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Miguelito's Photo Diary/BlogJuly 16, 2005 - July 21, 2005
Metro Celebrity July 21, 2005 Cool thing about being the DC area's busiest flamenco performer is that you get to meet a lot of people. And the cool thing about having a very popular flamenco website is that you meet a lot of people...online. What's even cooler is meeting one of these online people in person! This evening I was on the red line on the way to my gig in Rockville. When the train stopped at Dupont Circle I noticed this cute girl getting on and glanced at her briefly before going back to reading my book. The doors closed and the train started moving again. Just as I was getting into my book again, I heard someone say "You're Miguelito, aren't you?" 
Red line going to Shady Grove. July 21, 2005 6:15pm I looked up and it was that girl! "Yes, that's me. Where do I know you from?" She went on to explain how she read my post a few months ago on a message board related to Spanish culture, clicked on my profile, visited my website, found out about the DC Feria and saw me perform. In the few minutes we conversed, I got to know a bit about her before she got off a few stops later. During our little chat, she referred to me as a "semi-celebrity" and said that I should remember the "little people" when I get famous someday. :-) Yeah, that boosted my ego for the evening. It felt good. It was cool to finally put a face with the screen name that I had known for months. But sometimes I wonder if people know me more for my website than my work as a local flamenco performer. Whatever. I should just be happy to be doing what I love to do and being in a position to influence lots of people in a very positive way. Anyway, if you do see me on the metro, walking the streets, at the store, wherever, don't be afraid to say hello. I'd love to meet you! It's 1:25am on Friday as I type these words. I'm leaving for Maine at 6:00am, so I better get some sleep.(I'll be performing at the Harpswell Festival on Sunday.) Goodnight! Cafe Bonaparte/Aguardiente July 20, 2005 It's always a good time when we have friends in the audience and this evening was especially good cuz a LOT of fellow flamencos showed up! 
Behzad Habibzai and Miguelito. July 20, 2005 9:17pm (photo by Nabil) 
Carlton Ashton and Miguelito. July 20, 2005 9:41pm (photo by Juan Martín) 
Behzad, Carlton and Miguelito. July 20, 2005 9:41pm (photo by Juan Martín) 
July 20, 2005 9:42pm (photo by Juan Martín) 
Employees of Cafe Bonaparte. This evening was the second anniversary of the restaurant. Congrats! July 20, 2005 10:05pm (photo by Juan Martín) 
Miguelito and Michelle. July 20, 2005 10:23pm (photo by Juan Martín) My friend José just came back from a long weekend in Atlanta where he partied with friends and family. After driving all day long, he still came out and partied with us! 
José Oretea. July 20, 2005 10:49pm (photo by Juan Martín) 
July 20, 2005 10:52pm (photo by Juan Martín) So many beautiful dancers this evening. Unfortunately, here at Cafe Bonaparte, there's so little space for them to dance. 
Michelle, Joana, Mallory, Brigitta, Anna and Cecilia. July 20, 2005 11:07pm Cajón player De Kai came down from Baltimore for the evening to perform with Ramin and Anna at Las Tapas and afterwards they stopped by Cafe Bonaparte to say hello. Unfortunately, when they arrived, we had just finished our show. 
Behzad and De Kai. July 20, 2005 11:09pm 
José, Ramin Rad, Miguelito and Juan. July 20, 2005 11:09pm (photo by Cecilia) 
Ramin, Miguelito, De Kai and Behzad. July 20, 2005 11:10pm (photo by Cecilia) Ramin is usually the first one to pull out the guitar and get the party started. What palo do you think he's playing? 
Ramin, De Kai and Behzad. July 20, 2005 11:19pm 
In the meantime, through the window, I see José, Juan and Anna outside planning where we're going to continue the party. July 20, 2005 11:22pm Turns out we're going to Aguardiente where guitarist Torcuato Zamora plays from around 8pm. This is becoming our Wednesday night ritual. 
Anna and Manuel dancing Sevillanas. July 21, 2005 12:07am 
July 21, 2005 12:08am 
This is a cool shot. July 21, 2005 12:11am 
July 21, 2005 12:13am This beautiful girl was standing by the bar, so I took her by the hand and pulled her into this picture with Torcuato and De Kai. 
Torcuato, Keerthi and De Kai. July 21, 2005 12:19am It turns out that Keerthi loves flamenco anyway and will soon be taking guitar lessons. She already plays a little bit but wants so much to learn flamenco. 
