been here yet, this show features cante and guitar solos. It's not likely to be as popular as a show featuring dancers. But I still highly recommend that you do come. I'm not going to lecture you about the importance of cante in flamenco. You'll all figure that out eventually.

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:13pm

But there will be nights when more flamencos (performers and aficionados alike) will show up (perhaps even taking over this rather small venue) and if the ambiente is just right, a juerga might ensue. And you never know when that might happen. Better to just come out to Café Bonaparte more often and just "happen to be there" when it does!

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:14pm

The food here is pretty good and so are the wines (at least the ones that I've tried so far). I prefer red and almost always order something Spanish, usually a tempranillo served in one of those especially large wine glasses that allow it to "breathe" and open up its flavors. I'm no expert but as a flamenco performer I've hung out at Spanish restaurants and bars long enough to pick up a few things about wine appreciation.

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:17pm

Like it or not, alcohol is almost always a part of flamenco parties. Now I'm not encouraging you to go out and get drunk, but as long as you're old enough to consume alcohol, do order yourself a glass of something Spanish (or not), take a few sips, savor it and loosen up. It might help you overcome your inhibitions and get up and perhaps dance that little patada of bulerías or Sevillanas that you just learned in class. OK, so maybe you're not the next Eva or Farruquito but more importantly you'll be putting to use what you've learned and most likely will have a good time doing it. In my opinion, that's what's it all about: having a blast expressing yourself!

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:18pm

So what's new in the flamenco scene? A lot more local tablao shows are featuring cante. For the past six years, Café Citron was the only place to go if you wanted to see a show that consistently featured a flamenco singer: namely Gerard Moreno. But other places are starting to bring in singers from time to time: Las Tapas, Cabanas and Tapeo. Some of the singers who make their appearance at these places include: José Oretea, Carlton Ashton and Hector Márquez. Thing is that since they are occasional guests (usually volunteering their services), you never know for sure when these singers will be there, you just have to go to these venues and take your chances.

Actually there is one other venue (aside from Citron) that features a flamenco singer every week: Vinoteca on Sunday nights. Hopefully the day will come when more of the local restaurants will realize the entertainment value of regularly hiring a flamenco singer for the tablao show. In the meantime, we should do our part and support cante performances like the one here at Café Bonaparte. It's usually once a month on a Wednesday night.

Carlton and Behzad. April 16, 2008 8:19pm

Four years ago, flamenco singer José Merce made his debut in DC with guitarist Moraíto. Both are big names in flamenco. But since this was a cante concert, ticket sales were very poor. That's just the way it is here in Washington DC: dance concerts will always sell better than cante concerts. OK, enough ranting. You get the idea. Trust me on this: whether you're a dancer or a guitarist, learn to appreciate cante and you'll be able to experience flamenco on a deeper level.

Don't forget: this Sunday April 20th is the DC area's biggest local flamenco event: Centro Español de Washington's Feria de Sevilla at Strathmore in Bethesda.

OK, time for me to go to bed. :-) It's supposed to be another warm and sunny day with temps in the upper 70's, so make sure you get out of the office and enjoy it! Ciao for now.

Sara Jerez dancing soleá at Cafe Citron. April 14, 2008 9:39pm (photo by Jani)

It's 1:30pm on Tuesday as I type these words. Just about to leave the house, but I thought I'd share some pics from last night courtesy of my volunteer photographer from last night. Thank you Jani!

Sara. April 14, 2008 9:39pm (photo by Jani)

Sara. April 14, 2008 9:40pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito and Sara. April 14, 2008 9:47pm (photo by Jani)

Miguelito. April 14, 2008 9:47pm (photo by Jani)

Sara. April 14, 2008 9:49pm (photo by Jani)

Lola and Cecilia. April 14, 2008 9:59pm (photo by Jani)

As I always say, it's more fun when we see familiar faces out there. A couple of friends were in the audience including Lola and Cecilia as well as Idi and Gloria. It always pleases me to see the progression from making new friends at my gigs (especially here at Citron where I've met many many fun and interesting people), telling them about the DC flamenco scene and seeing them get more involved and accomplished over the years. What's even cooler is that I often have photos of when I first met various people. For example, I first met Lola way back in 2004 here at Citron and here are the pics!

Anywayz, as you can tell I'm in a reminiscing kinda mood. I'm so looking forward to the DC Feria de Sevilla this Sunday April 20th, where I'll hopefully run into lots of old friends and very likely make a few new ones. See you there!

Morgan, Karina and Katie of Furia Flamenca dancing tangos at the Cherry Blossom Festival. April 12, 2008 2:46pm

It's 5:45am on Sunday as I type these words. Just thought squeeze in a quick photo blog before going to bed. This is just a random selection of pics I took of the show by Furia Flamenca in the Cherry Blossom Festival in the Tidal Basin. Enjoy!

Furia Flamenca director Estela Velez. April 12, 2008 2:47pm

Karina Valverde and Katie. April 12, 2008 2:48pm

Katie. April 12, 2008 2:49pm

Morgan. April 12, 2008 2:54pm

Karina. April 12, 2008 2:55pm

Estela and guitarist Torcuato Zamora in Garrotín. April 12, 2008 2:56pm

Checkout the camera in the bottom right corner. Sneaky! :-) April 12, 2008 2:56pm

Estela. April 12, 2008 2:57pm

Torcuato. April 12, 2008 3:01pm

Alegrías. April 12, 2008 3:03pm

Nikki, Sylvia, Morgan, Karina and Lillian. April 12, 2008 3:05pm

Daniel Paredez in Guajiras. April 12, 2008 3:13pm

Daniel and Estela. April 12, 2008 3:14pm

Lillian and Daniel. April 12, 2008 3:22pm

As soon as the show was over around 3:30pm, I rushed off. There were a ton of things I had to take care of before my show at Tapeo that night. Not to mention that there were some rain clouds approaching, and I was still at least a 15-minute walk away from the nearest metro without an umbrella!

Here are a couple of scenic shots of the Tidal Basin I took as I walked briskly to the metro. Note the dark rain clouds in the distance!

Tidal Basin with Jefferson Memorial in the distance. April 12, 2008 3:31pm

Tidal Basin with Washington Monument in the background. April 12, 2008 3:31pm

Tidal Basin with Jefferson Memorial hidden behind trees. April 12, 2008 3:34pm

Jefferson Memorial shot through the foliage. April 12, 2008 3:34pm

Jefferson Memorial framed by cherry trees. April 12, 2008 3:37pm

The cherry blossoms were gone already, but fortunately, I did get some nice pics last week.

Furia Flamenca is one of several companies that will be performing next Sunday, April 20th, at Centro Español de Washington's Feria de Sevilla on the grounds of Strathmore in Bethesda. For more information about Furia Flamenca, visit their official website.

As for tonight, Sunday, I might go support my fellow flamencos at Vinoteca. Who wants to go?