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Miguelito's Photo Diary and BlogDecember 1, 2005 - December 3, 2005
Saturday with Miguelito (and grand opening of Alliance Dance Institute) December 3, 2005 It's 1:44am on Monday as I type these words. Chi-Cha was fun but now I'm home. I have just enough energy to upload these pics then I'll go straight to bed, I promise! :-) Anyway, I'll keep the commentary brief for now. These are from Saturday, which was a very important night for us cuz Marsha (aka Rosa la Huracana) and I performed flamenco for her colleagues and other important members of the local ballroom dance community for the first time at Alliance Dance Institute. We had been intensively rehearsing for our big debut all month long! 
Ramona and Marsha at the invitation only cocktail party at the studio--lots of important people from the ballroom dance community were here! December 3, 2005 7:46pm Dancing of course is fun, but running a studio is still a serious business so of course, Marsha was very busy working: mingling with guests and prospective clients and handling numerous behind-the-scene logistics throughout the evening. When it came time for us to change into costume and get ready for our performance, it was like Marsha was a completely different person: she was so much more relaxed! Why you ask? Flamenco, after all, IS her passion. We were about to present to this knowledgable ballroom dance community crowd the results of a month's worth of rehearsals! We had a beautiful stage, professional lighting and a very attentive audience. I was just as excited as Marsha! 
Marsha and Miguelito. December 3, 2005 10:17pm (photo by Ramona) Before the show, we went to the more private studio in the back to warm-up. You can't help but become inspired in such a beautiful space! 
December 3, 2005 10:21pm 
December 3, 2005 10:21pm  December 3, 2005 10:21pm 
December 3, 2005 10:22pm 
Marsha's ready to dance! This pic was taken just before we went onstage. December 3, 2005 10:33pm Our friend Ramona took pics during the show. Hopefully she has a few decent ones that she can send. Later today, I'll elaborate more on what we performed, how it went etc. I need to seriously catch up on sleep for now. Good night! Oh yeah, congrats to the Alliance Dance Institute on their grand opening! For more info, visit their website. Friday with Miguelito December 2, 2005 It's 10:48am on Saturday as I type these words. I'm supposed to meet my ride at 11:30am and I'm not even dressed! I'll add commentary later. Enjoy! 
Marsha aka Rosa la Huracana at the old Alliance Dance Institute. December 2, 2005 4:42pm 
December 2, 2005 4:43pm 
December 2, 2005 4:47pm 
The brand new studio. December 2, 2005 5:13pm 
December 2, 2005 5:14pm 
December 2, 2005 5:19pm 
December 2, 2005 5:20pm 
Ginette and Shahram at Cabanas. December 2, 2005 9:11pm (photo by Linette) 
Ginette rehearsing before second set. December 2, 2005 9:44pm 
Ginette. December 2, 2005 9:46pm John and Lenore's pics from Valencia December 1, 2005 Lenore writes:  December 1, 2005 (photo courtesy of Lenore)  December 1, 2005 (photo courtesy of Lenore)  December 1, 2005 (photo courtesy of Lenore)  John, Ricardo Sanchis Carpio, and David Sanchis Lopez (Ricardo's son) December 1, 2005 (photo courtesy of Lenore) 
Ricardo with a young Camaron and Tomatito. December 1, 2005 (photo courtesy of Lenore) Andalucia Restaurant December 1, 2005 It's 11:32am on Friday as I type these words. I just met my soon-to-be-housemate, a tango instructor that's moving in January 2006. She's using the studio next to my bedroom to rehearse with two tango musicians. It's awesome! :-) As for myself, I got a couple of rehearsals this afternoon: one with a singer (that I'll be performing with Saturday afternoon in Baltimore) then I'm meeting my favorite dancer for quick two-hour rehearsal. So I'm just going to add some very brief commentary, get dressed, pack my sound equipment and head out the door. Anyway, last night (Thursday) I had my usual gig at Andalucia but this time I had the pleasure of working with Pam, yet another up-and-coming dancer that I hope to use in my future gigs as a soloist dancer. 
December 1, 2005 7:46pm I treat this gig as a launchpad for up-and-coming dancers who want to get their feet wet in a relatively low-pressure atmosphere. I mean yes, this is a paying gig and the customers are paying good money to enjoy dinner and a show. Pam offered to dance one of several of her solos in her repertoire, but I encouraged her to perform the most challenging one. This was a chance for her to grow as a performer, so why not just go for it? She picked seguiriyas. It didn't go as planned (she skipped a section), which is fine because the important thing is that she kept on dancing. I had a good time because Pam is very musical in the sense that she knows how to use dynamics (softness and loudness) to create variety and contrast to make the performance more interesting. Just before the show, I called up my friend Jason since he practically lives down the street from here, but just for fun, I didn't tell him who the dancer was. I just said, "Hey, I got a new dancer here tonight. Why don't you come check her out?" Curiousity got to him and showed up in a matter of minutes. :-) Pam also invited her dancer friend Sarah McKenney. So we had flamenco friends to provide palmas, jaleo and even dance some Sevillanas. 
December 1, 2005 8:06pm We hung out for awhile after the show and decided at the last minute to checkout a movie. The only thing playing at 10:30pm-ish was the latest Harry Potter. Fine, I was in the mood for a movie. I promised a friend I'd call her as soon as the movie was over which I assumed was going to be in two hours. But of course, when we got to the theater itself, we found out the movie was going to be three hours long and didn't get out until 1:30am! Don't get me wrong, I liked the previous Harry Potter movies, but this one sucked--it was mind-numbingly drawn out and overdramatic. Throughout this exceedingly epic episode, my friends were fidgeting in their seats. I was hoping that one of us would take the initiative and just say "Guys, this movie blows. Let's leave NOW!" :-) But nooooo. We stayed 'til the end hoping that it would get better. But it didn't. Oh well...so I'm going to have see a better movie this weekend to make up for this! Any suggestions? I crashed at a friend's house and slept on the floor (good for the back right?) and got up early to catch the metro home. The bitingly cold air got my circulation going. Nice way to jump start my day! 
Sidewalk leading to the metro station. December 2, 2005 8:33am Tonight, I'm performing at Cabanas in Georgetown with Ginette and Shahram. I hope to see some you there!
Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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