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Miguelito's Photo Diary and BlogNovember 7, 2005 - November 19, 2005
George Mason University November 19, 2005 I wasn't in a picture-taking mood, but I still took a few shots anyway when my friends and I went to George Mason University Center for the Arts to attend a performance of José Porcel's Ballet Flamenco. 
Marsha at the pre-performance lecture. November 19, 2005 7:20pm 
José Porcel with interpreter. November 19, 2005 7:23pm Originally my interview with José was scheduled before the concert, but at the last minute was bumped to afterwards--not exactly the best time. Still, he was very kind in letting us ask him a few questions. Marsha has the interview on video, and I'll get back to you when I've transcribed, translated and edited it. 
Ginette, José Porcel, Marsha and Miguelito. November 19, 2005 10:40pm My thanks to José Porcel for the interview, to GMU Center for the Arts promotions coordinator Jennifer Strook for setting it up, and of course to my friends Ginette and Marsha for their assistance as interpreter, videographer and fellow interviewers. By the time we finished speaking with José, most of the audience had left the theatre already, but local dancer Estela Velez had been wanting to meet Marsha so she stuck around. 
Marsha and Estela. November 19, 2005 10:42pm Despite the invitation to party with our local flamenco friends, we had to decline because we had to get Marsha home early to study. So we went to the Silver Diner in Arlington to get a late dinner. You may remember Dmitry from my Halloween pics. Like Marsha he is a ballroom dance instructor at Alliance Dance Institute. After dinner, I had to be persistent but I finally convinced Dmitry and Marsha to put on a little ballroom dance performance in the diner. :-) 
November 20, 2005 12:50am Dmitry's a very good ballrooom dancer and he could probably dance anything well if he wanted to--he studied piano at Julliard so he definitely has the drive, disclipline and talent for the arts. Sometimes when Marsha and I would rehearse at the studio, he'd catch a little glimpse of flamenco which I think sparked some curiousity. So at the last minute, he got a ticket for the José Porcel concert and as I expected, fell in love with flamenco. He's going to start taking lessons very soon. Yay! Friday with Miguelito November 18, 2005 It's 11:06am on Saturday as I type these words. Dance class starts at noon. I better go! This is just a random selection of pics from Cabanas and Felix last night (Friday). I'll add more pics and commentary when I get home. See you all at the Jose Porcel concert tonight! 
Ginette, Miguelito and Mariya. November 18, 2005 9:52pm 
Mariya. November 18, 2005 9:19pm 
Ginette. November 18, 2005 9:32pm 
November 18, 2005 9:52pm 
Club Felix in Adams-Morgan. November 19, 2005 12:36am 
November 19, 2005 12:36am 
Keith, Mariya and Miguelito. November 19, 2005 1:32am Thursday with Miguelito November 17, 2005 It's 9:07am on Friday as I type these words. I have a lecture-demonstration at an elementary private school in Reston at 11:00am so I better get going. I'll add more commentary later. Spent the afternoon (Thursday) window shopping in Georgetown. OK, so I bought a pair of dress boots and some gloves, but that's all! :-) 
I went shopping at Zara in Spain almost everyday. November 17, 2005 
Wisconsin Ave. November 17, 2005 
Rock Creek Parkway on the way to Dupont Circle. November 17, 2005  November 17, 2005 I invited Jason Vera y Aragón to perform at Andalucia.  November 17, 2005 This is Monica, the manager of Andalucia.  November 17, 2005 One of the perks of working in a restaurant: free food! :-)  November 17, 2005 Wednesday with Miguelito November 16, 2005 It's 11:11am on Thursday as I type these words. I have just enough time to add pics and brief commentary and get out of the house and do some non-flamenco stuff this afternoon and "get away" for the day. Then I got a 6:00pm rehearsal and a show at 8:00pm at the Andalucía Restaurant. I started off the day (Wednesday) rehearsing with dancer Ginette Perea at the Arlington Center for Dance. She hasn't been taking dance classes on regular basis for quite some time (university courses keep her very busy) but on the other hand, she has been performing with me a LOT during the past couple of years and has developed quite a bit as a performer. 
November 16, 2005 3:29pm Before we started, I asked her if she wanted to warm-up a little first, but she performed this morning in a dance class at the university. Great! So we went straight to rehearsing. Ginette's a very spontaneous performer. We just tried out some new material and new combinations of old material in preparation for the show at Cabanas this Friday. 
November 16, 2005 3:30pm It's very rare that she loses the compás and the few times she does, Ginette just listens to my guitar to quickly get back on track. I love it! 
