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 Miguelito's Photo DiaryJanuary 17, 2004 - January 27, 2004
Jaleo Bethesda January 27, 2004 The show at Las Tapas was cancelled for the night due to the bad weather. But I needed my flamenco fix and there weren't any other flamenco shows. Instead I decided to go to Jaleo Bethesda (301-913-0003) to enjoy the Sevillanas show by dancers Jason Vera y Aragon and Marta Chico Martin. Come to think of it, this is probably the first time I've seen their show since I've always been performng at Las Tapas on Tuesday nights. As expected on a snowy day, there weren't too many customers. So Jason and Marta did a shorter but still very enjoyable show. 
Jason and Marta. January 27, 2004 8:00pm Behind them is a "posterized" version of John Singer Sargent's painting Jaleo 
January 27, 2004 8:03pm Being that I've been performing in Spanish restaurants for a long time now, I've become accustomed to enjoying gourmet quality food--usually the restaurants give their performers free or discounted meals. When I do have a free night to go to Jaleo, I always look forward to enjoying their tapas. They have some of the best! 
Special of the day: Gambas a la plancha--Grilled Maine-style shrimp rubbed with olive oil and coated with sea salt. January 27, 2004 8:16pm 
Cazón en adobo al estilo de Cádiz--Shark breaded and fried served with alioli. January 27, 2004 8:17pm 
January 27, 2004 8:35pm 
January 27, 2004 8:37 
January 27, 2004 8:38pm 
January 27, 2004 8:39 Thanks Jason and Marta. You inspired me to review my Sevillanas steps to get ready for the upcoming Sala Rociera open flamenco party on February 27, 2004. What about you? Are you ready? 
The beautiful exterior of Jaleo Bethesda. January 27, 2004 9:12pm Notice the snow-covered sidewalks. Cafe Citron January 26, 2004 It was one of those bad snow days, relatively speaking. My friend Niko, who just arrived from Boston, was a little surprised how slow Washington DC is at clearing the snow compared to his hometown, where they always have much more snow than we do. Anyway, it was bad enough to keep most of our adoring fans away. :) Monica Serrano, manager of the Andalucia Restaurant, decided to close up for the evening and take a well-deserved night off to come to my show at Cafe Citron. I'm always happy to see friends in the audience especially on slow nights. Thanks for your support Monica! 
Michael Santiago and Monica Serrano at Cafe Citron. January 26, 2004 8:49pm This was Michael's first time to see a flamenco show. 
Steve Svoboda, Niko Alexandrou and Gerard Moreno. January 26, 2004 9:01pm 
Monica demonstrating her palmas technique. January 26, 2004 9:03pm 
Sara Candela, Miguelito and Gerard. January 26, 2004 9:13pm (photo by Monica Serrano) 
January 26, 2004 9:20pm (photo by Monica Serrano) 
January 26, 2004 9:25pm (photo by Monica Serrano) Late night party with Duende Camaron January 25, 2004 Duende Camaron performs at Las Tapas on Friday and Saturday nights. They're good at what they do and they love doing it. They're even willing to play and sing until the early hours of the morning. Reminds me of how good it can be to be a professional musician. 
Jose Oretea, Cesar Oretea and "Jimmy Page" at Las Tapas. January 25, 2004 12:52am 
Jimmy had met me many times before but never heard me play. January 25, 2004 1:23am (photo by Cesar) 
Outside Las Tapas: OK, so where's the party? January 25, 2004 1:39am The band decided go to Elvio's and bring along a few friends who were from Bolivia, Paraguay and the USA. 
Cesar and Jose got the party started with a rumba instrumental. January 25, 2004 3:01am Yours truly even joined in for a little while. The party was about an even mix between musicians and music lovers. But I've been told that sometimes they have these huge jam sessions where everyone is playing an instrument! 
Cesar. January 25, 2004 3:05am 
Elvio, Cesar and Jose performing some Bolivian songs. January 25, 2004 3:10am At the one point, one of the Paraguayans picked up the guitar and sang a song that most of the guests couldn't understand. It was in the Paraguayan's indian language called Guaraní. 
