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Miguelito's Photo DiaryMarch 27, 2005 - April 3, 2005
Richmond gig pics by Cindy Hobbs April 3, 2005 My thanks to photographer Cindy Hobbs for providing the following awesome photos. For more info and to view more samples of her work, visit www.everafterphotos.com 
Miguelito and RJ Uebersezig. April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs) 
Mariya, Shahram Tehranian and Miguelito. April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs)  April 3, 2005 (photo by Cindy Hobbs) Richmond gig April 3, 2005 Pro photographer Cindy Hobbs sent me photos of our performance. See above. As for myself, I took pics of the other acts in Virginia Commonwealth University's (VCU) Intercultural Festival. 
All the international clubs setup tables to promote themselves. I stopped by one of the tables to say kamusta? (how are you?) to the members of Filipino American Coming Together. (Hanging out with my familiy in New York last weekend made me remember a little bit of my Tagalog.) April 3, 2005 2:18pm 
In the distance, I can see the main stage in the University Student Commons Plaza where we'll be performing in about an hour. April 3, 2005 2:19pm 
Raised wooden stage. Professional sound system. Things look good so far. April 3, 2005 2:20pm 
View from the performers' waiting area upstairs. April 3, 2005 2:24pm I went back out, grabbed a quick bite and stood in the wings to watch VCU student Neera Singh and friend perform a dance to Turkish pop star Tarkan's song Simarik. Trust me, you have heard this song a LOT in clubs that play international music. 
April 3, 2005 2:37pm 
April 3, 2005 2:38pm 
April 3, 2005 2:39pm I went back upstairs to warm-up and get ready for our show. We had a professional photographer who took pics of our performance as a group called Mezcla Flamenca. We did our show at 3:35pm. The dancers were Shahram Tehranian and Mariya. The guitarists were RJ Uebersezig and yours truly...half an hour later, we hung out backstage for awhile to meet some of the VCU students and friends before we went back up to pack our things. 
Blue skies with clouds that let the sun through every now and then. April 3, 2005 4:05pm I stuck around to watch the Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas sorority perform step dance. 
April 3, 2005 4:07pm 
April 3, 2005 4:08pm Next was Chanel Call performing Arabian belly dance. 
April 3, 2005 4:11pm 
April 3, 2005 4:12pm 
April 3, 2005 4:13pm One last pic of the Bhangra VCU Group before leaving the festival. 
April 3, 2005 4:23pm We walked down the street to an Italian restaurant and had a leisurely late lunch loading up on pasta and salad. With a full stomach and only 8 hours of sleep since Friday, I quickly dozed off as RJ drove us back home. Lunch was good but still, something was missing...as fate would have it, a dancer friend sent me a text message inviting me to join her and her mom for dinner at 7:00pm, but because of traffic on I-95, I didn't get to Alexandria until 9:30pm. Ugh! But it was perfect timing for what I was really craving for: dessert! I ordered the tirami-su. I got home past 11:00pm totally spent but very satisfied. Another flamenco-filled weekend comes to an end. Delaware gig April 2, 2005 Got up early to meet up with Carlton at Union Station where RJ was going to pick us up. Traffic wasn't bad going up but there was a major accident that forced us to take a detour in Delaware taking us down some narrow roads that were non-existent according to maps. Took us through farmland that stretched for miles. Visibility was so bad because of the extremely heavy rain. Sometimes, we had to slow down and squint to read the street signs or just keep driving with our fingers crossed hoping to reach a familiar-sounding cross road. 
