DCFLAMENCO - Flamenco in Washington DC

Miguelito's Photo Diary/Blog

May 7, 2005 - May 10, 2005

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Arte Flamenco at Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore May 7, 2005
Furia Flamenca in front of Capitol May 8, 2005
Chi-Cha Lounge May 8, 2005
Cafe Citron May 9, 2005
Philadelphia Feria de Sevilla May 7-8, 2005
Red Maple in Baltimore May 10, 2005

Red Maple in Baltimore May 10, 2005

Guitarist Richard Marlow playing a solo. May 10, 2005 8:15pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

Dancer Tamara Sol Flys in Sevillanas. May 10, 2005 8:19pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

On the right is Javier Bustamante. May 10, 2005 8:28pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

On the left is guest singer José Oretea. May 10, 2005 8:33pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

May 10, 2005 9:20pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

José and Richard playing a rumba. May 10, 2005 9:37pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

May 10, 2005 9:38pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

May 10, 2005 9:39pm (photo courtesy of Miriam)

View of the room. Actually this place was packed with people, but Tamara didn't get around to taking this pic until the end of the night. May 10, 2005 11:38pm (photo courtesy of Tamara)

Red Maple (in Baltimore) features a live flamenco show every Tuesday starting at 8:00pm.

Philadelphia Feria de Sevilla May 7-8, 2005

I wasn't able to go this time, but some of my friends who did go sent me photos. Thanks to Paul Fradin and Ayhan Ozdag!

Fiesta Flamenca dancers at Annenberg Center. May 7, 2005 5:14pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Guitarist Juana Martín. May 7, 2005 5:15pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 7, 2005 5:58pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Ayhan writes: "Flamenco del Encuentro & Pasion de Arte at Annenberg Center. It was a great show. Was showing Arab heritage to flamenco. Beside guitar (Tito Rubio) also Roger Mgrdichian was playing a turkish instrument oud." May 7, 2005 7:59pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 7, 2005 9:23pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 11:43am (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 11:45am (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 12:59pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Ayhan writes: "I was volunteer to set the tents and tables. The other person is Michael Esposito (President of Raices Culturales Latino Americanas) www.raicesculturales.org" May 8, 2005 1:03pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Ayhan writes: "Bedriye with Antonio Hidalgo (From Córdoba. He was the star of last night's show. Incredible dancer)"May 8, 2005 2:03pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Hidalgo dancing sevillanas. May 8, 2005 2:57pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 2:57pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

La Caseta de Fiesta Flamenco Dancers. May 8, 2005 3:08pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 4:17pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Karen Araujo, Paul Fradin and Marta Chico Martín. May 8, 2005 4:19pm (photo courtesy of Paul Fradin)

May 8, 2005 5:00pm (photo courtesy of Paul Fradin)

May 8, 2005 5:01pm (photo courtesy of Paul Fradin)

May 8, 2005 6:06pm (photo courtesy of Paul Fradin)

May 8, 2005 6:06pm (photo courtesy of Paul Fradin)

Here is a pic of Marta and Karen from five years ago at the Washington Folk Festival.

Anna Menendez taking a bow. May 8, 2005 7:43pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Edwin Aparicio, Carmela Greco, Peter Basil, Alfonso Cid, Richard Marlow and Anna Menendez. May 8, 2005 7:43pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

May 8, 2005 7:44pm (photo courtesy of Ayhan Ozdag)

Checkout the photos from last year's Philadelphia Feria.

Cafe Citron May 9, 2005

Walking up Connecticut Ave to Cafe Citron. May 9, 2005 6:45pm

The days are getting longer. It's almost 7pm and it looks like midday sunlight. May 9, 2005 6:49pm

An hour-and-a-half later, the first show began.

Mariya and Sara Jerez dancing Sevillanas accompanied by Jason Vera y Aragon, Miguelito and Gerard Moreno. May 9, 2005 8:24pm (photo by Juan Delgado)

May 9, 2005 8:45pm (photo by Juan Delgado)

Mariya and Juan Delgado. May 9, 2005 9:00pm

Steve Svoboda and Gerard. May 9, 2005 9:01pm

Sara and Jason. May 9, 2005 9:01pm

Guitarist Steve Svoboda and Courtney with Steve's mom, Barbara. May 9, 2005 9:19pm

Second set opening up with Sevillanas. May 9, 2005 9:26pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:30pm (photo by Niko)

Guajiras. May 9, 2005 9:36pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:37pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:38pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:39pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:40pm (photo by Niko)

May 9, 2005 9:41pm (photo by Niko)

Guitarist Antonio Ubiera with his relatives from Dominican Republic: (from left) Rhina, another Rhina and Yvonne. May 9, 2005 9:58pm

José Oretea, Maggie, Madeline, and Juan Delgado. May 9, 2005 10:11pm

Jason, Mariya and Keith. May 9, 2005 10:45pm

Jose, Maggie and Miguelito. May 9, 2005 10:48pm

This place is packed for a Monday. There was a college grad party downstairs. I can't say exactly how many were here for the flamenco. I counted 20 friends in the audience this evening. Assuming they each spent $15 on food and drinks, you can say we brought in at least $300 worth of business! May 9, 2005 11:04pm