Cesar left early, so we continued without him for awhile. January 25, 2004 4:01am We found out that two of the girls knew how to dance Sevillanas, which was a nice surprise. So I played for dancers briefly towards the end of the party. They were kind of rusty though, so I ended up giving them a mini-lesson in Sevillanas. Can you believe that? :) My thanks to Elvio for sharing his home and generous hospitality. Rehearsing at Kayoko's studio January 24, 2004 A few times a month, I work one-on-one with student dancers, giving them the experience of dancing with live guitar accompaniment. As a beginner, many dance students learn to perform perfectly with recordings, which is fine at that level. But to advance to the next level, you'll have to work one-on-one with a guitarist. There's no way around it. I say this because I've worked with student dancers before who can dance perfectly with recordings and mistakenly think that they can just perform with a guitarist with little or no effort. The beauty of working with a live guitarist is that you as dancer have more artistic freedom. But the dancer has to go beyond just dancing memorized steps. He or she has to know how those steps fit within the compas and has to know the function of those steps in relation to the cante etc. If the guitarist is competent, he or she can adjust to whatever tempo changes, mood changes rhythmic interplay that the dancer decides to add to the dance at that moment--that's exciting! As far as recordings are concerned, I don't care if it has Camaron and Paco de Lucia--it will be the SAME every single time. By all means, have fun dancing to a recording if you don't have any guitarists available. Just don't it let go to your head that dancing perfectly with recordings automatically means you can dance with a guitarist's accompaniment. End of sermon. :) 
Yours truly playing my Esteve guitar. January 24, 2004 7:39pm My usual guitar is the Valeriano Bernal, but I just felt like playing mi otra novia tonight. :) 
January 24, 2004 7:51pm I didn't ask permission to publish pics of the dancers, so you won't see their faces. Come to think of it, these dancers should be paying me for the privilege of being seen with me, a semi-famous guitarist! :) 
January 24, 2004 7:52pm In case you're wondering, I did take all these pictures myself using the wireless remote control that comes with my camera. 
January 24, 2004 7:59pm Yes, that is a cajon that I'm sitting on. It would be cool if every flamenco dance studio I went to had a cajon. 
January 24, 2004 8:45pm 
January 24, 2004 8:52pm You might be thinking that I must love looking at pictures of myself. Maybe I do. :) Seriously though, as a frequent stage performer it always helps to see what I look like as I play the guitar. I might just be the accompanist onstage but my facial expressions, posture, costume etc can add or detract from the show. Note to self: Man, what's up with me tonight? I'm in a preachy mood. :P Moorena Amoora at Georgetown University January 23, 2004 Admission was free, but the concert was scheduled at 1:15pm so those with day jobs probably couldn't make it--being a full-time flamenco reporter is my job, hehe. I said hello to local dancer/teacher Ziva. She and I were the only local flamenco performers in the audience. The rest were Georgetown students, members of the Israeli commuunity, the general public etc. Excerpt from the program notes: My dancer friends might be impressed to hear that these performers put on an hour-long show between the two of them. Talk about stamina! 
Neta Shezaf and Elina Perchersky. January 23, 2004 1:27pm 
Elina. January 23, 2004 1:40pm 
Neta in seguiriyas. January 23, 2004 1:48pm In addition to performing in the tablaos in Madrid, Mexico and Japan, Neta has performed with the Mario Maya company in Spain and in New York. 
Neta beating out the compás with her hand. January 23, 2004 1:48pm 
January 23, 2004 1:49pm 
January 23, 2004 1:49pm 
January 23, 2004 1:58pm 
January 23, 2004 2:01pm 
January 23, 2004 2:02pm There were many pictures of Elina's solos, but in the interest of saving space, I'm focusing more on Neta's flamenco pictures. 
Sasson Levi (cajon) and Hussam Daas (oud). January 23, 2004 2:07pm 
Neta in alegrias. January 23, 2004 2:14pm 
January 23, 2004 2:11pm 
Sasson and Neta having a "musical conversation." January 23, 2004 2:15pm Notice the floor microphone--Neta danced closed to it during her footwork solo. 
January 23, 2004 2:17pm 
Elina. January 23, 2004 2:22pm 
January 23, 2004 2:19pm 
January 23, 2004 2:24pm 
January 23, 2004 2:36pm 
January 23, 2004 2:37pm 
January 23, 2004 2:41pm 
January 23, 2004 2:42pm This concert was co-sponsored by the Embassy of Israel and Georgetown University's Program in Performing Arts. Cafe Citron January 19, 2004 The first set was kinda slow, as far as attendance is concerned. It was probably due to the holiday. But Katerine, the Colombian who came last week, showed up. So we had at least one familiar face in the audience for the first set. She brought along a friend, Alejandra, and between the two of them took these pictures. 
Sara Candela, Miguelito and Gerardo Moreno at Cafe Citron. January 19, 2004 9:03pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Sara and Miguelito. January 19, 2004 9:07pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Miguelito and Gerardo. January 19, 2004 9:07pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:08pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:08pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Nice pic of yours truly. Of course it helps, if the photo subject is great looking to begin with. :) January 19, 2004 9:09pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Usually I'm so focused on the show that I don't notice the audience that much. January 19, 2004 9:10pm It's cool to see everyone paying attention. (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:11pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:11pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:17pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
January 19, 2004 9:18pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Nice portrait of Sara. January 19, 2004 9:19pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
These photos were taken without flash. You can appreciate the dramatic effects of the stage lighting. January 19, 2004 9:21pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Nice pic. The product placement makes it look like a commercial for Miller Lite. :)January 19, 2004 9:22pm (photo by Katerine/Alejandra) 
Miguelito, Alejandra and Katerine. January 19, 2004 10:58pm I wanted to give them individual credits for the photos, but they said "It's OK. We're a team." Next time, I'll just call them "Las Colombianas." Thanks ladies! (photo by Jamahl Rahmaan) Thanks also to my friends Jamahl Rahmaan and Barry Carter who were also in the audience. Saturday with Miguelito January 17, 2004 
ACT 1, SCENE 1: Yours truly at American Dance Institute warming up before dance class starts. January 17, 2004 10:49am It's the first Saturday of classes for the Winter/Spring semester. 
