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 Miguelito's Photo DiaryApril 29, 2004 - May 11, 2004
Baltimore Inner Harbor May 11, 2004 Yeah it's me again at yet another waterfront :) This time I'm at Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor. In case you don't already know: I grew up in Los Angeles, California a short drive away from the beach. I guess you can say that I feel closer to home by the water. 
Ginette Perea and yours truly. May 11, 2004 8:46pm We had a gig at one of the fancy (i.e. expensive) restaurants. It was a private party, so it was difficult to get some pics during the show. (photo by Gina) Cool thing about working as a flamenco performer is that the shows at restaurant parties are relatively short. It just seems to work better that way, since the performances are so intense, it's better spread it out in short segments. In this case, with just one dancer and one guitarist, we did several 10-minute shows. 
The hardest part of the "job" (if you want to call it that) is keeping the energy up and muscles warm between shows--sometimes you could end up waiting anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour or more between shows. Fortunately, it was a gorgeous night to hang out at the Harbor. May 11, 2004 8:47pm 
May 11, 2004 8:56pm 
May 11, 2004 8:57pm 
May 11, 2004 8:59pm Cafe Citron May 10, 2004 A photographer in the audience saw my camera and offered to take pics of the show, but she insisted on being anonymous. 
Gerard Moreno, Steve Svoboda and Miguelito. May 10, 2004 8:56pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 8:58pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:00pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:00pm (photo by a friend) 
Sara Candela. May 10, 2004 9:05pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:06pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:07pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:08pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:09pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:10pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:11pm (photo by a friend) 
May 10, 2004 9:12pm (photo by a friend) 
Shadow portrait of yours truly. May 10, 2004 9:20pm (photo by a friend) My thanks to Morteza for these pics. He's also a visual artist. Check out his website. 
Maria Iwamoto, Ginette Perea and Miguelito at the Cherry Blossom Festival (Union Station) April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
Maria, Ginette and Kayoko. April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
Kayoko, Ginette and Miguelito. April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) 
April 6, 2004 (photo by Morteza) There are more pics from Cherry Blossom Festival in an earlier Photo Diary entry. Andalucia Restaurant May 6, 2004 We had the honor of having cantaor Manolo Leiva pay us a visit at the Andalucia Restaurant. I wrote a little article about him three years ago: Mystery singer. The first time I did a show with Manolo was at the National Gallery of Art (West Wing) with the Spanish Dance Society in 1992. I accompanied him in a martinete by hammering an anvil--OK so really it was two lead pipes made to sound like a hammer and anvil. :) 
Manolo Leiva, Guadalupe Cerritos, Ginette Perea and Miguelito. May 6, 2004 8:55pm (photo by Gina) Thrift shop in Arlington May 5, 2004 
Slightly off topic: isn't it strange how seemingly well-educated people still refer to flamenco as flamingo? Anyway, I was passing by a thrift shop in Arlington and these plastic birds caught my eye for some reason. Incidentally, my flamenco not flamingo shirt is selling well, but could use a new design. Stay tuned. :) May 5, 2004 2:57pm La Tasca DC May 5, 2004 
Sara Candela and Sara Jerez at La Tasca DC. May 5, 2004 7:13pm (photo by Juan Delgado) 
May 5, 2004 7:14pm (photo by Juan Delgado) 
May 5, 2004 7:15pm (photo by Juan Delgado) 
May 5, 2004 7:17pm (photo by Juan Delgado) 
May 5, 2004 7:24pm (photo by Juan Delgado) 
Later....at Jaleo DC. May 5, 2004 8:56pm Sala Rociera pics by Rocio Paz April 30, 2004 Thanks Rocio! 
Aleksey Kulikov and Sara Candela dancing Sevillanas. April 30, 2004 (photo by Rocio Paz) 
April 30, 2004 (photo by Rocio Paz) 
Ramin, Miguelito and Javier Bustamante. April 30, 2004 (photo by Rocio Paz) Sala Rociera flamenco party April 30, 2004 Although the attendance has dropped since the first Sala Rociera, we did see a lot of new faces. But the important thing is that people are showing up and experiencing flamenco the way it's supposed to be experienced. The Sala Rociera is meant to be a friendly and fun environment where students and pros alike can try out stuff they're working on. 
