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Miguelito's Photo Diary/BlogApril 20, 2005 - April 25, 2005
Cafe Citron April 25, 2005 It's 7:32am on Tuesday as I type these words. I'm not really in a chatty mood right now, so my commentary on last night's photos will be lighter than usual. When I got home last night, I read my email and came across a message that made me wonder about how stupid people can get. Someone wrote me: "Where do you do get off trying to pass yourself off as a Spaniard? Wake up Miguelito or whatever your real name is. You are not Spanish..." My response: "Dude, you're an idiot. It's not even worth my time to explain myself to you." This morning I received an email with these comments: "Mike, I haven't told you in a while, but you really are doing a great job with the frequent and informative updates to your website. I have come to rely on it during those long nights here at the school. The pictures of the Arte Flamenco rehearsal were great so were your comments about becoming real performers and being able to contribute. Just wanted to let you know. Keep up the good work.!!!" My response: "Thank you. I know I'm not a professional writer. I'm actually better than that. I write not for the beauty of the words but from real life. Almost everything that you read about here is a part of my personal experience. I just hope to inspire others to do what truly satisifies their soul. I highly recommend that you keep a diary of your own life. As you write, hopefully on a daily basis, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the day and ask yourself: 'Did I truly live today or did I just pass the time?' TIP: buy yourself a blank book tonight and start your own diary. You will thank me for this later." 
Jason Vera y Aragón and Sara Jerez. April 25, 2005 9:24pm (photo by Antonio/Marcos Ubiera) 
That's Shahram Tehranian on the right doing palmas. April 25, 2005 9:29pm (photo by Antonio/Marcos Ubiera) 
April 25, 2005 9:14pm (photo by Antonio/Marcos Ubiera) 
Jason and Sara accompanying Miguelito and Gerard Moreno. April 25, 2005 9:15pm (photo by Antonio/Marcos Ubiera) 
Antonio and Marcos Ubiera with yours truly. April 25, 2005 9:35pm Years ago, I used to chat online frequently with Antonio when he was going to UVA in Charlottesville. Antonio plays flamenco guitar and he did a few shows out there with fellow student Isabel Otero. Now he resides in the DC area and occasionally comes to the local tablaos. It's good to see you Antonio! Later I ran into another old friend and we decided to go check out the other clubs down the street... 
For a Monday night, the line at Lucky Bar is quite long. We weren't in the mood to wait, but since we were next to Julia's Empanadas we grabbed a quick bite anyway. April 25, 2005 11:30pm 
We decided to checkout Dragonfly a few doors down. April 25, 2005 11:45pm 
This place is dead. What can I expect? It's Monday!!! April 25, 2005 11:51pm 
Back to Citron. April 26, 2005 12:10am 
Ugh...this place is dead too. Time to call it a night. April 26, 2005 12:12am 
I took this one last pic of Dupont Circle before I got into my friend's car to go home. April 26, 2005 12:20am Arte Flamenco rehearsal April 24, 2005 I went to bed late last night and when I woke up this morning I just found out that the rehearsal was rescheduled an hour earlier (yikes!), so I quickly got dressed, met up with my ride and headed to the Arte Flamenco studio in Laurel, Maryland. I couldn't show up at rehearsal feeling groggy--so it was definitely a day for Red Bull! 
Crossing over the Potomac into DC. It was chilly compared to last week when it was 80 degrees and I was working on my tan at the rooftop pool. April 24, 2005 10:14am 
Soon we arrived at the idyllic Natalia Monteleon estate--home of the Arte Flamenco studio. April 24, 2005 10:52am 
As we entered, the dancers were already working up a sweat. Notice the framed poster of John Singer Sargent's Jaleo painting on the left. April 24, 2005 10:56am 
Guitarists Henry Jova and Quique take their seats. Mine's in the middle. April 24, 2005 10:57am 
View from my seat. I can feel the effects of the Red Bull kicking in now. Yay! This is going to be a fun rehearsal. April 24, 2005 11:05am We were preparing for an upcoming special performance which will take place at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore on Saturday May 7, 2005. Note: this is the same day as the first part of the Philly Feria. 
Quique accompanies all the Arte Flamenco classes. He's doing what it takes to learn the art of accompanying flamenco dancers. Olé Quique! April 24, 2005 11:07am I can still remember the days in the early 1990's when I was the only guitarist in the DC area playing regularly for all the dance companies classes, rehearsals and shows. I was just a struggling student guitarist at the time, but I paid my dues by playing for all the dance classes. Nowadays we have several student flamenco guitarists paying their dues playing for dance classes on a regular basis. Yeah I was there giving advice to local guitarists Ramin Rad and Richard Marlow when they first started accompanying dancers. This was a serious rehearsal (well they all are) but I couldn't afford to take that many pics cuz I actually had to play guitar most of the time. :-) For those of you who think I'm goofing off on the job taking pics at rehearsals, get this: people email me telling me how inspiring it is to see pics of my flamenco life. So hopefully I'm inspiring some of you out there to learn flamenco--you know, real flamenco where you artistically contribute to a flamenco group with dancers and singers. So, in the larger scheme of things, I'm not really goofing off. I'm hard at work inspiring others to do what I do. Uh-oh, I feel a rant coming...I'm just so tired of meeting people who claim that they play flamenco when all they can do is improvise melodies in phrygian mode and play basic rasgueados but still have no clue what to play for a dancer or singer. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a flamenco snob--well maybe a little. :-) Jamming in 4/4 and improvising on so-called Arabic scales is a lot of fun and it is part of flamenco BUT it is only the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. There's a whole world of flamenco waiting to be explored. You have to learn the other palos and get yourself involved playing for dancers and singers. Otherwise you're missing out. Anywayz, after the serious part of the rehearsal, the dancers reviewed some choreographies just for fun. 
