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Miguelito's Photo Diary/Blog
Cafe Bonaparte August 10, 2005 This evening we literally packed this place. In fact, when Behzad and I finished our first (of three) sets, we had to stand in front of our seats for a few minutes to wait until a path cleared for us make our way to the bar. TIP: when Cafe Bonaparte gets packed with people, it get very warm. So dress lightly. In addition to a number of large parties in this tiny tiny place, a LOT of my flamenco friends came... 
Jason Vera y Aragón, Shahram Tehranian and Linette. August 10, 2005 9:24pm 
Dancers Cecilia Terrasa, Jen Graham, Christina Conrad. August 10, 2005 9:26pm 
Behzad Habibzai and Carlton Ashton. August 10, 2005 9:31pm (photo by Jason) 
Behzad, Carlton and Miguelito. August 10, 2005 9:48pm (photo by Jason) My friend José Oretea said, "This place is good. I like this place." Being a fellow professional musician, I assumed he was talking about how well Bonaparte does business-wise. I replied, "It's an illusion. It looks like it's doing good because it's easy to fill this tiny restaurant." "No, this place has ambiente." True. Bonaparte has the right ambience for a flamenco party. Another friend said, "This place is intimate. Intimacy is good." Juan Martín recommended that two of his coworker friends come to my show... 
Miguelito with Jaya and Gina. August 10, 2005 10:16pm (photo by Omar) 
Jen, Christina, Anna Menendez, Soheila Nassiri and Cecilia. August 10, 2005 10:27pm (photo by Omar) 
Behzad Habibzai, Carlton Ashton and Miguelito. August 10, 2005 10:52pm (photo by Omar) The best part of the evening is when we invite some of our friends to join us onstage. We got Jose Oretea to sing some tangos. 
Jose. August 10, 2005 10:58pm (photo by Omar) We also got Richard Marlow to play guitar too... 
Richard, Behzad, Jose, Miguelito and Carlton. August 10, 2005 10:59pm (photo by Omar) 
Richard, Behzad and Jose. August 10, 2005 11:00pm (photo by Omar) 
Richard, Behzad, Jose, Miguelito and Carlton. August 10, 2005 10:59pm (photo by Omar) 
August 10, 2005 11:00pm (photo by Omar) 
August 10, 2005 11:01pm (photo by Omar) 
By this time, our friends occupied all the tables nearest to the "stage." August 10, 2005 11:01pm (photo by Omar) 
Soheila got very inspired. August 10, 2005 11:01pm (photo by Omar)  August 10, 2005 11:01pm (photo by Omar) 
August 10, 2005 11:09pm (photo by Omar) Another fun night at Cafe Bonaparte comes to an end. 
August 10, 2005 11:41pm The next show will be on Wednesday August 24, 2005. Call 202-333-8830 to make your reservation. Cafe Citron August 8, 2005 Didn't get any pics from the show, but here are a few from afterwards. Cajón player Jason Vera y Aragón ran through the pouring rain and showed up in time to join us onstage for the first show. Thanks Jason! It adds so much to the show to have cajón. 
Dancer Sara Jerez and Jason Vera y Aragón. August 8, 2005 10:16pm It took a moment for me to remember this guy, but Eddie is a fellow guitarist who studies in Fresno, California with the Juan Serrano as well as classical guitarist Corey Whitehead. Eddie's been coming here for the past two summers. Hopefully I'll get him to play alongside me someday. 
Eddie and Sandra. August 8, 2005 10:16pm Our good friend Jose Oretea showed up and sang some tangos at the end of the second set. 
Jose and Gerard. August 8, 2005 10:17pm Another old friend showed up: Victoriano Martin, former owner of El Rincon Español where I used to perform eight years ago with dancer Micaela Moreno. He currently owns the Sangría Cafe at 3636 16th St NW DC inside the Woodner apartment building. 
Victor Martin and Miguelito. What's with the goofy open mouth? :-) Oh well, I don't see Victor that often, so I'll publish this pic anyway. August 8, 2005 10:44pm Not sure what this dish is called. I saw Jason eating it and it looked good so I just told the bartender Oda, "Gimme the same thing." It has shrimp, spicy sausage, bell peppers, onions and rice. Very satisfying home-style cooking. Yummy! 
August 8, 2005 11:01pm Cafe Citron features live flamenco every Monday at 8pm and 9pm. Call 202-530-8844. Sunday with Miguelito August 7, 2005 I've been slacking a bit on the photo diary the past couple of days so here's one just so you can't say I'm completely slackin' off. :-) On Sunday, I visited my parents' house in Stafford, Virginia and enjoyed a belated birthday dinner complete with steamed crabs! (someone's been reading my blog and knows what I like!) Yum! 
August 7, 2005 6:20pm After stuffing myself completely, I took a break and sat on the deck in the back and enjoyed some fresh air while squeezing in a little flamenco.  August 7, 2005 8:29pm My mom doesn't haven't broadband so when everyone else went to bed at a decent hour, I decided to forego my usual late night surfing (once you get used to a fast connection, dialup can be annoying). I rummaged through her CD collection and found some rumbas that I listened to all night long--I need some new material for my rumba gigs since I've got two of them now (Cafe Bonaparte and Turcuisine). Saturday with Miguelito August 6, 2005 We used to play for the 11:00am class at ADI, but it turned into a Sevillanas workshop that seems to work better with a recording than with live guitar. So with the extra free time, guitarist Marty Dow got into the habit of enjoying breakfast at the nearby Argentine cafe called El Patio before heading over to ADI at noon in time for dance class on Saturdays. I usually opted to sleep in a l little longer instead. 