A typical view of Delaware farmland. April 2, 2005 12:23pm Finally we arrived at the beautiful house of dancer Micaela Moreno, lounged in her spacious living room listening to salsa and did a quick run-through of the show before heading to the gig. It was the 50th anniversary of a charity organization run by nuns. But when we got there, there were only a few cars in the parking lot and people were already exiting the building. Bad sign. Turned out that the rain scared-off a lot of the people and the nuns cancelled the rest of the event--which is fine, but they never called us to let us know what was going on. Ugh! I got up very early plus we just travelled two hours in the pouring rain, not to mention the fact that I took time off from a paying gig playing for classes at American Dance Institute. Was I disappointed? Oh yeah, very! Those nuns should've considered that we performers travelled a long way and made the appropriate changes. Yeah, it was a pain in the butt to travel a long way for nothing, but I was so looking forward to doing a show with my very close friend Micaela who lives in this flamenco-deprived region. Whatever I felt, Micaela felt ten times more. :-( 
This is the stage we would have performed on. April 2, 2005 3:09pm 
This is Micaela with one of the nuns in charge of the event. We were very professional. We showed up on time and we were very pleasant about this situation. April 2, 2005 3:13pm 
RJ and Carlton give the best smile they can under the circumstances. April 2, 2005 3:16pm The nuns gave us some food from the buffet which I quickly scarfed down. Micaela knew of an excellent Mexican restaurant nearby so we got in the car, vented for a few minutes, drove away and soon we sat at a table and ordered from the menu. As we enjoyed the good food, drinks and each other's company we were able to move on and enjoy ourselves. Micaela is one of the sweetest people I know, and the two-hour drive from DC to Delaware is not going to stop me from going back to do another show, hopefully in the very near future. See you soon Mica! UPDATE: Mica writes: "So, guess what - the nun in the picture brought me a bouquet of roses and a card for us (Michelle and friends). I guess she could really tell I was mad - LOL! She said you guys were so kind and sweet - 'true artists and ambassadors of good will'" Guitar Gallery April 1, 2005 I'm always supporting my dancers. One of them needed a fan for an upcoming gig, so I called up Paco de Málaga and asked him to set aside one in the color that she wanted. When I arrived at the Guitar Gallery, Paco was in the middle of giving a guitar lesson to my friend Cipriano. 
April 1, 2005 6:23pm 
April 1, 2005 6:24pm In the next photo, notice the array of flamenco dancer accessories behind the two guys: shoes, mantones, fans, castanets, earrings and more. I can't promise anything, but when you shop here, just say that you're a good friend of Miguelito and you might get a better price. 
Paco de Málaga and Cipriano Riesco. April 1, 2005 6:25pm 
Paco leaves to get one of his teaching devices. April 1, 2005 6:26pm 
"Stay in compás or else!" April 1, 2005 6:27pm April Fool's! The police baton is just a joke. :-) The part about compás however is true. Knowing it means being able to maintain the rhythm without having to think about it. Everyone has a different method for aquiring this skill. For most people, it's a matter of practicing it so much that it becomes instinctive. Georgetown Harbour April 1, 2005 Got out of poetry class at around 11 and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to my favorite spot at Georgetown Harbour to enjoy an outdoor practice session on this beautiful warm day. But when I got there, they blocked it off. It looks like they're doing some cleaning to make the area look sparkling for the upcoming gorgeous Spring days. Ugh! Oh well, gotta wait a little longer... 
April 1, 2005 11:45am I settled for a bench in the park nearby and worked on my rasgueados while enjoying the view of the Potomac. 
April 1, 2005 12:19pm Checkout these harbour pics from almost a year ago. I'm looking forward to this weekend: Saturday afternoon I'll be doing a show with Micaela Moreno in Delaware, then we'll party that night in Ocean City at Seacrets. Yay! That's the club where I accidentally destroyed my last camera in July 2002 when it fell in the water when I fell asleep on the water rafts while working on my tan. I also destroyed a cell phone. But I was having such a great time that weekend, I really didn't care! :-) Then we'll wake up early Sunday morning pass through DC to pick up a couple of dancers and head to Richmond to do a late afternoon show at the Intercultural Festival on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. I'll have pics on Monday. Stay tuned! Guarapo March 31, 2005 Sara Candela gave her last DC area performance at Las Tapas with many people from the flamenco community in attendance. I was busy doing my own show at Andalucia so I couldn't be there, but fortunately the party at Las Tapas was brought over to Guarapo later that evening... 
Indira, Armand, Sharon, Cecilia, Miguelito, José, Palma, Jenifer and Tonya. March 31, 2005 10:53pm 
Sara Jerez, Milvia and Miguelito. March 31, 2005 11:19pm 
Soheila Nassiri, Jen, Roya Bahrami, Anna Menendez, friend, Heather, Tom McManus, Sara Candela and Sara Jerez. April 1, 2005 12:25am 
Miguelito and Madiha Tariq. April 1, 2005 12:31am My thanks to Jen for giving me a ride from Andalucia to Guarapo. NOTE: If you were not able to say goodbye to Sara Candela in person, you might have another chance this Monday April 4th at Cafe Citron. She's still wrapping up some unfinished business that may keep her in DC for a few days more. I'll know for sure by Monday if she's performing at Citron, so stay tuned! Las Tapas March 31, 2005 Officially, this was Sara Candela's last performance in the Washington DC area. (If she sticks around for a few more days she may be performing at Cafe Citron and/or Jaleo this week.) I wasn't able to be there in person, but a member of the audience named Alex Avdeyev was taking pictures of this special evening where many members of the local flamenco community came to say goodbye to Sara. 
