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 Miguelito's Photo DiaryApril 17, 2004 - April 19, 2004
Cafe Citron April 19, 2004 
Miguelito and Gerard Moreno. April 19, 2004 8:20pm This "special effect" was an accident--the photographer accidentally set the camera on "night mode" so the shutter stays open longer. The colors are more vivid and the movements blurred. (photo by Kayoko) 
Sara Candela. April 19, 2004 8:25pm (photo by Kayoko) 
April 19, 2004 8:29pm (photo by Kayoko) 
April 19, 2004 8:32pm (photo by Kayoko) 
My dancer friend Kayoko celebrated her birthday here. She and her friends are doing palmas. April 19, 2004 9:57pm 
April 19, 2004 9:58pm 
We continued the party out on the street. April 19, 2004 10:01pm (photo by Takemitsu) 
April 19, 2004 10:02pm (photo by Takemitsu) 
The birthday girl takes a solo. April 19, 2004 10:02pm (photo by Takemitsu) 
April 19, 2004 10:03pm (photo by Takemitsu) 
My friend Sandra Bishop, who was at the new Indian restaurant next door, joins in the street party. April 19, 2004 10:04pm (photo by Takemitsu) Georgetown Harbour April 18, 2004 If you're a regular visitor to my photo diary, you already know that the Georgetown Harbour is one of my favorite warm weather hangouts. The view is beautiful. It's great for people watching, playing guitar and meeting people. 
View of the Rosslyn (Arlington) skyline. April 18, 2004 8:24pm 
Kennedy Center. April 18, 2004 8:25pm 
Steve Svoboda. April 18, 2004 9:34pm 
April 18, 2004 9:35pm 
Boardwalk. April 18, 2004 9:36pm Show at George Washington University April 18, 2004 Each year, George Washington University's Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) hosts a "Noche de Cultura" event to celebrate latin culture and cuisine. OLAS members Nikola Otlans and Viviana Delgado, in their search for entertainment, was impressed by one of my local shows last year, they wanted to make sure that we would be part of their next "Noche de Cultura" event. I consider performances, such as these, a great opportunity to increase awareness about flamenco and Spanish culture. These students will be the future leaders of tomorrow and supporters of the arts in the future! My thanks also to OLAS member Natalia Molano for working out all the logistics and getting me through all the paperwork etc of setting up the show. 
This is the poster used to advertise the event. 
The entrance to the U Club, one of the two locations for "Noche de Cultura." The other location was the Marvin Center Grand Ballroom where Carmen de Vicente's Requiebros group was performing--interestingly, dancer Ginette Perea studied with Carmen de Vicente previously and performed with her group. Come to think of it, I did do a show with Carmen de Vicente's group while Ginette was just starting out about four or five years ago. April 18, 2004 3:11pm 
Ginette Perea and Miguelito. Fandangos de Huelva with castanet accompaniment. April 18, 2004 5:38pm (photo by Gina) 
Sevillanas. April 18, 2004 5:39pm (photo by Gina) 
Solea por bulerias. April 18, 2004 5:49pm (photo by Gina) 
April 18, 2004 5:50pm (photo by Gina) 
April 18, 2004 5:51pm (photo by Gina) 
April 18, 2004 5:54pm (photo by Gina) 
Posing for a picture after the show. April 18, 2004 6:05pm (photo by Gina) 
The U-Club is a historic location with a vintage painting of George Washington himself. April 18, 2004 6:10pm (photo by Ginette) 
Of course, I have to advertise my local shows. :) April 18, 2004 6:11pm (photo by Ginette) Show at Taberna del Alabardero April 17, 2004 For a change, Taberna presented a show that focused on the lighter side of flamenco: Sevillanas, rumbas and Fandangos de Huelva. There was some dancing, but dance was not the focus. I met the performers briefly while they hung out at the bar between shows--they're friends of one of the Spanish employees. The turnout of my flamenco friends was scant: Jason Vera y Aragon, Marta Chico Martin, Edwin Aparicio, Roxanna, Aleksey Kulikov, Ken McNaughton among others were the only few that showed up. It's a good thing in a way: at least I didn't have any difficulty getting a good view of the show. 
Singers Martina Isabel Aragón Raposo and Sandra Maria Carrasco Tavira shared the microphone as they took turns singing rumba letras. April 17, 2004 11:52pm 
April 17, 2004 11:53pm 
April 17, 2004 11:55pm 
As the girls danced, guitarist Miguel Angel Gallardo Gonzalez sang Sevillanas. April 17, 2004 11:58pm 
April 18, 2004 12:06am 
April 18, 2004 12:07am 
April 18, 2004 12:09am 
For the finale, the girls brought up members of the audience to dance Sevillanas. April 18, 2004 12:16am Playing for Natalia's class April 17, 2004 A couple of weeks ago, my friend Juan Delgado and I drove up to Baltimore to play for Tamara's classes. So to continue our little "dance class tour" we visited Natalia Monteleon's Saturday morning classes at her beautiful home dance studio in Laurel, Maryland. Although I had to get up early to make it to the 10:00am class, the gorgeous weather made for a enjoyable drive. I was pleasantly surprised to see my longtime friend, Ralph Pemberton. When I first arrived in DC 13 years ago, he was the regular guitarist for the Spanish Dance Theatre at George Washington University and was exceedingly generous in guiding me as got started in the DC flamenco scene. In a way, you can say I am passing on the same degree of kindess and wisdom that Ralph gave me: this time in the form of a highly-informative flamenco website. Thanks Ralph! 
Miguelito and Ralph Pemberton. April 17, 2004 11:37am 
Juan Delgado and Miguelito. April 17, 2004 11:38am 
See that small black device attached to the end of Ralph's guitar? It's an Intellitouch tuner. It's one of the best recent inventions for guitarists. I highly recommend it. April 17, 2004 11:39am I got my first start in flamenco while I was going to California State University, Fullerton (that's located in OC, as in the TV show, in case you didn't know). I went to a flamenco party in Buena Park (also in OC) where there were a multitude of guitarists (dancers and singers too) some of whom were professionals. During a bulerias (one of many that night), I sat next to one of the pro guitarists to watch his left hand for the chords. He noticed me eyeing his fretboard. I admit, I was struggling to find those chords on my own guitar and the next thing I notice is that the pro guitarist rolled his eyes and turned his back to me. I thought to my myself, "What a snob!" Maybe it was just that one pro guitarist that acts like that to newbies (like me at the time). In any case, if it wasn't for my determination to learn all I can about flamenco, I probably would've been discouraged by his rude behavior that night. I guess I should thank that snob, because it provoked me to work harder at learning the chords and developing my listening skills. I knew a flamenco guitar teacher in Long Beach (that's in LA county) who would give his students some material and tell them to call him when they had mastered it (the material). This system seemed to work. He had a number of regular students who would call back after a few weeks or a few months. I tried out that system with a few of my students when I first started teaching years ago and those students never called me back. Oh well, perhaps it was a good thing: I weeded out the ones who didn't have the determination to learn flamenco. I learned a lesson myself. :) People who really know me are aware of my very generous nature. Unlike that snob, I give out all the info and wisdom that I have to offer--I don't hold anything back. Why? First of all, we have a shortage of dance accompanists in the DC area. Secondly, you never know who will be your future competition. I was kind and generous to guitarists Richard Marlow and Ramin el Persa when they were newbies in the DC area. And thank goodness I was kind to them! Because nowadays they are my (friendly) competition. On the other hand, we depend so much on each other for support for those times when we need substitutes. Still, we need more dance accompanists!  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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