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Supporting the locals (Wednesday
October 31, 2001) I consider
myself very fortunate to have a job several nights a week performing
flamenco.
But I've earned it. During the past ten years, I've accompanied countless flamenco dance classes in the Washington DC area. Getting a flamenco gig is one thing, but keeping it is another. One way to accomplish this is to regularly bring in business to the restaurant or club. Last night, I was especially pleased to see a large group of friends at Las Tapas in Old Town Alexandria (703-836-4000). Pictured (from the left): Cinthia Ríos, Janna Lipman, Marcela Salazar, Ann Duvall, Karen López and Aimee Grevemberg all of whom are flamenco students of Melisa Tomás who teaches at the Arlington Center for Dance. Thank you ladies for your support! Without people like you, us local flamencos would be out of a job. After an hour-long performance by the Spanish Dance Theatre, members of the company
brought out items for the kids to use so they could try out some of the things they saw in the concert. Who knows? Perhaps some of these kids will be inspired to learn flamenco or Spanish dance. If not, at least some of them will have fun-filled memories of this special day and will become future supporters of the arts. At the very least, they'll grow up knowing the difference between flamenco and flamingo. :)
I tip my hat to the Spanish Dance Society and other local dance schools who have flamenco and Spanish dance classes geared especially for children. Unfortunately I couldn't stick around long enough to check out the other activities. But as I left, I noticed chef Josu Zubicarai of the famous Taberna del Alabardero restaurant (202-429-2200) serving samples of his fabulous Spanish cooking. If I had known there was going to be free food, I would have arrived earlier! How to spend a beautiful day 
(Thursday October 25, 2001) Lately
I've been hanging out with my friend, guitarist Michael Long at
"Red Square" on the Georgetown University campus.
It reminds me of the time when I used to give impromptu recitals between
classes at Cal State, Fullerton where I was a classical guitar major*.
At the time, my intention was to learn to overcome stagefright by playing
in front of strangers. Nowadays I give these informal performances for sheer pleasure and also to introduce people to flamenco and promote the local restaurant shows. At Georgetown, a number of regulars come to listen. One of them has become a good friend of mine: Jorida Mema, a business student who is originally from Albania. She recently went to a show Las Tapas (which she found out about through my wonderful website) and plans to take flamenco dance classes soon. I guess you can call this my "outreach" program--introducing flamenco to young people. To me, however, it's just a great way to spend a beautiful day.
*[Editor's note: I graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 1991 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance.]
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Pictured here is Lourdes Elias, an instructor at the 