You’ve heard the old saying, “It takes two to tango.” Well, the good news is you actually don’t need a date or a significant other to learn this sexy dance. Joan and Dan suggest you put the tango on your list of things to do to a) meet other singles, b) flirt your heart out, and c) get a great aerobic workout.
DAN: Yes, I have tripped the light fantastic a few times, and it is indeed a great workout. In fact, too much so, I mean, I’m talking serious flop sweat here, which isn’t the least conducive to a romantic moment when you and your lady faire look and smell like you’ve been doing aerobics in the attic all day. Dance is definitely a couples activity, and I remember one dance instructor exclaiming to my girlfriend and me, “I can tell you two will be dancing together for years to come.” He was wrong.
JOAN: In mid-August I attended the Baltimore Tango Festival, featuring sex symbol Pablo Veron, who starred in the cult classic “The Tango Lesson.” I took a beginner class, where we were a little short on men, but we switched partners frequently, and it worked out fine. Although I didn’t look across the crowded dance floor, catch a tall, dark, handsome man’s eye and fall in love — the way it’s supposed to happen in a romantic comedy — I did learn a few new steps that I’m eager to practice at Kiss Cafe in Canton.
DAN: I once dated a swing dance fanatic and so took the plunge, attending a swing class, where my fellow men and I were passed from woman to woman as we added move after move — sort of like an assembly line for dance. I found the experience akin to receiving a flu shot. I knew it was good for me, but it was hardly enjoyable. I’m shy by nature in new surroundings with new people; plus, like most men, I don’t enjoy doing anything physical in a woman’s presence when I don’t know what I’m doing. Men want women to see them as strong, in control, able to lead. You want to be suave, smooth, George Clooney, not bumbling, run-into-the-mailman Dagwood Bumstead.
JOAN: I caught up with fellow classmate Shauna, 23, a computer programmer from Virginia Beach, who has been taking tango classes for six months. Her interest in tango, she says, stems from “its history and mystery, romance appeal, exercise and great health benefits. It’s been satisfying as a single woman to participate. It makes me feel very feminine and in control to a certain extent — the woman sets the frame for how close you dance. You meet lots of women without partners, and you usually find an opposite-sex partner. It’s common to switch partners after three dances.”
DAN: Despite my whining about swing dance, I do want to make it clear that dance can be a fun and wonderful way to meet people, like the wonderful Catherine Noblitt, a local ballroom dance instructor who has seen romance blossom on the dance floor and highly recommends it.
CATHERINE: I think dance is one the best things you can do socially. It’s a great way to meet people and have fun because the focus is more about dancing versus ‘I’m here to meet someone special.’ If you go just hoping to meet someone, you may be disappointed, or you may be too quick to fall for the first person you meet. If you go in with an open mind and look at dance as a great social environment, over time it’s easier to make those decisions, to say ‘This person might be worth going out with.’
DAN: Catherine notes that at most dance venues you’ll find group classes available. She recommends the Promenade DanceSport facility in Woodlawn (www.mddancesport.com), which features 5,500 square feet of hardwood dance floor. Nothing like hardwood to make the heart go pitter-patter, while your feet do the same, eh?
CATHERINE: And on Friday and Saturday nights, they have tables marked for singles.
JOAN: Baird Straughan, 52, a business consultant from Bethesda, says he met his girlfriend while blues dancing (at the Spanish Ballroom) at Glen Echo Park (formerly an amusement park and now a cultural center outside Washington). They’ve been seeing each other for a year and a half. In fact, he attended the Tango Festival in Baltimore because his girlfriend “is totally into tango.”
BAIRD: I’ve tried tango a few times and like it. It’s about the connection between two people, and the connecting is fun. There’s magic; it’s one heart with four legs.
Dan Collins is a terminally single 40-something writer and local PR maven. Joan Allen is a noted matchmaker extraordinaire and author of “Celebrating Single and Getting Love Right: From Stalemate to Soulmate.”