Marty at one of the outdoor tables of El Patio. August 6, 2005 10:52am 
August 6, 2005 10:53am This time though, I got up early enough to join Marty for some breakfast Argentine style. While he went inside to order the food, I remained outside to watch our guitars and take in the beautiful scenery. It kinda reminded me of having breakfast in Plaza Mayor in Madrid. 
View from my seat as I waited for the food. August 6, 2005 10:57am Thirteen minutes later, breakfast arrived. The omelette included french fries, pieces of ham and cheese (Can't remember the name. Any Argentinians out there that can tell me what it's called?) It was served with café cortado and a glass of seltzer water. Yummy! 
August 6, 2005 11:10am 
August 6, 2005 11:10am 
Yours truly warming up. August 6, 2005 11:33am (photo by Marty) 
August 6, 2005 11:35am (photo by Marty) Anna Menendez's class at American Dance Institute was starting soon, so we packed up and drove a few blocks away to the studio. 
August 6, 2005 11:50am 
Waiting for the class to get out. August 6, 2005 11:53am 
The 11:00am Sevillanas class. August 6, 2005 11:54am I was too busy playing guitar to take pics but I managed to find a moment to take a quick self-portrait and managed to cut my head out of the pic. :-) Nice shirt, huh? 
August 6, 2005 1:12pm Class got out at around 2:30pm and then Marty and I got some lunch before driving down Wisconsin Ave to Strathmore in time for Estela Velez's 4:30pm class. This place has the best looking facility I have ever seen and I've been to more dance studios than anyone! 
The studio on the 4th floor. August 6, 2005 4:33pm Remember that scene in Carlos Saura's Carmen The class was working on a special choreography for Sevillanas... 
Estela and Aref. August 6, 2005 4:57pm 
August 6, 2005 4:58pm Later the classed moved on to a seguiriyas with canes. 
Self-portrait in the mirror. August 6, 2005 6:06pm 
August 6, 2005 6:09pm Afterwards I headed back towards Arlington, grabbed a quick bite for dinner and got ready to go out for a couple of birthday parties for tonight. First stop was Agua Ardiente at 24th and M St. 
August 6, 2005 10:39pm I've always visited Agua Ardiente on Wednesdays nights when Duende Camarón performed here. (Now Torcuato performs here Monday through Wednesday.) So this was my first time to come on a Saturday night. 
August 6, 2005 10:40pm It was Monica Serrano's birthday. You may recognize her from the Andalucía. She's the manager there. 
I've got a hottie for a boss! :-) Happy birthday, Monica! August 6, 2005 11:06pm (photo by Ari) This was just the first of two birthday parties, so I said goodnight to Monica and her friends and headed towards Dupont Circle to catch the metro to Friendship Heights where the other party was already in progress at Bambule. Of course, I had to pass by Cafe Citron along the way to see if any friends were hanging out. I ran into Cafe Citron manager Nancy Medina as she was just leaving Citron. 
No line for me. I'm a VIP here at Citron--it's just one of the benefits of being a performer there. :-) August 6, 2005 11:45pm 
August 6, 2005 11:46pm I followed Nancy next door to a bar called "Big Hunt" where her boyfriend Maynold Moreno was hanging out. 
The cluttered eclectic interior of Big Hunt. August 6, 2005 11:48pm 
Maynold, Nancy and Miguelito. August 6, 2005 11:50pm It's been a long time since I last hung out with Maynold and Nancy, so I stayed for a while and had a few drinks and before I knew it, it was too late for me to catch the other party. The weather was actually very pleasant so I walked home through Georgetown. 
August 7, 2005 2:17am I made it home a little after 2:00am and got to work immediately on my photo diary. My place is kind of a mess cuz it's being remodeled so I got stacks of books and clothes everywhere. The lobster thing in the background was a present from a friend to remind me of my recent trip to Maine. I'm going to bed early for a change, so I can get up early and practice guitar all day--I'm feeling especially inspired this week. This burst of inspiration started last Sunday when I was playing for Anna Menendez's class at DC Dance Collective. Not to get too mystical, but there's something about the energy of the dancers in that class that somehow rubbed off on me. Or maybe the inspiration from my recent trip to Spain is coming to the surface. Whatever! :-P Anyway, I'm going to try to make it to DC Dance Collective whenever I can. Casablanca August 5, 2005 I normally play at Casablanca two to three Fridays a month, but lately I've been getting gigs elsewhere. So it's been awhile since my last performance here. 
August 5, 2005 7:29pm The normal sequence is flamenco show followed by belly dance show and then close with another flamenco show. This week's belly dancer was Sultana. (Checkout her website.) 
August 5, 2005 8:36pm 
August 5, 2005 8:37pm The flamenco dancers this week were Marta Chico Martín and Edwin Aparicio (sorry no pics). Here are a couple of random pics from after the show: 
Nora López and Miguelito. August 5, 2005 10:26pm 
Miguelito and Marta Chico Martín. August 5, 2005 10:32pm 
Waitress Mila and Miguelito. August 5, 2005 10:45pm Throughout the evening we were trying to figure out what country Mila is from. As we left, we asked her and was surprised to learn that she's from Russia. So of course, I started putting my two years of Russian in college to use. We went to Las Tapas for awhile and I decided to leave early for a change. So I caught the train and made it home after 1:00am. 
August 6, 2005 12:41am 
August 6, 2005 12:43am
Photos taken with the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital Camera
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where Antonio Gades has a remote for the curtains of his massive dance studio? It's the same thing here. Very cool!
