If there is one thing that has continued to be true about my life, it’s how much my life keeps surprising and delighting me. Years ago when my father bought Buffalo Gap Retreat center, it wasn’t the happiest of moments in our family (the purchase was, as it is called, “the straw that broke the camel’s back” in my parents’ marriage); yet in time, the action actually allowed other events to unfold, which had great power and wonderful effect. In other words, it became a defining moment for our family … in a way that was ultimately for the best, for all.
I didn’t attend Buffalo Gap during my dad’s ownership, except a visit once or twice (and I certainly didn’t attend it as a child when it was a Jewish day camp). I never attended to the memorable-to-many wonderful dance weekends there (contra, Scandi, zydeco, etc.); I wasn’t doing such dances then (and wasn’t even remotely interested in doing the dances my parents so enjoyed), though as the decades would go on, my parents’ love of these dances eventually wore me down, and I found myself actually liking some of them.
While my dad, as the owner during a period in this camp’s life, had a difficult time in a pre-AirBnB world (and for many other reasons) of making a go of the dance camp financially, in the last decade or so the camp has d/evolved through several owners and is now in the hands of a wonderful group of investors and managers. (You’d love it, dad/ Jim Newburn … thank you, Michael Hart et al.)
The new owners worked with some folks to bring back the Zydeco weekend, and as I have since come to love Zydeco dance, I decided to attend the dance weekend a few years back. We camped, we danced, we enjoyed the beauty–the magnificent beauty–of the place.
But while I do enjoy Zydeco (a lot), it’s not always the first activity to gurgle up my priority list of things to do. I’ve been an avid-avid-avid 5Rhythms dancer for quite a few years now and love the regular Friday dances and the workshops.
So … Imagine my delight when I discovered my favorite-ist dance/groove/fun now, 5Rhythms DC w/ Ann Kite, started hosting workshops in the beautiful outdoor pavilion.
Zydeco dance weekends at Buffalo Gap. 5Rhythms workshops at Buffalo Gap. Now all I need is for a Burner event to be held there regularly and I’m golden!
To my 5R dancing friends, come! It’s gorgeous there. Mountains surround the open-air dance floor; there’s a lake, a sauna, hiking, and cabins and tent space if you want to stay overnight.
