Inside Casa Feliz, I hear feet stomping and hot Spanish music. People were seated in the intricate old wooden chairs facing the dancers who were in front of a bay window facing the back. A large sheet of plywood had been dropped on top of the Casa’s floor boards. It was a full house, so I decided to slip through the kitchen to a side room. That looked in on the dancers. Unfortunately several other people had same Idea. This still offered the best view, so I started sketching.
The woman in the fiery red and black dress was performing a solo dance with castanets. Three of the dancers were students of Alborea Entertainment. The other man and woman were the teachers. Besides teaching flamenco, Alborea teaches, Bolivian Folkloric Carnival dances, Persian dances, Belly dance, Bollywood, African Rhythms, folkloric Mexican dance, Latin Rhythm and Fusion Rhythm. They perform at private parties, educational programs, theater productions, television programs, corporate events, and conventions.
Artist Bernie Martin stopped in and sat on the floor close to the stage. The man in front of me kept shooting photos and the woman seated at the same table did the same occasionally. Between performances, I was still splashing color on the page. A female artist introduced herself. I was still distracted, as I was getting close to finishing my sketch. She has been going to Casa Feliz every week and sketching the performers. She asked my advice on how she could improve her drawings. I took a sheet from her sketchbook and made suggestions on how she could use perspective to improve on what she was already doing. She knew of the Urban Sketchers site and of Analog Artist Digital World. As she left, she said E was her artist muse. That was definitely the best compliment I got in a long time. I feed good knowing that the next time she sketches, she will have the compositional tips I offered as a new spring board. I admire her tenacity in returning to the same place to sketch each week. Over time it could become a great series of sketches.
When my sketch was done, I went back outside to finish the sketch I started of Casa Feliz’s exterior.