November 16, 2005 3:31pm Later, I headed to Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown for my every other Wednesday night gig. When Behzad and I first arrived it was packed plus there were people waiting outside to get in. So business was especially good. But it meant that we musicians would be especially cramped since this is a tiny tiny performance space. 
November 16, 2005 9:35pm As the evening wore on, there were slightly less people but I liked it. It had a more subdued ambience that allowed the music to be heard over the conversation with overpowering. I had eaten before arriving here, so I just enjoyed a glass of sangría between sets. This is the perfect place to be on a cold rainy night. It's warm, cozy and intimate. Just the thought of slicing through some buttery soft crêpes with a tasty filling just makes me feel warm inside. :-) 
November 16, 2005 9:38pm I took a couple of shots during the show. This is only decent one that came out. Behzad is playing the introduction to a bulerías as Carlton provides palmas. 
November 16, 2005 9:54pm My photographer friend Jill Hatzai was in the audience. I asked her to take a pic of us during the show. 
November 16, 2005 10:38pm (photo by Jill Hatzai)  November 16, 2005 (photo by Jill Hatzai using her own camera) We finished up at 11:00pm on the dot. I took some pics of the empty cafe while I was waiting for Behzad get the car. 
November 16, 2005 11:40pm 
November 16, 2005 11:41pm 
November 16, 2005 11:42pm 
November 16, 2005 11:42pm 
November 16, 2005 11:47pm Cafe Bonaparte has its flamenco night every other Wednesday. The next show will be on December 1, 2005. Las Tapas November 15, 2005 Dancers were Marta Chico Martín and Anna Menéndez. 
Marta. November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila)  November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila)  November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila)  November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila)  November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila) 
Anna. November 15, 2005 (photo by Soheila) 
Roya, Soheila, Marta and Anna. November 15, 2005 Cafe Citron November 14, 2005 These days, dancers almost never tell me when they send subs, let alone who the subs will be. Well, then again, I've accompanied just about every dancer who performs regularly or occasionally at the local tablaos. But that's immaterial. Just like every competent flamenco guitarist, I've spent many years accompanying dance classes becoming familiar with the rhythmic and kinetic vocabulary of flamenco so that I can almost predict what the dancer will do next. And also, with years and years of performing onstage (where you're under the pressure of only having one chance to get something right) I've honed my reflexes to the point where I can change the music in a split-second to accomodate rhythmic mistakes on the part of the dancer, and ok, sometimes me. :-) Thing is, unless you are doing what I would call "theatrical" flamenco (which is very expressive in itself, but requires a lot of preparation because of the complex rhythmic embellishments for dramatic effect), the pre-show discussion between singer, guitarist and dancer should take no more than a few seconds to explain, if at all. Typical explanation: "Solea. One letra, escobilla, solea por bulerías, solo de pies then bulerías to end." 
Ginette playfully trying out her shawl in a diffrent way. November 14, 2005 8:49pm This evening at Cafe Citron I was waiting by the door to find out who my dancer would be. But instead I got a phone call from Ginette Perea asking where Cafe Citron was located. I was thinking that she was coming to see the show (the previous time was in August) but instead I found out she was going to be in the show, yay! She's one of my favorites cuz she really listens to the music and responds my rhythmic and harmonic variations. Although, she's danced Sevillanas at Citron just for fun, this was the first time she was the soloist here--probably one of the more challenging dancers' gigs in DC. Why do I say this? This show only features one dancer and you must be a confident performer to pull it off, because you're it. Between sets, I hung out with Ginette at the downstairs bar area which is the ultimate dancer's dressing room cuz there's a decent wood floor and large mirrors. We're friends, so naturally I was just catching up on her life but looking back now I realize I was also connecting with her to help us perform much better for the second set. Do you remember what I said in a previous blog entry about conversationally connecting with your dancer?  November 14, 2005 8:50pm I was feeling kind of down this afternoon, but I felt so much better when Ginette arrived and especially when she put on a good show. Thanks Ginette! One of the regulars told me that for her, coming to Citron on Monday is like going to Mass. She says that flamenco show here "keeps her grounded." Another regular complimented me on the show told me that he comes to Citron on Mondays just for the flamenco. I jokingly said to him, "It's cool that you're here--only hardcore party people go out to a club on a Monday night." He replied in a semi-serious tone, "I didn't come Citron to party. If there was no flamenco, I wouldn't be here." That made me feel good. It turned out to be a good night overall! Sunday with Miguelito November 13, 2005 It's 10:35am on Wednesday as I type these words. I'm just getting around