‘Speed-dating’ courses meet need, meet with success, in U.K. clubs
Speed dating, a timely trend that attempts to deal with affection efficiently, has made its debut in clubs. In most cases, the activity, staged in venues ranging from bars to churches, gives individuals a chance to meet a lot of potential dates over a short period of time—people pop from table to table, talk for a few minutes, and then move on, looking for that interesting 'someone' they'd like to get to know better.
Leave it to clubs to jazz things up a bit.
In the staid U.K., LA Fitness and the Holmes Place Health Clubs are both offering speed-dating classes, and, in the case of the former, things get rather intense. When Holmes Place surveyed 6,000 of its members, it discovered that 68% had found romance at the gym, in many cases while studying yoga. That prompted Iain Bell, an instructor at the chain's Barbican facility in London, to launch 'speed-dating yoga,' which proved an instant success.
During the sessions, which are based on kundalini yoga—one of the more sensual forms—participants perform exercises with a member of the opposite sex, and change partners for each new movement. 'It’s all about eye contact,' Bell told the London Independent.
'You have to start softly, slowly . . . just looking into each other’s eyes to break the ice, then touching fingers, hold hands and linking arms. After that, you take it as far as your sensibilities will allow, while keeping things decent, of course.'
LA Fitness offers its own speed-dating events, has an online dating service, and recently launched a special 'sexercise' program that's designed to improve “sexual posture and technique.'
The new emphasis on mingling singles is prompted, in part, by their growing numbers. The March issue of IHRSA's Trends Insight notes that there are 98 million in the U.S.—more than ever before—and that unmarried people now head 47% of the country's households. 'Targeting singles for club membership will continue to be a wise business move,' the publication promises.