The dancers run through the Guajiras. April 24, 2005 12:06pm 
Alex and Fausti. April 24, 2005 12:07pm 
Julie, Natalia Cuesta and director Natalia Monteleón April 24, 2005 12:11pm 
April 24, 2005 12:24pm 
Alex, Fausti, Julie and Natalia C. April 24, 2005 12:25pm They're still students, but today I noticed them making progress as a group. Their dedication and hard work is paying off and I'm very proud to be associated with them. Kudos to their teacher and artistic director Natalia Monteleon! Later, I enjoyed a very satisfying passover meal for lunch (I'm not Jewish but my friends are). I seriously wanted to take a nap after such a large meal, but I got home at 4:00pm and still had to meet a guitar student at 5:00pm. I need to catch up on sleep, but maybe I'll go see a movie tonight before going to bed. Any suggestions? For more info about Arte Flamenco, visit their website. Wedding gig April 23, 2005 As usual, I got to the gig early intending to setup my equipment, but the DJ was kind enough to let me plug into his system so I had one less headache to deal with, yay! Thanks to Dave "dj" Rudd! 
This is the view from the stage. April 23, 2005 3:53pm From here you can see across the hall where the wedding took place. 
Weddings are private affairs so I won't say who's it was. But I wanted to show you the minimalistically beautiful interior of this church. April 23, 2005 4:14pm 
The stage is directly in front of the bride and groom's table. Notice the Mexican fiesta style decorations. April 23, 2005 4:33pm 
There are plenty of pics of Ginette already, so I gave her the camera and let her take a pic of me for change. :-) This was taken right before the first of two shows. April 23, 2005 5:16pm (photo by Ginette) During the second show, I explained the idea of jaleo and got the crowd a little more into the flamenco spirit as they shouted out Olé! Turns out that a number of the wedding guests had seen Ginette and I perform before and we still managed to acquire a few new fans. But we had other places to go, people to see :-) so we grabbed a small bite and left soon thereafter. It was a very pleasant way to start the evening. Fast foward 9 hours later, I'm saying goodnight to my friends after a spending a few hours in Adams-Morgan and Dupont Circle and took the metro home. At one point during the evening, I was having a long conversation on the phone with a close friend as I was standing in front of Cafe Citron and was interrupted quite a few times by acquaintances who just had to say hello. My friend on the phone probably thought I was rude, but i couldn't just ignore the people passing by. What can I do? 
Train's approaching. I'll be home in a few minutes, yay! April 24, 2005 1:54am 
April 24, 2005 1:54am Good morning, it's 9:34am on Sunday as I type these words and my ride just got called to tell me that today's rehearsal has been rescheduled one hour earlier for 11:00am, yikes! Anyway, I'll have pics from the rehearsal. But I gotta go! This past month or two, I've been really slacking on email, phone calls, website updates etc but I'm not going to apologize. People who know me well, know that this is not typical of me. I just sooo much need a vacation. But the good news is that I have one already planned but I won't say when or where. Just keep checking my photo diary everyday in the next few months and you will see me in a location that's very far from Washington DC. Stay tuned! One more thing: donations for my hotel and airfare are gladly accepted! :-) UPDATE: Would you believe someone just offered a donation to pay my airfare? It's true! Yay! It never hurts to ask. Venezuelan Ambassador's Residence April 22, 2005 The Venezuelan Embassy hosted a fundraiser party that included performances of salsa, tango Argentino and of course flamenco! 
Entrance to the Venezuelan ambassador's residence. April 22, 2005 10:45pm 
Party guests getting some fresh air. April 22, 2005 10:47pm 
April 22, 2005 10:48pm 
The party is going strong. The DJ's playing salsa and merengue and he's got the volume cranked to a deafening level! April 22, 2005 10:55pm 
Working out the sound settings for the guitar. I love it when I don't need to bring my sound system but only if the house system is of professional quality. April 22, 2005 11:00pm (photo by Nora Lopez) Some useful equations: In other words, it doesn't make sense to spend thousands on a high-quality guitar and be a cheapskate when buying a sound system. By the same token, performers who don't take the time to learn at least the basics about the technical side of sound are holding themselves back. C'mon my fellow musicians: the quality of your sound system is just as important as playing the guitar. Learn all you can about it! 