After checking out Club Ozio, my friends and I decided to go checkout Gazuza where another friend of mine was hanging out. We're doing our part to support DC nightlife! :-) May 9, 2005 11:48pm

Ugh...Gazuza was pretty dead. Oh well, what can you expect on a Monday night? :-) May 9, 2005 11:54pm

Chi-Cha Lounge May 8, 2005

After spending time with Mom, I convinced some friends to go with me to Georgetown Harbour. It was a beautiful night as you can see here:

View of the Key Bridge from the Georgetown waterfront. May 8, 2005 8:43pm

This is the view from the top of the steps next to Edy's ice cream. Weather was warm enough to stay out and enjoy the view. May 8, 2005 8:50pm

Uh-oh I'm in a reminiscing mood: of course, this is a beautiful place, and I've always been drawn to waterfronts...I can remember quite a few times when I was in college at Cal State Fullerton. If I was having a particularly stressful day, I'd skip class and drive out to Newport Beach and walk on the beach for an hour, breathe the fresh air and let the sound of the surf wash away my tensions. Then I'd get back in the car, drive back to school completely refreshed. Ahhh! I already feel energized just imagining it! I'd be smiling, my hair would be all wind-blown and I'd have a barely noticeable scent of beach saltiness--my student friends would notice this and instantly knew where I'd been. "Beach kind of day, huh Mike?" :-)

Anyway, back to the present: walking back to M St in Georgetown. I had to meet my photographer friend Niko around 9pm, so I said goodnight to my friends and walked to Dupont Circle to meet him before grabbing a cab to Chi-Cha Lounge. May 8, 2005 8:57pm

We arrived around 9:45pm and the musicians were still setting up, so Niko ordered some food while I chatted with some old friends that just happened to be there too. I wasn't too surprised to see my friend Aru--this is one of her favorite hangouts.

Eugene, Aru and yours truly. You all know Aru--she's a frequent supporter of the show here at Chi-Cha. Eugene is a very close friend of hers visiting for a few days from Ukraine. May 8, 2005 11:35pm

José Oretea, Miguelito, Aru, Till and Dennis. The two guys on the right are new residents at the International Student House--the place where I performed back in February at the invitation of ISH event organizer Aru. I think she was planning to leave already, but when Till and Dennis walked in she decided a while longer. May 8, 2005 11:43pm

I have pics of my friends dancing, chilling out on the couches, hanging out at the bar etc etc but those pics weren't that great. Trust me though, we all had a good time.

José and Cesar Oretea and Kivanch Oner. May 9, 2005 12:31am

At the bar, Miguelito, Ana and Carlton. You may remember that we had a late night jam session in the metro in July 2004. May 9, 2005 1:08am

Kivanch has a website, but it's mostly in Turkish. May 9, 2005 1:29am

May 9, 2005 1:40am

José and Kivanch. May 9, 2005 1:54am

Furia Flamenca in front of Capitol May 8, 2005

Thanks to my friend Karina Valverde for sending me these pics. She writes:

"Some general comments--a great performance, definitely had the audience engaged. The ladies were lovely--graceful arms as you'll see. There couldn't be a better day to dance on the mall and to see it--the weather was absolutely gorgeous! You'll see in the pictures how bright and sunny it was. The performance was all the more beautiful to watch with the sunlight enhancing the bright colors of the dresses, the hair, the makeup--visually appealing."

"The group started with a Farucca. Torcuato was the guitarist."

May 8, 2005 (photo by Karina Valverde)

For more information about Furia Flamenca, visit their website.

Arte Flamenco at Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore May 7, 2005

I didn't go out last night cuz I wanted to save up money for my vacation, but I also wanted to get enough rest for the long day with Arte Flamenco. So I got up early, met my ride and arrived at the studio in Laurel, Maryland around 1:00pm.

While the dancers were running through the choreography, the musicians hung out in the kitchen to work out some musical details while enjoying wine, bread, cheese, olives etc.

Javier Bustamante and Henry Jova. May 7, 2005 1:13pm

Miguelito (photo by Javier) May 7, 2005 1:27pm

May 7, 2005 1:42pm

Around 2:00pm, Natalia called us musicians in to work with the dancers. I was playing guitar the whole time, so I only managed a few quick candid shots:

May 7, 2005 2:19pm

May 7, 2005 2:20pm

That's me...proof that I was there! :-) May 7, 2005 2:31pm

We left the studio promptly at 3:00pm so that we could arrive at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore in time for our tech rehearsal.

The Hippodrome Theatre. May 7, 2005 3:33pm

The marquee announcing our concert. May 7, 2005 3:35pm

Dancers Pam and Alex entering through the stage door. May 7, 2005 3:36pm

Now this is a real dressing room! Plenty of space! May 7, 2005 3:41pm

We quickly got dressed and warmed up so we could be ready for the tech rehearsal at 4:00pm sharp. We were one out of ten dance companies slated for 15 minutes of tech time so we couldn't afford to be late.