to catching up on my blog entry for last Sunday. Just wasn't in a picture-taking mood today (Sunday). Now I have two cameras--one of which I always have with me cuz it's part of my phone (see above pic), so I can never say "I don't have a camera with me." I know a LOT of people visit my photo diary and pretty much know what's going on in my life on a day-to-day basis which is great. And I don't mind people knowing this stuff--otherwise I wouldn't write about it. In fact, lately, I've had random friends and acquaintances, even strangers, ask me if I'm feeling any better. (If you've been reading the blog for the past few weeks, you would know that I've been trying to get over a cold.) Sometimes, I get personal or go off-topic or even make spelling and grammatical errors and not go back and fix them. Yeah, this blog is about me. It just so happens that I'm involved in some flamenco-related activity just about everyday. Why do I want you to know about my daily life? I'm hoping that my blog will inspire you to find out what it is that satisfies your soul (in my case, flamenco) and make the time for it. My life isn't perfect, but at least I know I got the soul-satisfying part taken care of and it's a wonderful feeling! :-) Uh-oh I'm in mood to vent now... Getting back to non-picture taking mood today...people, I need your help. People, the DC Flamenco website is the best of its kind on the Internet. You should be proud. There is no other flamenco website that covers a local scene better. And it's been the model that many other flamenco websites have been based on--I know this because I've been consulted during the initial design stages for other flamenco websites over the years. But being the best takes a LOT of work. Yeah, I enjoy it but every now and then I get overwhelmed because I feel like I'm doing this all by myself. For example, with the photo dairy, each picture I take equates to five or more minutes of my time later: transferring the pic from my camera to my computer, editing it in Photoshop, coding it into Dreamweaver, thinking of commentary about the photo, and uploading it all. You know how much I love to take pictures but each time I press the button on my camera I feel the weight of all the work that will follow. Then of course I have to keep up with all the flamenco events by checking email and doing searches on the Internet. This is a lot of work and it annoys me when local flamencos have events coming up but don't bother to tell me about it. I assume flamencos want people to come to their event. And yes, I am the center of flamenco information in DC and I supposedy know most of what's going on. But I can't possibly know it all unless people help me. People! Please send me photos, keep me up to date on what's going on, post stuff on my message board. All this information is for you, so use it! End of rant. Anyway, I started off my Sunday with a late-morning rehearsal with my favorite dancer. I know you're wondering who that dancer is and I'll reveal her name eventually. People who've known me a long time know that I like to choose one very promising dancer every now and then and devote all my time helping her grow as an artist and also develop a friendship. Usually we have day-long practice sessions, which I enjoy immensely. But today we only had a couple of hours from 11:00am until 3:00pm and I arrived late cuz I didn't get to bed quite late last night so our time was cut even shorter. Cool thing was that we still got a LOT done in that short amount of time. Sometimes, but not always, deadline pressure helps us mentally focus. On top of that, since we practice at the indoor basketball court of her apartment complex we had the distraction of kids playing basketball while we were rehearsing. These kids naturally were fascinated by my guitar playing and her dancing and would bombard us with questions every other minute: "Can I play your guitar?" or "Can you teach me to dance like that?" Don't get me wrong. We both enjoy kids. In fact, the last time we rehearsed the kids kept on coming back to the basketball court asking us questions every couple of minutes and we took the time to answer them. Of course, since we had our marathon practice session, we didn't have any real time-constraints. But this particular day, we had to make an extra effort to tune the kids out and focus on our rehearsal cuz the clock was ticking. It's good preparation to practice with kids around anyway since we have a school presentation in a couple of weeks. It will be our first professional performance together and I'm very excited about it, yay! Interestingly, my favorite dancer called me as I was typing these words. It's almost as if she psychically knows when I'm thinking about her. :-) A short time later, I stopped by the Jaleo tapas bar in Crystal City since I was closeby anyway, checked out the Sevillanas show, and hung out with my dancer friends before heading to Chi-Cha Lounge and of course stayed until the last set ended around 1:00am. Some people took pics but I have yet to receive them. Ahem! :-) Saturday with Miguelito November 12, 2005 It's 10:57am on Monday as I type these words. Had a fun flamenco-filled weekend and I'm just now got around to adding these pics. I'm about to head out the door, so I'll add expanded commentary later. This is at American Dance Institute. The usual Saturday took place in Studio A which was outfitted with a wood floor for flamenco concert taking place later that evening. 