José gets the party started again with some tangos. July 21, 2005 1:06am 
De Kai and yours truly join in. July 21, 2005 1:15am (photo by Ramin) 
It's closing time. Party's over. Time to go home. Another flamenco-filled Wednesday comes to an end. July 21, 2005 2:06am As for De Kai, he had to catch a 3:00am train back to Baltimore. Thanks for partying with us! Las Tapas July 19, 2005 It's been a good day. I finished reading yet another title on my summer reading list. On my way to Cafe Citron this afternoon (to pick up my sound system), I had the pleasure of running into a new friend I had met Monday night between shows. And...I'm another day closer to my weekend getaway to Maine! I leave on Friday morning. Yay! Anyway, this evening I got to work with a new dancer. Well, not really a "new" dancer, but someone that I don't perform with very often. It was Christina Conrad. The other dancer was the Tuesday night regular, Anna Menendez. The cool thing is that there was no rehearsal which meant I had to really pay attention to Christina's body language to know where she was going choreography-wise. By the same token, since Christina wasn't familiar with my music, I had to be clear with my phrasing, dynamics and harmonic resolutions so that it was clear to her when I was finished with my falsetas. In other words, we had to really communicate--onstage and in real-time. This is exciting stuff!  Miguelito walking to the King St metro. July 19, 2005 10:59pm (photo by Y.T.) We had a special friend in the audience, someone who I haven't seen for a long time. It was Paul Bruhns, a fellow student of the guitar and flamenco aficionado. Obviously, I didn't get around to asking someone to take pics for me during the show. So I hope you'll settle for these pics of me taken by my friend Y.T. :-) The only bad thing (and it's really very minor) today was that the battery in my wireless mouse ran out. So I had to do all the photo and webpage editing just with the keyboard! It's 1:03am on Wednesday as I type these words. Time for me to get back to my late night summer reading. Goodnight! Cafe Citron July 18, 2005 I got to Citron a little before 4pm to meet Ginette to rehearse (sorry no pics). Normally we're able to book a daytime slot at Joy of Motion or DC Dance Collective but both places had dance camp for kids all day long. Citron has wood floors that are perfect for flamenco anyway--not to mention air-conditioning, numerous electric fans and cool drinks (of water of course!). It was a good rehearsal cuz we had fun and got a lot done in a short amount of time. We were just putting the final touches on the choreographies in preparation for our upcoming Sunday performance at the Harpswell Festival in Maine. Here is today's food pic. Grabbed a bite at nearby Teaism and ordered my favorite bento box which comes with chilled baked teriyaki salmon, cucumber-ginger salad, rice and edamame. Yummy! 
I gotta eat healthy cuz for lots of good reasons including the fact that us full-time flamencos don't get sick leave! :-) July 18, 2005 5:21pm A few hours later, I'm onstage doing the first set. 
Yours truly playing an introduction to Sevillanas to open the show. July 18, 2005 8:27pm (photo by Keith) 
Mariya Kostystka. July 18, 2005 8:29pm (photo by Keith) 
July 18, 2005 8:29pm (photo by Keith) 
Nice profile shot of Gerard Moreno as he sings the opening for tientos. July 18, 2005 8:36pm (photo by Keith)  July 18, 2005 8:37pm 
Nicole Totah and Juan Martín. July 18, 2005 9:27pm 
Lara and Miguelito. July 18, 2005 9:28pm Lara has taken some flamenco classes at the Atlas branch of Joy of Motion studios and hopes to return to Spain soon and continue her studies. 
Lara and friends. July 18, 2005 9:43pm 
Mariya and Nicole dancing Sevillanas. July 18, 2005 9:45pm (photo by Lara) 
July 18, 2005 9:46pm (photo by Lara) 
July 18, 2005 9:48pm (photo by Keith) Cafe Citron has its flamenco night every Monday at 8pm and 9pm. If you want a table by the stage, I highly recommend that you make a reservation. Call 202-530-8844. Joy of Motion/DC Dance Collective July 17, 2005 The past week or so I've been feeling very inspired, and just had to get my fix of flamenco for today so like a flamenco freak, I basically spent the whole day in dance classes from 1:30pm until 7:00pm! I saw quite a few dancer friends whom I haven't seen in a very long time. And I wasn't the only one studio-hopping. There were at least two dancer friends of mine that were doing the same thing. You know who you are! :-) First stop: Estela Velez's performance class at Joy of Motion where her students were working on a choreography for Guajiras. 
Estela Velez. July 17, 2005 2:01pm 
Self-portrait. July 17, 2005 2:24pm 
July 17, 2005 2:53pm 
July 17, 2005 2:58pm Next stop: DC Dance Collective where Anna Menendez's Beginner II/Advanced Beginner class worked on escobilla leading up to bulerías de Cádiz. 
July 17, 2005 3:52pm I got quite a workout at DC Dance Collective playing almost continuously for three hours and without an amplifier. But I do not recommend that beginning accompanists play for dancers for three hours straight--you can easily injure your hands if you're not careful. I can do it cuz I play for dancers just about everyday. 
Anna Menendez teaching alegrías. July 17, 2005 5:19pm If your guitar is naturally loud, great. But never play hard to the point of straining your muscles. If you're guitar is not that loud or if your strumming hand is not that strong yet, play in a manner that is comfortable and make the dancers work harder to listen to you--they need the ear training anyway. 
