Blog: End of Summer Flamenco Juerga at Bodega
Sunday August 31, 2008
Daniela, Cindy and Yahaira in the courtyard of Bodega in Georgetown. August 31, 2008 7:28pm
It's 1:00pm on Tuesday as I type these words. I hope you all had an enjoyable three day weekend. I know I did. Anywayz, on Sunday night, I hosted a flamenco juerga (pronounced who-AIR-ga) at Bodega restaurant in Georgetown which was very well-attended. I only sent out the invitations via FaceBook just as an experiment to see how effective it would be for publicity. The day before the juerga I had 71 people confirmed and 38 maybes!
However, the courtyard at Bodega can hold about 40 people comfortably so fortunately our guests arrived in several waves. Some came for awhile and left, then another small crowd came in. When that crowd left, another came in.
Cool thing was that about half of the guests I had never met before, which is good: new people to introduce to the DC flamenco scene! Of course I told lots of them about DCFlamenco.com and even met a new dancer or two who are new to the area and unaware of the flamenco scene, yay!
Here are the pics. Enjoy!
Sabrina, Matia, Laura and Inga. August 31, 2008 7:59pm
Stefano, Daniela, Cindy and Miguelito. August 31, 2008 8:01pm (photo by Laura)
Hector "El Piraña" Márquez and Naíto getting the juerga started. August 31, 2008 8:07pm (photo by Daniela)
While I do take credit for bringing in the huge crowd to Bodega, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to these young flamencos, Hector, Naíto and Mateo. They got the party started with cante, guitar and cajón and kept it going for hours and hours! You guys rock!
Mateo Romero accompanying Hector. August 31, 2008 8:25pm (photo by Daniela)
Taking a break between songs while the audience awaits. August 31, 2008 8:40pm (photo by Daniela)
I got many requests to play guitar, and I did play for a very short while, but I was pretty busy greeting guests at the door, introducing myself and promoting the local flamenco scene. I lost count of how many people told me that they didn't know there was such a huge interest in flamenco here in DC.
Jason Vera y Aragón setting the tempo for alegrías. August 31, 2008 8:41pm (photo by Daniela)
Jason singing alegrías. August 31, 2008 8:42pm (photo by Daniela)
Cindy with singer/guitarist José Oretea. August 31, 2008 9:03pm (photo by Daniela)
Juerga! August 31, 2008 9:04pm (photo by Daniela)
Hector, José and Naíto. August 31, 2008 9:06pm (photo by Daniela)
Denise, César Oretea, Chris and Jason. August 31, 2008 9:07pm (photo by Daniela)
Rumberos César and José Oretea from the group Duende Camarón treated us with what they do best.
Denise, César, Chris, Jason, José and Hector. August 31, 2008 9:12pm (photo by Daniela)
José. August 31, 2008 9:13pm (photo by Daniela)
Juerga! August 31, 2008 9:13pm (photo by Daniela)
Sandra amidst the crowd. August 31, 2008 10:31pm
Brian with Rosie, one of my most enthusiastic fans. August 31, 2008 10:35pm
One of my dearest friends, Daniela. August 31, 2008 10:43pm
Miguelito, Paula and Patricia. August 31, 2008 10:57pm
Laura and Artemis. August 31, 2008 11:03pm
Patricia, Adriana, Josefina and Paula. August 31, 2008 11:19pm
Sevillanas time! August 31, 2008 11:59pm
Around 1:00am, after drinking so many glasses of sangría, courtesy of my many old and new friends, I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch and I was famished. Unfortunately Bodega's kitchen was closed. So when there was a brief lull in the juerga, to everyone's disappointment, I politely took my guitar away from the last guy who was serenading us. Oh well, there's no way I'm going to leave my beautiful new guitar unattended while I sneak out for a quick bite!
I walked out toward the front bar and ran into Daniela and Cindy who were about to leave and they treated me to dinner at Quick Pita, down the street. That was a very nice gesture. Thank you ladies! Actually come to think of it, I didn't buy a single drink all night, all my friends were constantly refilling my sangría glass. Nice. That's the way it should be! :-)
I was starving and Daniela and Cindy were kind enough to accompany me for a late-night bite at Quick Pita. September 1, 2008 1:22am
On another note: last night (Monday) I had the night off from Cafe Citron for the Labor Day Holiday. Good opportunity to catch up on sleep? Yeah right! :-) It felt weird to stay at home on a Monday night, so around 11:30pm I ventured out to Georgetown (a 20-minute walk from my house) and dropped by Bodega to say hello to my favorite bartender, Sachi.
I overheard the manager saying that Sunday was one of their busiest nights thanks to me! The owners of the Bodega were very pleased cuz we brought in a lot of business (well, it was a holiday weekend, too) but more importantly we added so much to the Spanish-themed ambience with our flamenco juerga.
So if you're wondering if there will be another juerga at Bodega soon, the answer is YES. I'll confirm a date with the restaurant and announce here on DCFlamenco as well as FaceBook. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, do visit Bodega and check it out for yourself and be sure to tell them that Miguelito sent you! The address is 3116 M St (at the intersection of 31st and M) in Georgetown. Call 202-333-4733.