November 12, 2005 12:13pm 
November 12, 2005 12:13pm 
November 12, 2005 12:39pm 
November 12, 2005 2:26pm 
November 12, 2005 2:26pm This is at Strathmore Hall dance studios where Estela Velez teaches on Saturday late afternoons. 
November 12, 2005 4:30pm 
November 12, 2005 4:34pm 
November 12, 2005 5:37pm 
November 12, 2005 5:52pm 
November 12, 2005 6:02pm 
November 12, 2005 6:03pm These are from the Camino al Flamenco show at the American Dance Institute. 
November 12, 2005 10:29pm 
November 12, 2005 10:29pm 
November 12, 2005 10:30pm 
November 12, 2005 10:30pm 
November 12, 2005 10:30pm 
November 12, 2005 10:58pm 
November 12, 2005 11:04pm 
November 12, 2005 11:20pm Cabanas November 11, 2005 I was so tempted to have an early dinner with with Juliana, Rachel and Una after a very productive meeting with a client, but I opted instead to get to my Cabanas gig early and ended up having a lot of free time to wander around Georgetown before the show started. 
This is the fountain you see through the windows of Cabanas. November 11, 2005 7:51pm 
This is the promenade overlooking the Potomac river. November 11, 2005 7:52pm 
That's the Kennedy Center. November 11, 2005 7:53pm 
The outdoor bar that is so popular in the summer. November 11, 2005 7:53pm 
Self-portrait of yours truly warming up before the show. November 11, 2005 8:30pm 
Steve and Courtney on their first night out since becoming parents. November 11, 2005 9:51pm (photo by Keith) 
Jen and Mariya in the back room discussing the show. November 11, 2005 9:53pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 9:55pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 9:56pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 9:57pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 10:00pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 10:00pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 10:01pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 10:07pm (photo by Keith) 
November 11, 2005 10:08pm (photo by Keith) 
Miguelito and Katerina. Every couple of months, she comes to my shows (usually with my friend Jori) and I get to practice my Russian language skills. Thanks for coming Katerina! November 11, 2005 10:17pm It's 8:39am on Saturday as I type these words. I'm going shower, get dressed etc and head out the door early and meet my guitarist friend Marty for some breakfast at El Patio, an Argentinian cafe. Usually, I order the Revuelto de Gramajo which is a ham and cheese omelette with fries, yummy! I also get a cafe cortado (espresso with milk). We'll go to American Dance Institute at noon and play for dance classes. Thursday with Miguelito November 10, 2005 I got up early to do a few errands and arrived at the dance studio a few blocks from my house just in time for a quick one-hour rehearsal. Nice way to start the day. 
November 10, 2005 2:21pm 
November 10, 2005 2:21pm 
November 10, 2005 2:22pm Afterwards, I went to the bookstore up the street and spent a few hours enjoying a few cafe americanos with a turtle brownie (yeah, that's what it's called) and read a few magazines (I almost never buy magazines these days--I can just read them at the bookstore for free) before getting on the metro towards Alexandria. But I wasn't goofing off. Relaxation and concentration are important in a good performance. Let's just say I was mentally warming-up for tonight's show. The result: I arrived at Las Tapas calm and focused. My sound equipment was already setup from the night before so I only had to arrive in time to tune up my guitar and start the show. The dancers were Estela Velez and Debra Belo. The show went well and the energy onstage was good and the audience was picking up on it. Thanks to the many friends who showed up to support us! Overall, a very satisfying evening. 
November 10, 2005 9:02pm (photo by Aref) 
November 10, 2005 9:07pm (photo by Aref) 
November 10, 2005 9:15pm (photo by Aref) 
November 10, 2005 9:26pm (photo by Aref) Many of Estela's friends got a table next to the stage and during the second set I asked some of them to dance some Sevillanas. Unfortunately, I only had 11 shots left in my camera and these were the only decent shots that came out. This pic is for Juliana: yours truly with one of Estela's friends Ramona. 
