Mary Klootwyk
From golfing to pickleball, art classes to dance classes, SaddleBrooke offers endless opportunities for entertainment and enjoyment. But what about other lesser-known recreational opportunities—like square dancing? Nothing is more wholesome or memory-evoking than envisioning a night spent square dancing. Believe it or not, the SaddleBrooke Squares are eager to spread the good word about the joy it can bring.
When thinking of square dancing, images might come to mind back to the days of Hee Haw and Minnie Pearl, with visions of hay bales, gingham, and honky-tonk. While that version of dancing, called barn dancing, still does exist on a small scale, it is not the type of dancing members of the SaddleBrooke Squares practice. Western dancing, a more disciplined square dance routine, is the type of dancing that more modern square dancers are performing.
Square dancers even have the opportunity to travel throughout the country and abroad to square dance. That’s just what 14 SaddleBrooke Squares dancers did! More than 100 dancers gathered from 15 U.S. states and Canada to dance at the Second Annual Costa Rica Adventure, which took place April 30 through May 7. This week-long event included more than 20 hours of dancing and was held in the beautiful Hotel Riu Guanacaste, an all-inclusive, 4-star resort surrounded by vegetation and overlooking the beach on the Pacific coastline.
Dancers had the option to gather for three to five hours each day to participate in a smoothly organized program, which made for an exceedingly satisfying week. The dance schedule included morning and afternoon sessions, allowing plenty of free time to lounge in the pool, walk the beach, take an excursion and attend nightly entertainment, and, of course, enjoy the abundance of delicious food at the various restaurants.
Seven days of fun and frolic in Costa Rica are now a matter of square dance history! In all, the event was an extremely successful one, with credit going to the seven square dance callers who traveled from California, Texas, Indiana, Washington, New Mexico, and Minnesota to make this a truly memorable experience—one not to be forgotten! And plans are underway for the Third Annual Costa Rica Adventure to be held in April 2024.
Check out our website www.saddlebrookesquares.com for more information and how you can join in this fun activity.