Opening the show with a bulerías acccompied by cajón (Jason Vera y Aragón) and palmas (Marta Chico Martín). April 22, 2005 11:08pm (photo by Nora Lopez) 
Sevillanas. April 22, 2005 11:09pm (photo by Nora Lopez) 
April 22, 2005 11:11pm (photo by Nora Lopez) We closed the show with a performance of alegrías with Jason and Marta. 
April 22, 2005 11:16pm (photo by Nora Lopez) 
Marta with Nora Lopez. April 22, 2005 11:20pm My thanks to Nora for taking pics. School show in Baltimore April 22, 2005 I had to skip poetry class this morning to do a flamenco presentation in Reisterstown, Maryland (outside of Baltimore) at the Sacred Heart School. Sometimes shows like these are held very early in the morning. But I just tell myself that it's for a good reason. We're exposing these young minds to flamenco early in life. Perhaps they will discover flamenco for themselves when they get older or maybe they won't but at least they will be somewhat aware of what it is. If nothing else, they'll learn to say flamenco and not flamingo! :-) 
April 22, 2005 12:56pm 
The stage is huge. It's almost the whole length of the gymnasium basketball court. April 22, 2005 12:59pm 
Anna Menendez and Edwin Aparicio arrange the stage to their liking. Thanks for setting up my microphone Edwin! April 22, 2005 1:00pm 
As I tested the sound, I took this pic to show you my point of view from the stage. April 22, 2005 1:15pm The speakers were located high in the ceiling so the sound was kind of weak. The AV person added a bit of bass to add body to the sound (make it sound bigger) and that seemed to solve the problem. TIP: Higher frequencies are directional but low bass frequencies, to
a reasonable degree, can be heard no matter which direction the speakers
are pointed. See? What I learned that day the professor covered acoustics in physics class in high school/college came in handy! (However, there wasn't
much we could do about the slapback effect in the gym--that's the soundperson's
lingo for an echo in a room that is so immediate and loud that it almost
interferes with the music.) Here's a good book A few minutes later, the older middle school students filed in and sat down in neatly arranged rows. We started off with Sevillanas, then Anna gave a brief introduction about flamenco before beginning her solo, a soleá. I talked for a few minutes about flamenco guitar construction, basic rasgueado techniques and touched upon its role in relation to the dancer and singer. Then Edwin performed an alegrías. We closed the show with a bulerías before we took questions from the audience. Washington Hospital Center April 21, 2005 This was a volunteer gig at a hospital which of course I love to do except it was a very long day. Fortunately, I was with friends who made my time here enjoyable. Casablanca Restaurant also donated some delicious Moroccan food and the services of their staff to this celebration of diversity. 
Nora Lopez arriving at the performance area. April 21, 2005 10:57am 
April 21, 2005 10:58am 
Jennifer Rusiecki and Miguelito. This was her first public solo performance. Congrats Jennifer! April 21, 2005 11:58am 
Matthew and his mom Cecilia Terrasa. He was shy early in the day. April 21, 2005 12:11pm 
Cecilia's not shy. She has strong stage presence that captures the attention of the audience. April 21, 2005 12:40pm 
April 21, 2005 12:41pm 
April 21, 2005 12:42pm 
April 21, 2005 12:43pm 
Cecilia and Nora. April 21, 2005 12:56pm 
By this time, Matty was less shy and starting have fun with me doing palmas when I asked him to. Yes, it's true, a three-year-old kept me entertained! :-) April 21, 2005 3:49pm 
Cecilia and Dana Shoenberg. April 21, 2005 3:51pm 
Nora and Jen. April 21, 2005 5:11pm 
April 21, 2005 5:15pm Gloria Monge's class in Reston April 20, 2005 I had the night off so my friend RJ Uebersezig invited me to join him accompanying the dance class in Reston. 
Making an important call along the way to the studio. April 20, 2005 7:15pm 
Self-portrait. Hmmm...I tan so easily. I only spent an hour-and-a-half at the pool the other day. April 20, 2005 7:30pm 
We arrive at a shopping center somewhere in Reston. April 20, 2005 7:31pm 
The Reston Conservatory. April 20, 2005 7:38pm 
This place really is brightly lit. Man, I need sunglasses here! :-) April 20, 2005 7:39pm 
Entrance to Studio C. April 20, 2005 7:40pm 
Gloria Monges already doing warm-up exercises to a CD. April 20, 2005 7:41pm 
RJ tuning up. April 20, 2005 7:42pm 
Self-portrait. The things I do so I can give myself the priviledge of being in my own famous photo diary! :-) April 20, 2005 7:43pm 
View from my seat. April 20, 2005 7:45pm People outside of the DC area write me emails telling me how much they appreciate photos like these--you know, kind of like a virtual reality simulation where you see things from the guitarist's point of view. Some cities don't have flamenco dance classes or shows and this is as close to the experience as they get. 
Gloria demonstrating the choreography for Fandangos de Huelva. April 20, 2005 8:30pm 
April 20, 2005 8:31pm 
April 20, 2005 8:32pm 
April 20, 2005 8:45pm 
Julie Ann, Miguelito, Gloria and RJ. April 20, 2005 9:09pm (photo by Michelle)
Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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