Anna Menendez with Richard Marlow and Sara Candela. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Anna with Ramin Rad, Richard and Sara. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Richard and Sara Candela. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Ramin, Richard and Sara. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev)  March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Jason Vera y Aragón and Anna. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Aleksey Kulikov and Sara. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) 
Tamara Sol Flys. March 31, 2005 (photo by Alex Avdeyev) Andalucia March 31, 2005 The restaurant was packed more than I've ever seen on a Thursday night. There were actually people sitting at the bar--good thing that it was recently redecorated. Checkout this first pic: 
Monica Serrano preparing several batches of sangría for the crowded restaurant. March 31, 2005 7:32pm Normally I sit at the bar, but since there was no space, I had to sit by the door. Actually I think some of the customers were pleasantly surprised to see a live flamenco guitarist as they entered. 
March 31, 2005 7:44pm 
March 31, 2005 7:45pm 
Jen, Rebecca (the new hostess) and Guadalupe. March 31, 2005 8:02pm 
March 31, 2005 8:05pm 
March 31, 2005 8:06pm 
March 31, 2005 9:56pm GWU March 30, 2005 Got up early but ending up chatting with a friend I hardly ever see online, so I ended up leaving the house around 9:00am. I arrived on the GW campus with enough time to stop by for a jolt of caffeine: 
March 30, 2005 9:17am Class was moved to the second floor of Phillips Hall where they have the fancy-schmancy audio-visual equipment. We watched Carlos Saura's Blood Wedding. 
View from my front row seat. March 30, 2005 9:38am In the interest of saving time, we fast fowarded past the dressing room scenes where you see a young José Mercé warming up and getting quick stage makeup. We also skipped the part where the dancers do their warm-ups to where the actual play begins. I've watched this video countless times, but I have the version with subtitles. This time I really had to listen to understand the all-Spanish dialogue. Carlos Saura's interpretation never fails to enrapture me time and time again. The guitar music is beautiful as dance/drama accompaniment: it captures the emotion of the moment without being too virtuosic which could take away attention from the story. Like a good movie soundtrack, you don't notice the music because it meshes so well with the overal cinematic experience. Of course as a musician, it's almost impossible for me not to notice the music as a separate entity. When the movie finished, we still had time to compare and contrast Carlos Saura's version with Lorca's original text. One difference that stood out is the knife duel which closes Saura's interpretation. This scene is only implied in the play itself. Lorca alludes to it in the final scene of the last act: "¿Qué pasó que nadie volvió? ¿Fuiste a la boda?" On Friday, we wrap-up Bodas de Sangre and start on Casa de Bernarda Alba. NOTE: Tonight at Las Tapas is Sara Candela's last DC performance before she leaves for Chile for good. I won't be able to make it since I have my own show tonight all the way out in Rockville, but I'll make it to the after-party at Guarapo around midnight. See you there! Las Tapas March 29, 2005 Five years ago, as of this month, I quit working a day job. Yay! I've kept contact with some of my former coworkers who were also my friends including Dionela who was one of the people that convinced me to take a chance and become a full-time musician. Thanks Dionela! She and her friend Milvia came to my shows at El Bodegon and Casablanca way back in 1997! While we were still working together, I gave Dionela flamenco accessories for presents on her birthday with the hope of convincing her to become a dancer. There's still a chance. :-) Dionela and her husband Steve stopped by Las Tapas last night and brought along a few friends. 
Steven Johnson and his wife Dionela Maceda-Johnson with Miguelito. March 29, 2005 9:29pm  Aleksey Kulikov and Anna Menendez with Miguelito. March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)  March 29, 2005 (photo courtesy of Steve Johnson) Cafe Citron March 28, 2005 I love it when friends like Sonia come to my show. I love it even more when my friends bring more friends! :-) 
Miguelito, Sonia Sheikh and just arrived from Italy, Fabio. March 28, 2005 10:41pm On another note, this was the last time that Sara Candela and I performed together before she leaves DC for good next week. I've known her since 1991. Good luck in Chile Sara and thanks for the memories. We're all going to miss you! Sunday with Miguelito in DC/NYC. March 27, 2005 These pics are really meant for family, but if you're curious feel free to click on the pic. 
 Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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