Sevillanas line dancing. :) We were so happy that Javier Bustamante was able to come. He knows how to work the crowd (he convinced all these people to fill-up the dance floor) and sing Sevillanas with the right kind of aire for a party. April 30, 2004 10:52pm 
April 30, 2004 10:53pm 
Carlton Ashton, Micaela and Miguelito. April 30, 2004 11:13pm 
Nicole Totah, Guadalupe Cerritos and Jen Palacios perform an alegrias they learned in Anna Menendez's class. April 30, 2004 11:43pm 
April 30, 2004 11:45pm 
They've been working on this dance for about two years. You could say this was like a recital performance but more relaxed and fun. April 30, 2004 11:45pm 
I regularly play for the dance class where they learned this choreography so afterwards, Jen and Guadalupe asked me, "Why didn't you play for us?" So I told them, "Actually it's better that I didn't play for you because you need to experience working with guitarists who are not familiar with your choreography..." In a juerga environment, it's the dancer's job to communicate, through her movements, what she wants musically. If you have to discuss beforehand what you want, sure, it'll make the dance go smoother, but at the same time you'll lose all the spontaneous energy that is essential to flamenco. April 30, 2004 11:46pm 
Ramin and Fred keep the party going with a rumba duet. May 1, 2004 12:28am 
May 1, 2004 12:29am 
May 1, 2004 12:30am 
May 1, 2004 12:31am 
Behzad Habibzai, Carlton and Jason Marcinski doing palmas. May 1, 2004 12:48am 
Carlton, Micaela and Behzad. Mica doesn't make it out to the DC area very often--she came all the way from Delaware for the party. We're so happy you made it! May 1, 2004 1:09am Andalucia April 29, 2004 It certainly doesn't hurt for dancers to try playing the guitar and vice-versa. And if you become familiar enough with playing the instrument you can certainly communicate a lot more clearly to the guitarist about what you want or need musically. 
Ginette Perea and Miguelito. April 29, 2004 8:54pm Turns out that Ginette is also a violinist, so she is able to quickly learn the chord shapes on the fret board. I'm trying out the castanets as she tries to play the compas for Fandangos de Huelva. 
Guadalupe Cerritos and friend. April 29, 2004 9:08pm Guadalupe can play a basic Farruca. 
Steve Svoboda. April 29, 2004 9:16pm TIP for dancers: sometime ask your guitarist to explain some of the basic techniques of the guitar to you. Chances are the guitarist already knows a lot of dance terminology if he regularly plays for dance class. Teach him/her a couple of steps so that he/she can experience what it feels like to do, say, a redoble. Georgetown Harbour April 29, 2004 It was one of those gorgeous days so I absolutely had to log off the computer and get out of the house. Usually I go with a friend or two, but most were either busy at a day job or in school getting ready for finals. 
That's the Key Bridge in the background. It leads to Rosslyn where I used to live about three years ago. April 29, 2004 3:31pm 
April 29, 2004 3:31pm 
Although I'm away from a computer, I'm not out of touch. Sometimes, I have my phone signed on to AOL instant messenger (screen name: dcflamenco). So if the weather's beautiful, take the afternoon off or skip class, IM me and let's meet and jam! :) April 29, 2004 3:32pm 
Years ago, I used to do "street shows" with dancer Micaela Moreno at the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria. We made a little bit of money in tips, but most of all we had a good time, breathed fresh air, made some new friends and promoted the local flamenco scene. What more can you ask for? I'm definitely going to have to start doing "street performances" again this summer. April 29, 2004 4:41pm  Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera Text and original images ©1996-2013 by . Please do not republish content from this website, including text and photos, in whole or part without prior written permission. |
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