Miguelito's Photo Diary

New Year's Eve December 31, 2004

• New Year's Eve show at First Night Alexandria December 31, 2004
• New Year's Eve show in Scottsdale, Arizona
• New Year's Eve show at San Vito Ristorante Italiano December 31, 2004

New Year's Eve show at San Vito Ristorante Italiano December 31, 2004

The owners of San Vito Ristorante Italiano were extremely grateful for the performers' last minute agreement to perform. Future flamenco shows are in negotiations for both locations (Herndon and Ashburn), so let's hope that flamenco again prospers at another location in Virginia.

Guitarist RJ Uebersezig. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of RJ Uebersezig)

RJ and dancer Gloria Monge. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of RJ
Uebersezig)

December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of RJ
Uebersezig)

December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of RJ
Uebersezig)

December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of RJ
Uebersezig)

New Year's Eve show in Scottsdale, Arizona

Baltimore-based dancer Tamara Sol Flys visited her family in Arizona for winter holidays. While there she was invited to perform with her old group, Mosaico Flamenco. Tamara writes:

Hi Michael! Here are some pics from our New Years show at the Hyatt resort in Scottsdale, AZ. I've included some pics of our band, Mosaico (on piano-Yanis, on bass-Simon, on guitar-Gaetano and Monte and on flute-Max) and of the other two dancers performing with me (Aldo and Lolita). We had two shows earlier in the evening and then we were on stage for the countdown-and at that point no one really pays attention to us, so I took pictures from the stage-we had a great crowd! It's a great place for New Years-it's free! We stayed on stage until about 12:30am dancing chacha, flamenco, salsa, etc. It was a blast! Happy New Year! Tamara

Gaetano, Monte and Max. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Yanis and Simon. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Aldo and Lolita. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Lolita, Aldo and Tamara. December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

December 31, 2004 (photo courtesy of Tamara Sol Flys)

Here are the pics from 2003 New Year's Eve show by Mosaico.

New Year's Eve show at First Night Alexandria

Yesterday, both dancer Gigi and yours truly had to get up very early to get ready for a 7:30am TV spot with Fox 5 news, and it made for a very long day. How? Well besides not getting enough sleep, we also had to pick up an extremely heavy, cumbersome tablao, transport it, carry it in and set it up. Plus we had to lug it back again after our show. Ugh!

After that experience I've come to realize that flamenco is not really work--although we still deserve to get paid very well. Bringing a tablao to a gig, now that's work! :)

In the program, Gigi name was mispelled as Ginetta (I'm including here so that the search engines will catch the misspelled version, too).

We did three half-hour shows but I only have pics from the last one. Our photographer, Gina Perea (Gigi's mom), was busy doing video for the first two shows.

The tablao is tied-down, secure and ready to go! We used an oriental rug to protect the car from scratches and drove very slowly. December 31, 2004 5:37pm

Gina doing a backstage "video documentary" with her daughter Gigi right before our first show. December 31, 2004 7:11pm

Miguelito playing an improvised introduction to open the show. December 31, 2004 10:19pm (photo by Gina)

Shahram and Gigi dancing Sevillanas. December 31, 2004 10:20pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:21pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:22pm (photo by Gina)

Shahram getting in the mood for Garrotin. December 31, 2004 10:25pm (photo by Gina) With each show we got more warmed-up and inspired. By the last show at 10:15pm, we just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves--a great way to end the evening.

December 31, 2004 10:26pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:27pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:28pm (photo by Gina)

Yours truly talking a little about the history of flamenco. December 31, 2004 10:31pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:32pm (photo by Gina)

Ginette preparing to dance solea por bulerias. December 31, 2004 10:35pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:36pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:37pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:38pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:39pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:40pm (photo by Gina)

Shahram dancing solea por bulerias. December 31, 2004 10:44pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:45pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:46pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:47pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:47pm (photo by Gina)

Bulerias. December 31, 2004 10:48pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:48pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:49pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:49pm (photo by Gina)

December 31, 2004 10:50pm (photo by Gina)

We took extra precautions to protect the theater stage floor from any damage by placing a soft oriental rug beneath the tablao. December 31, 2004 11:00pm (photo by Gina)

Special thanks to...

• Kevin Perez (my brother and fellow artist) for loaning me his digital camera at the last minute.
• Mark, from Broesler School of Irish Dance, for helping us setup the tablao for each show
• Douglas Bolanos, from Las Tapas, for letting me borrow the tablao for this gig.
• Gina Perea for moral support, hospitality (food and drinks), transportation, videography, photography.
• Cesar Perea Jr and Sr for helping me transport the tablao and return it to Las Tapas. What a workout! :)
• Shahram for sharing his talents as a performer and a flamenco and for clearing his schedule at the last minute to be a part of our show and also for helping me carry the tablao.
• Miguelito (that's me!) for well, you know, the usual: guitar accompaniment, sound system, lecture about flamenco etc and finding a tablao at the last minute.
• Gigi for making the show a success for the second year in a row! Besides the performance, she handled all the negotiations, logistics and dealt with all the typical last-minute problems that always come up with these types of shows--all the while maintaining a very professional attitude.

Here are the pics from the 2003 show of First Night Alexandria.

Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera

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