Carlos Saura flamenco photo exhibition at American University. November 29, 2006

November 29, 2006 3:19pm

It's 12:36am on Thursday as I type these words. Got a serious amount of sleep on Wednesday, my day off after which I seriously needed to get out for some fresh air and stretch my legs. So I walked from my house, the Pink Flamenco about two miles all the way down to American University's Katzen Arts Center where the Spanish Embassy organized an exhibition of Carlos Saura's photographic work.

The majority of the photos document several of Saura's flamenco films including Bodas de Sangre (1981), Carmen (1983), Sevillanas (1992) and Flamenco (1995). Next to many of the framed large format black and whilte photos are placards with commentary giving insight into Saura's thoughts as he captured famous flamenco artists in action or just relaxing between takes.

I just took a few pics to give you little taste. If you want to see more, you'll have to go to the exhibition yourself...

Las Tapas and the Science of Sleep. November 28, 2006

Sara Jerez and Anna Menéndez in Sevillanas. November 28, 2006 7:58pm (photo by Brian)

It's 6:12am on Wednesday as I type these words. This is unusual for me to naturally wake up at this hour but you know how I've been talking about my body clock being messed up again, right? Interestingly when I stopped by Olsson's Books in Old Town Alexandria yesterday (Tuesday) I came across this book: Take a Nap! Change your Life by Sara Mednick, PhD.

OK, ok...the idea of taking naps or of simply just getting a good night's rest to improve mental and physical health it's not exactly a new concept. I only skimmed the first two chapters and I found it hard to put the book down. It starts off with a brief history of how earlier civilizations practiced something called multiphasic sleep--basically meaning heeding the body's natural need for two or more sleep phases in a 24-hour period.

Prehistoric man supposedly slept several times a day for short periods for reasons of survival...he and his fellow cave dwellers had to take shifts to keep a lookout for predators. Fast forward to modern times, we no longer have to worry much about predators. We, Americans especially, try to squeeze our body's natural recuperation period in a single eight hour period each night---but if you're like most increasingly busy Americans, you probably get slightly less than eight.

Did you know that in ancient times, the Romans traditionally slept in two phases? At night and at noon. Noon was called sexta, meaning "sixth hour" according to the ancient Roman sundial. Anywayz, this word for the midday nap, sexta, later became the word siesta. The question I pose for you: do we need to go back to the tradition of taking an afternoon siesta?

Cafe Citron on Monday November 27, 2006

Mariya, Samantha Zerpa and Miguelito. November 27, 2006 9:21pm (photo by Ronaldo)

It's 1:45am on Tuesday as I type these words. Although I consider myself a late night person, my body clock is so out of whack from this weekend that I'm actually feeling pretty sleepy right now. Ugh. But I can squeeze in a few minutes here to blog before I totally fade.

Anywayz, our singer Gerard Moreno was under a tight deadline to finish up some music-related research and had to excuse himself from the Citron gig at the last minute. Luckily I got dancer Samantha Zerpa to fill-in for him again. Thanks Samantha!

One of our regulars, Ronaldo, volunteered to be my photographer for the evening, but I didn't get around to asking him until the second show, so I only have a few pics. But what's especially cool is that in these few pics you can appreciate how much Samantha uses her facial expression to add that extra touch of drama that engages the audience.

Remember when I mentioned this in a previous blog? The audience truly wants to see you enjoying yourself onstage. And when they see it they respond either through enthusiastic applause, jaleos or heartfelt compliments after the show.

OK, I'll just shut up now and let you enjoy the pics. I gotta go to bed pretty soon anyway...

Sala Rociera at the Pink Flamenco. November 25, 2006

Dance students Emily and Sarah with guitarist Juan Delgado. November 26, 2006 12:11am

Whew! It's 12:24am on Monday as I type these words. It's been a busy day. After going to bed at 4:00am after the Sala Rociera party, I got up at 9:00am, published a blog about Ana Martinez at 11:00am, went back to bed and woke up again at 7:00pm, published a blog about Tapeo, went out with a friend to the movies at 8:00pm (saw Borat again) and now here I am again back at the computer and finally getting around to publishing pics from the Sala Rociera and I still got more work to do. Ugh. But hey, it's all flamenco-related stuff so it's all good.

On Saturday, after a fun night at Tapeo performing with Ginette Perea and Sarah Hart and hanging out with friends (see previous blog entry), I made home to the Pink Flamenco around midnight expecting it to be a slow night on account of the fact that it was Thanksgiving weekend. Boy was I wrong! It was packed with people!

I had space heaters turned on all day to warm-up the party room/dance studio, but it seems that with all the people we had squeezed in here, we generated enough heat on our own. Hehe. In fact the windows were fogging up.

Saw a lot of familiar faces and some new ones. As much as I wanted to, I did not get around to meeting all the new faces. It's very encouraging to know that word is spreading little by little. We do put out a decent amount of publicity about these parties. People do know about it. I'm pretty sure of it. It's just a matter of convincing them all to make the effort to come out. It's just a matter of time.

Tapeo on Saturday November 25, 2006

Sarah Hart. November 25, 2006 9:17pm (photo by Serenity)

It's 7:26pm on Sunday as I type these words. Around 11:00am this morning, I published a quick blog entry and decided to take a break, lay down and take a short nap. That short nap turned out to be eight hours long! It's OK. I needed it. Saturday was a long but very satisfying early day and late night. But I'm dying to get out of the house so I'm meeting up with a dancer friend around 8:00pm to go the movies and maybe get some dinner. That's half an hour from now, so I'll make this quick.

Anywayz, so after playing for Ana Martinez's class (see previous blog entry), I met up with a few dancer friends at El Patio and got some Argentinian food for a late lunch before heading down to Las Tapas around 6:00pm to pick up my sound system and transport it to Tapeo in time for my 7:30pm show.

The dancers were Ginette Perea and Sarah Hart. If you recall from last week, Ginette had a major car accident and although she didn't break any bones, she did have some whiplash and was a bit traumatized. But she recovered quickly and was more than happy to get back to dancing less than a week later. Good to have you back Ginette!