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"Family" of Guitarists
(Friday January 25, 2002) Everyone in this photo plays guitar, and they are all related in various ways. Let me explain.
Starting from the left is Myrna Sislen, a well-known DC-based classical guitar teacher and performer. (incidentally, Myrna was one of my first classical guitar teachers) Yours truly and Richard Marlow have given flamenco guitar workshops at George Washington University, where she heads the guitar department. For years, Myrna toured with the late John Marlow in the Washington Guitar Quintet. John is the late husband of Carol Marlow standing next to Myrna. Continuing to the right: Carol is the mother of Richard Marlow, currently the busiest flamenco guitarist in the DC area. Richard is the husband of Sara Jerez, a flamenco dancer who performs regularly at local restaurants--she's very modest about it, but she does play guitar. Finally, a member of Sara's family works with Tom Cotton, a DC flamenco guitarist, who first introduced me to Richard in 1997. What a small world we live in! OK, so what brings these people together on this particular night? Well, it was the first time Richard was a featured soloist in the John E. Marlow Guitar Series. The concert took place at the Performing Arts Center WCCC in Chevy Chase. The all flamenco program consisted of original compositions by Richard:
Congrats to Richard on a job well done!
Last night was the artists' reception, hosted by the Ambassador of Spain, in honor of Lisner Auditorium's 2nd Annual Flamenco Festival. It was also the first time I was at the ambassador's residence as an invited guest! Hmph! It's about time they recognized my VIP status. :) OK, OK...I hear you saying, "Enough with the bragging. Just show me the photos Miguelito!" Pictured above is a very distinguished Manolo Soler with local dancers Natalia Monteleón, Micaela Moreno and Anna Menendez.
While most of the artists and guests were busy chatting away, Manuela Carrasco was sitting quietly in the corner. This was my chance! Pictured here is Manuela with Micaela Moreno and local flamenco legend Manolo Leiva.
In the meantime, I couldn't resist the opportunity to meet some of the beautiful company dancers. From the left: Rocio Molina, Lorena Vera, Ana Rodríguez and María Morales. The reception lasted until a little after 9pm--by Spanish time standards, the evening had not yet begun. So they headed over to Cafe Citrón in Dupont Circle. I explained to the artists that I perform flamenco at Cafe Citrón on Monday nights. Somehow, they got the impression that there was flamenco there every night! So when they arrived and heard the salsa blaring on the sound system, they knew immediately, "This is not a tablao!" I informed the DJ, local salsero Ricardo Loaiza, that I was bringing 30 or so flamenco artists to his dance floor. He was kind of enough to slip in a Sevillanas CD to get the party started. Thanks Ricardo! It just so happened that a lot of my flamenco friends were all in one place gathered in the loft at Cafe Citrón.  My thanks to Carl Graci and Rosanna Ruscetti of Lisner Auditorium for putting my name on the guest list for the reception. While the rest of you are enjoying the show at Lisner this Thursday, I'll be doing my usual show accompanying dancers at the Andalucía restaurant in Rockville. Same goes for guitarist Richard Marlow at Las Tapas. And Ramin will be at Bambule. When a major flamenco company has a concert in DC, it's hard enough trying to find substitute dancer. Most of the dancers are going to attend the concert. It's nearly impossible to find substitute flamenco guitarists! This is exactly why I constantly make the distinction between flamenco guitarists and rumba guitarists! When you really need a substitute flamenco guitarist i.e. one who is competent in accompanying flamenco dancers and singers in a variety of flamenco rhythms, rumba just isn't enough! Yes I know, rumba is flamenco. But if you can only play rumba, sorry
buddy, you are NOT a flamenco guitarist. Got it? Good!
"Miguelito, you missed my llamada!" Actually I could remember all that if I wanted, but I refuse to do it. It's not that I don't like memorizing choreographies. Sometimes dancers (understandably) get so wrapped up in their footwork, upper body movement, facial expression etc that they forget to say something with the dance. I'm not trying to be artsy here. It's just that dance, just like music, is a language and if you forget to use punctuation like clear llamadas, your guitarist is not going to know where to go with the music. Think of yourself like a conductor of a one-person orchestra (your guitarist). Don't forget the palmeros (hand clappers) are part of your orchestra. If one of your palmeros continues clapping after your llamada, chances are that your llamada was not clear enough. How to be articulate with the dance:
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Throughout the evening, I kept on telling myself that these artists are just ordinary people with extraordinary gifts. Just talk to them. Yeah right! :)
I instantly recognized dancer María Pages but everytime I looked, she was always surrounded by some of the guests. Unfortunately, no pictures of her.
Curiously, the guys kept to themselves. From the left: dancers Raúl Ortega, Emilio Herrera and El Bobote; percussionist José and singer Manuel Moreno.