TIP: a friend of mine once told me that in showbiz when you get there early, you're on time. If you get there on time, you're late. In other words, if the stage manager says that tech is at 4:00pm, you must arrive BEFORE 4:00pm.

In the stage wings waiting for the dance company ahead of us to finish up their tech. May 7, 2005 3:55pm

View of the stage from the wings. May 7, 2005 3:56pm

Guitarist Quique. May 7, 2005 3:59pm

View from my seat as they try out the different light gels. This is one of those grand style theaters that was designed and built in the 1850's. It was renovated in the 1990's. It seats 2,280 people and for the Dance Baltimore show, it was sold out! May 7, 2005 4:14pm

May 7, 2005 4:18pm

Javier and Henry. May 7, 2005 4:19pm

May 7, 2005 4:20pm

After the tech, we went back to the dressing room to polish up our performance before going out for some fresh air.

May 7, 2005 4:41pm

May 7, 2005 4:50pm

May 7, 2005 4:51pm

May 7, 2005 4:52pm

May 7, 2005 4:53pm

May 7, 2005 4:54pm

Shortly after 5:00pm, we went down the street to the Lexington Market and enjoyed a snack of fresh oysters, crab cakes etc. Then we split up with some going back to the dressing room early. It was a beautiful evening, so I insisted that the rest of us find an outdoor patio at a bar or restaurant to hang out for awhile.

This bar is next to Luna del Sea restaurant where I used to perform last year. It was kind of strange to be hearing the sports talk radio giving us live coverage of the Orioles game. Why? Because from where we were sitting we could see Camden Yards stadium where the game was taking place. May 7, 2005 6:19pm

At 6:45pm, we headed back towards the theatre.

Back in costume and full makeup. We just chilled out for while. We were slated to go on towards the end of the program so we had plenty of time. May 7, 2005 8:20pm

Quique pulled out his guitar. I joined in and shortly after that an intense jam session began. May 7, 2005 8:20pm

May 7, 2005 8:21pm

We were sharing the dressing room with the dance group Gaurdian which brings together artists skilled in African, Lindy Hop, Locking, Breaking, Popping, Baltimore Club, House and Hip Hop.

A number of the members of Guardian sat on the floor and watched with great interest and fascination as Quique and I jammed por bulerias. Next they put on a CD with some flamenco-esque rhythm which Quique and I figured out by ear and started jamming on it. Then the flamenco/break dance jam session began...

May 7, 2005 8:31pm (photo by Natalia Monteleon

I imagine that the Guardian dancers didn't know anything about flamenco, but they were listening intently to our music and responding to it!

Some of their breakdance moves were breathtaking! It was a like a bulerias jam session where each dancer does a short phrase, finishes and another dancer enters. It just got better and better. We were having so much fun, I almost didn't care if we did our performance onstage anymore.

May 7, 2005 8:40pm (photo by Natalia Monteleon)

May 7, 2005 8:51pm (photo by Natalia Monteleon)

May 7, 2005 8:52pm (photo by Natalia Monteleon)

It's showtime! The dancers and musicians head for the stage. May 7, 2005 9:27pm

Our performance went very well and although I do this for the art of flamenco, the high I get from the applause never gets old. And this evening it was especially exhilarating with more than 2000 people in the audience!

About 40 minutes later, all the dance companies got onstage for the "community" bow.

May 7, 2005 10:10pm

After a few acknowledgments, the music was cued and ALL the dancers onstage began to dance for the grand finale. There were probably more than 100 costumed dancers from all ages, walks of life and ethnic backgrounds. It was a beautiful sight.

With the lights and loud music, it was like being in a dance club, but better!

May 7, 2005 10:11pm

Instead of the usual after concert tradition of going out to a nearby bar or restaurant, we headed back to Natalia's house for bread, wine, cheese, olives etc and finished off the evening on relaxed, mellow note. It was best this way because we were all very tired, but still content. Congrats to the Arte Flamenco company on a job well done.

Dancer Natalia Cuesta sent me a few photos from her camera:

May 7, 2005 (photo courtesy of Natalia Cuesta)

From left: Julie, Miguelito, Sarah, Javier, Fausti, Quique, Alex, Pam and Natalia C. May 7, 2005 (photo courtesy of Natalia Cuesta)

Back row from left: Julie, Natalia C, Sarah, Henry, Natalia M, Fausti, Alex and Pam. Front row: Miguelito and Quique. May 7, 2005 (photo courtesy of Natalia Cuesta)

For more info on the Arte Flamenco company, visit their website.

I crashed at a friend's house on Capitol Hill, got up early and was happy to see clear blue skies and pleasantly cool weather. Some of my friends think I'm crazy, but I walked all the way back to Rosslyn. Of course I took some pics along the way, and I'll publish those when I get home later tonight. It's around 3:00pm now and I'm off to meet mom for Mother's Day. (I hope someone will send me pics from today's Philly Feria)

Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera

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