November 10, 2005 9:43pm (photo by Estela) It's 6:59am on Friday as I type these words. Yes, really, I'm really up this early! It's a good thing though. I can get stuff (like this blog entry) done and enjoy a leisurely day. I'll probably go shopping for some winter gloves just so that I don't show up at my gigs with frozen hands. Tonight I'm performing at Cabanas with dancers Mariya Kostytska and Jen, yay! OK now it's 9:57am and I finally got most of my phone directory transferred to my beautiful new phone (a gift from a friend)! It is soooo cool! It's a Nokia 7260 in flamenco black and red and it's a tri-band so I can just pop in my European SIM card and use this phone in Spain too!  November 11, 2005 9:57am It's getting late, so I'm headed out the door now to do a few things before meeting a friend for Juan Valdez coffee at 1:00pm then join my favorite dancer in a meeting with a client this afternoon around 3:00pm. Life is good. Ciao! Cloudy Day Rehearsal November 9, 2005 It was one of those days, where the inspiration just wasn't happening. I was practicing with one of my favorite dancers and I just wasn't getting in the mood--and I think she unintentionally caught my negative energy. Oops! :-( I was tempted to just pack up and call it a day--it's nothing personal--we all have "off" days. No use in trying to force inspiration to materialize. It either happens or it doesn't.  November 10, 2005 So we took a couple of breaks hoping things would improve but finally we decided to put our "instruments" away, take our minds off flamenco, go for a walk outside and talk about "stuff" for awhile and breathe some fresh air. Finally some sunlight, metaphorically speaking, on this cloudy day! We were in a much better mood. That was just what we needed! In a way, conversationally connecting with your fellow artist and friend does count as rehearsal. Why? Conversation is like flamenco. We each take turns saying what we have to say (letra or falseta), put a period or exclamation point at the end (llamada) and let the other person respond (remate, another letra or escobilla). To have an effective conversation, you have to be a good listener by paying very close attention to the speaker's words, body language and other subtle nuances and treat her with respect and empathy. You let the speaker complete her thought, pause a moment to give some breathing space and then respond. Sometimes, you can interject in the middle of her thought, if the timing and feel is just right. Hopefully your conversation partner will do the same for you. I don't claim to be the perfect conversationalist or accompanist, but I do know what to strive for. Just for fun and as a scientific exercise, next time you meet a guitar/dancer duo, observe how they talk with each other, it could give you a clue into how they perform onstage. Las Tapas November 8, 2005 It's 12:26am on Wednesday as I type these words. Just enough time to publish a few pics but since I have a 9:00am rehearsal with my favorite dancer (yay!), I'll go straight to bed and I won't bother adding commentary this time. The pictures speak for themselves. It was an especially good show with dancers Christina Conrad and Debra Belo accompanied by yours truly. My thanks to Carla Pacheco for taking such great pics! (Thanks to me for the great stage lighting.)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco)  November 8, 2005 (photo by Carla Pacheco) Cafe Citron November 7, 2005 It's been two weeks since my last time at Cafe Citron (last week was Halloween on a Monday and they used a DJ instead). We filled-up the place with lots of people such that they were literally crowded around the stage during the second show. I was talking on the phone with my friend Juliana as I typed these words. She says that Monday is the hardest night to get people to come out. I totally agree. Ask yourself: how many friends do you know that would go out to a club on a Monday? Pictured below is my friend Jenifer aka Lola. Currently she studies with Carmen de Vicente in Alexandria and performs Sevillanas occasionally at La Tasca in Arlington. 
Miguelito and Jenifer. November 7, 2005 9:13pm (photo by Keith) Jenifer was surprised to see me wearing a shirt in a color other than black! :-) 
Mariya and Jenifer dancing Sevillanas. November 7, 2005 9:25pm (photo by Keith) 
November 7, 2005 9:25pm (photo by Keith) 
November 7, 2005 9:27pm (photo by Keith) 
Miguelito and Gerard Moreno. November 7, 2005 9:28pm (photo by Keith) 
November 7, 2005 9:29pm (photo by Keith) 
Nice pic of yours truly. November 7, 2005 9:29pm (photo by Keith) 
All of us were focusing on the moment as I improvised an intro to alegrías. November 7, 2005 9:32pm (photo by Keith) 
November 7, 2005 9:33pm (photo by Keith) 
Mariya has her audience mesmerized. That guy in the green shirt is probably thinking, "Man, I got the best seat in the house!" :-) November 7, 2005 9:37pm (photo by Keith) 
Keith and Mariya. November 7, 2005 10:26pm After packing up my sound and lighting equipment, I said my goodbyes and walked out with Mariya and Keith since they were taking the metro home too. It's 12:42pm on Tuesday as I type these words. Gotta catch up on some books I've been reading: I almost feel like a college student! Interestingly, I do have a college degree (B.M. in Classical Guitar Performance) but truth is I crammed so much I didn't really retain any information. So this is my way of filling-up the gaps in my college education. Anyway, I'll stop by Las Tapas early to drop off my sound equipment and practice guitar at the Alexandria waterfront if it's not too cold. If there are any dancers in the neighborhood, look for me on the waterfront and we can jam! :-)
Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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by Keith Ferrazi
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