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Power and Passion by Tony Brown
Friday December 13, 2002 Over the past ten years, I've met a number of professional and amateur photographers who have captured many memorable DC flamenco moments on film. You've seen and enjoyed some of their photographic work over the years on this website. But I'm especially pleased to announce that one of these photographers, namely Tony Brown, is having an exhibition--and not just any ol' exhibition. This is going to be an exhibition that focuses exclusively on flamenco photography! I'm making a big deal about this because as far as I know, we haven't had a "flamenco photo" exhibition in the DC area for as long as I've been involved in the local flamenco community since 1991. So mark your calendars! Here are the details:
New Year's Eve shows...a look backFriday December 13, 2002 The cool thing about being a professional performer is doing what you love everyday and getting paid for it. The downside is that you also end up "working" the days that nine-to-fivers enjoy as holidays. So far there are only two flamenco shows scheduled for New Year's Eve December 31, 2002:
Sevillanas shows for New Year's Eve December 31, 2002:
Here's a chronology of New Year's Eve shows that I've performed from 1991 until present (with the exception of 1991-1992, all the years are approximate):
ReminiscingWednesday November 20, 2002
About ten days ago, I discovered
that I was on the cover of "On Tap," a local live music/bar scene paper
that comes out monthly. It boosted my In any case, I published the picture of the cover on my website and asked if anyone could identify the dancer. I received several email replies. Here's one from Natalia Monteleón:
Dear Miguelito, The Dancers on the cover of "On Tap". Oooh - oooh - oooh I know - I know!Do I still get a prize? It's Martha "teaching" Karen how to dance Sevillanas. Thanks for the correct answer, Natalia! For the prize I was going to give you an all-expense paid trip to Spain. :) Instead, I'll let you have the satisfaction and pride knowing that two of your students are on a full-page cover picture just as you were 20 years ago. Which brings me to another topic: reminiscing. I think of myself as an old-timer in the DC flamenco scene: I arrived here in June 1991. The same day my plane landed, I got a call from Ziva to practice at her house with Jaime Coronado--talk about getting off to a running start! (Currently, Ziva and Jaime are now directors of local Spanish dance companies.) Word spread quickly of the "new guitarist" in town and I found myself playing 4 or 5 nights a week in dance classes for several teachers. I was relatively new to flamenco so I was in heaven! Those were the days! (I started playing for dance classes and shows in Southern California for a year before arriving in DC--but that's another story.) It's about time we DC flamencos get a sense of the local history, don't you think? After I complete my annual website makeover around New Year's Day, I'd like to direct my efforts to interviewing some of the old-timers who came before me. In talking with guitarist Tom Cotton recently, I learned that over the years the DC flamenco scene has come and gone and come back again in waves. I want to know what it was like back then and who were the wonderful people who "paved the way" for us flamencos today. You can be sure that I'll be knocking on Tom's door soon after New Year's for the interview. There are a number of other people I have in mind, too. Natalia, you're on the list too! (Gerard Moreno is working on a similar project. He's got off to a great start with an interview with Manolo Leiva) |
ego
for a day. But it wasn't as if there was a major story about me or the
dancers pictured--our names weren't even mentioned.