As Gary said in his post, when you travel you never know what the dance venue will be, no matter how hard you research. And so the two places we attended over the weekend in and around Virginia couldn’t have been more different.
Let me first say unless you travel to DC there isn’t much dancing around Winchester, VA. I did find one nearby dance school and they recommended on their site a place called the Gables Nightclub. I was wary; a bar with a dance floor is not the same as a ballroom with a bar, but we decided to try it.
So we arrived after 8 (it opened at 8) and pulled into the parking lot. There were about ten cars there. We walked up to the door: locked. Interestingly enough, there was a door bell. Weird. We decided perhaps it wasn’t yet open, so we drove around and came back. More cars in the lot and some people talking. OK, we thought, here we go. But no….locked again. We decided at that point we did not want to attend anywhere you had to ring a doorbell; I had visions of a prohibition speak easy or the little green guy from the wizard of OZ saying you don’t get in no way no how to see the wizard. Or perhaps the doorbell was for something more distasteful.
Saturday then, we were more than ready to dance. We decided on the historic Spanish ballroom in Echo Park, Maryland. We were worried about the drive, but although a bit long from where we were (an hour) the journey was easy. When we arrived in the area you’d of thought we'd driven into an enchanted forest… and that illusion stayed with us the whole night. We parked in the lot and walked along a wooded path across a rushing stream. In the distance we began to hear the sweet sounds of a calliope, lights winking through the trees. I thought I had arrived in Lothlorian.
We rounded a corner and there it was in all its glory, perfectly restored. A wizened man (OK, he was a wizard, I just know it) ushered us through and I hopped aboard a long eared bunny. It was magical. The whole park was unreal; deco buildings, an old bumper car ride, set in an impossibly beautiful setting.
And then the Spanish Ballroom. It truly did feel like we’d entered another world; huge arched doorways, multicolored columns the length of the wall topped with a glowing sconce so they looked like giant candles, a perfect dance floor, and a great band. We danced and danced. And maybe because the night was so perfect, we officially now have added the rockabilly swing to our list of dances we can do out. We did great! It seems like only yesterday we thought we’d never be able to do it.
The ballroom is open air so it was hot, October would be wonderful, but a small price to pay for such a luscious experience. One of THE best I’ve ever had. Sigh.
Pictures to come when we get home.
Showing posts with label The Spanish Ballroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Spanish Ballroom. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Not Knowing
The past week we’ve been in Winchester, VA – birthplace of Patsy Cline. I’m traveling on business but the trip is long enough to allow a weekend in VA with time for dancing. So, Friday night we set off for a place called ‘The Gables’ less than fifteen minutes away. Their website looked good, pictures of happy people drinking and partying and some verbiage about their dance floor. It wasn’t going to be a visit to a historic ballroom but a good night of dancing would be a welcome distraction from a week filled with the minutia of work.
When we got to the place it was – how do I put this politely – a skanky dump? Never got in – at eight o’clock when the place supposedly opened the doors were locked and the windows were dark. There were cars in the parking, even people in the parking lot, but the Gables seemed closed. We took two runs at the place and then turned back to Winchester for dinner at a local Thai place.
Dancing is about taking chances, I think. You don’t learn a new step without being willing to try something you’ve never tried before and then take it public where there’s a real chance you’ll screw up and land on your face in front of spectators. Finding new dance venues is the same in a lot of ways. You set off in your car, following a map to somewhere you’ve never been, and sometimes what you arrive at is a real flop – other times its gold.
It’s the chance at gold that keeps me going. Knowing you’re in for a treat is great but finding something that most people aren’t aware of – that’s special. The sense of possibility is what took Kelly and me to 8 Seconds Saloon and the Starlight Ballroom in Indy. This time it led us to a dump in West Virginia that didn’t live up to its hype in any way, shape, or form. That’s rolling the dice, no guarantees.
Tonight we’re off to a historic ballroom in Maryland. Glen Echo Park has been around since 1891 and up until a year after I was born had one of the premiere amusement parks on the East Coast. The Spanish Ballroom was restored in 1933 and shares a corner of the park with a bumper car pavilion built in the same era. There’s a ton of irony in that fact – frankly I’ve been on plenty of dance floors that could be considered bumper car pavilions! The Spanish Ballroom is suited for 800 dancers, though, and I can’t imagine a plain-old Saturday night swing dance pulling that kind of crowd. Then again we were wrong about The Gables so who knows!
Like I said, it’s the not knowing that keeps me going.
When we got to the place it was – how do I put this politely – a skanky dump? Never got in – at eight o’clock when the place supposedly opened the doors were locked and the windows were dark. There were cars in the parking, even people in the parking lot, but the Gables seemed closed. We took two runs at the place and then turned back to Winchester for dinner at a local Thai place.
Dancing is about taking chances, I think. You don’t learn a new step without being willing to try something you’ve never tried before and then take it public where there’s a real chance you’ll screw up and land on your face in front of spectators. Finding new dance venues is the same in a lot of ways. You set off in your car, following a map to somewhere you’ve never been, and sometimes what you arrive at is a real flop – other times its gold.
It’s the chance at gold that keeps me going. Knowing you’re in for a treat is great but finding something that most people aren’t aware of – that’s special. The sense of possibility is what took Kelly and me to 8 Seconds Saloon and the Starlight Ballroom in Indy. This time it led us to a dump in West Virginia that didn’t live up to its hype in any way, shape, or form. That’s rolling the dice, no guarantees.
Tonight we’re off to a historic ballroom in Maryland. Glen Echo Park has been around since 1891 and up until a year after I was born had one of the premiere amusement parks on the East Coast. The Spanish Ballroom was restored in 1933 and shares a corner of the park with a bumper car pavilion built in the same era. There’s a ton of irony in that fact – frankly I’ve been on plenty of dance floors that could be considered bumper car pavilions! The Spanish Ballroom is suited for 800 dancers, though, and I can’t imagine a plain-old Saturday night swing dance pulling that kind of crowd. Then again we were wrong about The Gables so who knows!
Like I said, it’s the not knowing that keeps me going.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)