Still going at it two-and-a-half hours later. I'm playing well today...feeding off a very inspiring week. January 17, 2004 1:26pm 
ACT 1, SCENE 2: Good evening and welcome to the party. Please park your instruments along the wall. Of course, yours truly had to be different by bringing a cajon instead. January 17, 2004 8:37pm 
Playing a friend's guitar at RJ Uebersezig's party at Guapo's Restaurant in Bethesda. January 17, 2004 10:10pm (photo by Cecilia Terrasa) 
Behzad Habibzai, RJ Uebersezig, Carlton Ashton. January 17, 2004 10:10pm Carlton sang some tangos and bulerias while several of Marija Temo's cante accompaniment students had the opportunity to apply what they learned in her weekly workshops. (photo by Cecilia Terrasa) 
Marija Temo and Steve Svoboda. January 17, 2004 10:11pm (photo by Cecilia Terrasa) 
Marija Temo and Steve Svoboda. January 17, 2004 10:17pm 
Miguelito and Behzad. January 17, 2004 10:57pm (photo by Cecilia Terrasa)  They politely kicked us out of the dining room and moved us to the bar. The party continues... January 17, 2004 11:52pm 
Cecilia Terrasa and Carlton dancing Sevillanas accompanied by guitarists Jim Evans and Steve Svoboda and Bezhad providing palmas. January 18, 2004 12:20am The bartender at Guapo's (301-656-9588) was very hospitable to us flamencos. He offered to let us take over the bar area and turn off the background music during our juerga. And yes, I know, this is a Mexican restaurant, but, at least for a few hours, it felt like we were in Spain. At one point during a session of bulerias, one of the bar customers who wasn't in our party spontaneously broke into our circle and danced to the 12-beat compas. Of course we were flattered that we inspired her, but the only way we could get her to stop dancing and go on with our party was by abruptly cutting the music. :) 
January 18, 2004 12:22am 
January 18, 2004 12:22am 
Carlton and Behzad. January 18, 2004 12:43am 
Carlton, Cecilia, Steve and Behzad. January 18, 2004 12:39am 
At around 1:00am, I encouraged everyone to pack it up and get ready for the Pink Flamenco, where another party was already in progress. January 18, 2004 1:08am 
ACT 1, SCENE 3: Party at the Pink Flamenco. Miguelito and Sandra Bishop chillin' in the upstairs "VIP lounge." January 18, 2004 1:45am She's a flamenco dancer who I first met in 1991, the year I first got involved in the DC flamenco scene. We still perform together occasionally, but she's gotten involved in other creative pursuits including film and arts promotion. (photo by Steve Svoboda) 
Fellow VIP's Steve, RJ and Cecilia. January 18, 2004 1:47am 
Cue the dance music. Downstairs, we have the famous Pink Flamenco dance studio busy building its reputation as a cool party space. January 18, 2004 2:06am 
Miguelito and Joanna Sczepanska. January 18, 2004 2:12am Joanna works at Bambule where she's seen me perform a few times in the last year. (photo by Steve Svoboda) 
The "photo wall" where we have a constantly growing collection of pictures from past events. January 18, 2004 3:04am You might recognize the pics along the top edge--some of them were published in my photo diary previously. 
RJ, Kirsten, Steve and Sandra. It's the inevitable late night palmas session that either annoys people or fascinates them. :) January 18, 2004 3:46am 
January 18, 2004 3:48am Notice that the back wall is pink, in honor of the studio's namesake. (photo by Steve Svoboda) 
Even an energetic party hostess like Sandra gets tired. January 18, 2004 4:22am 
Party's mellowing out. January 18, 2004 4:28am 
Nothing like closing the evening with some toque libre. January 18, 2004 5:18am And, no, the shoes I'm wearing are not a bizarre fashion statement--just being pragmatic. If you think they look cool anyway, good for you! :) The cajon I'm sitting on was built by Roberto Castellon, Jr. (photo by Steve Svoboda) 
The last of the party guests says goodbye. January 18, 2004 5:19am (photo by Steve Svoboda) 
Fade to black as I strum the last chord. Show's over. Time to go home. January 18, 2004 5:20am (photo by Steve Svoboda)  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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