July 17, 2005 5:26pm I volunteered my services today because I was in an especially inspired mood to play for dancers. If you're a beginning accompanist and they pay you to play, great. If not, don't make a big deal about it. You're getting a lesson that no guitar teacher can ever give you: experience in accompanying dancers. You never really learn to accompany dancers with confidence until the day comes when you are the only guitarist in the class and you are put on-the-spot to come up with the music. Anyway, it's good for the students to have live guitar accompaniment occasionally, if not all the time. Why? Some of these dance students might someday go on to become performers and they will need to become accustomed to live accompaniment which is never played exactly the same way twice. 
Anna teaching soleá por bulerías to her Advanced Beginner/Intermediate class. July 17, 2005 6:22pm I know this might be obvious already but I should point out that the bad thing about a CD is that it gives the dance student a false sense of confidence. Why? Being able to dance perfectly with a CD does not mean a dancer can automatically dance perfectly with live guitar. Nine times out of ten, it doesn't work that way. Trust me. I've performed with dance students who made the mistake of thinking they could perform with live guitar after training only with a CD. The only way to learn to work with a guitarist is to just get out there and do it and learn from your mistakes. If you are fortunate to have a live guitarist in your class, pay extra attention to the music and take advantage of the experience. If you have the chance to practice one-on-one with a guitarist, take advantage of the opportunity. We flamenco guitarists spend years playing for dance classes learning the body language of dancers so that we can create the appropriate music on-the-spot. With experience, a dancer can learn to elicit the music he/she wants from an experienced guitarist purely through clear and confident body language. As a dancer, think of yourself like a conductor and your job is to communicate to your orchestra (the guitarist) what you want purely through your baton (your body). You should never have to say to an experienced guitarist, "OK, when I do this movement, play a llamada." or "Play faster here." or "Play softer here." etc. You're a dancer. Communicate with your body! 
July 17, 2005 6:48pm In a few situations, there are certain falsetas and chord sequences associated with certain palos, but for the most part, the competent guitarist can play just about anything he/she wants as long as it inspires and complements the dancing and singing. The important thing is that the dancer be able to hear the underlying compás in the music regardless of what melodies or rhythmic variations the guitarist decides to play. Trust me, this is a good thing. There will come a time when you, the dancer, will forget a section of choreography and you'll jump ahead to another section or make up choreography on-the-spot. In this situation, the experienced flamenco guitarist will spontaneously come up with the appropriate music as long as you are clear and confident in your body language. This is another skill altogether that comes with experience! End of lecture. :-) Another fun flamenco-filled weekend comes to a close. Life is good! Pink Flamenco July 16, 2005 I had the day off from playing for dance classes at American Dance Institute, but Ginette wanted to get together and rehearse--which is cool cuz I needed my daily dose of flamenco activity anyway. :-) Locals know that Saturday is a difficult day to find an available dance studio. So fortunately I have access to one in Chevy Chase very close to the metro. I just made one phone call to confirm availability and we were set! You may remember almost two years ago, when my friend Sandra Bishop first started remodeling this space which she lovingly calls the Pink Flamenco. And look at it now...  July 16, 2005 3:27pm It was Sandra's dream to create an arts space/residence very much like the Blagden Alley ArtScience Warehouse from more than 10 years ago. And now it's a reality. Yours truly will be moving in! I've known Sandra for more than 14 years. She's an artist herself: singer, dancer, actress, videographer etc. We first started performing together when we were in the Vienna-based flamenco group Danza del Río. Remember the scene in Carlos Saura's film version of Carmen where Antonio Gades has a bedroom next to an enormous dance studio? Well, in the Pink Flamenco, my future bedroom will be behind the mirror of the dance studio. OK so it's not quite as grand as Antonio Gades' space, but it's still very cool. In the kitchen, there's a wall of photos documenting the people who have graced this house with their artistic presence. :)  July 16, 2005 3:28pm Hmmm...I wonder who these people are? :-) 
These photos are from November 2003. July 16, 2005 3:28pm Ginette and I were rehearsing today for our upcoming performance in Harpswell, Maine. I was about to head out the door earlier this evening, then the thunder and rain came down pretty hard. (It's 9:39pm on Saturday as I type these words.) Rain has never prevented me from going out on a Saturday night. But then again, maybe it's a sign from above telling me to stay home and save some cash for my weekend trip to Maine (July 22nd through the 25th). It'll be my first time to visit Maine but I'm not alone. I'll have the pleasure of performing with dancer Ginette Perea and guitarist/percussionist Behzad Habibzai at the Harpswell Festival. Plus, I'm looking forward to enjoying some Maine lobster (I'll have pics of course), maybe visit the famous Portand Headlight and any other cool things that my friends might suggest. OK, the rain seems to have stopped, yay! It's 9:56pm and it's time to go out!
Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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