SINGLE LIFE

Dances with Videos

`Here's

looking at

you, kid' took

on a new

meaning at

the annual

Only Spot In

Photos by G le nn Tries

Town dance.

Andy Silver of the
Video Dating
Service zooms in
on an interviewee.

Jody Cr

and
and
D Abramowitz
onna

enjoy t Orrian
he
erie.

camara

84

FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1991

ay

RICHARD PEARL

Staff Writer

evin Costner wasn't
there the night of
Dec. 24, but over 900
Detroit-area adult Jewish
singles were.
They were at the Maple-
Drake Jewish Community
Center for the annual "Only
Spot In Town" dance, the
major event on the commun-
ity's singles calendar that's
co-sponsored by the JCC and
The Jewish News and the
one event that draws the
largest number of Detroit's
Jewish unmarrieds.
Single adults of all ages
who braved the winter
weather jammed the JCC
lobby and the Schiffman
Hall dance floor, seeing old
friends, meeting new ones
and just enjoying the night's
only public Jewish singles
social event.
But what did that have to
do with Mr. Costner, the
popular Hollywood actor?
Not much, except that, just
as Mr. Costner did in his hit
film Dances With Wolves, the
JCC was debuting as a
"director" —with its recent-
ly organized Jewish Video
Dating Service.
For a one-night-only in-
troductory membership fee
of $50 for six months or $100

K

for a year, JCC staff mem-
bers were inviting Jewish
singles at the dance to star
in their own "films" —
videotaped interviews
directed by the Center that
would later be available for
viewing by other Jewish
Video Dating Service mem-
bers. Those viewings,
however, would take place
only after interviewees had
screened the interested par-
ties' videos and biographical
sketches to decide if they
wanted to be seen by the
others.
JCC Assistant Director
Marty Oliff said the ex-
clusively Jewish service,
which already had a base of
25 members, added 10 sin-
gles at the dance for a total
membership of 35. He
predicted membership would
hit 100 by mid-January.
Mr. Oliff said the Center
might make videotaping a
regular part of upcoming
JCC singles events — a sort
of "dances with videos" for-
mat for the future.
Observers agreed that, if
nothing else, the video
dating service would put a
whole new slant on Hum-
phrey Bogart's classic
Casablanca line, "Here's
looking at you, kid."
But, unlike the critics'
overwhelming acceptance of
Costner's Wolves, Jewish
singles were mixed in their
reaction to the idea of
videotaping for dates.
"I think it's exploitive,"
said Miriam Davies of Oak
Park, who felt a person
would worry about what to
wear and how to present
himself on camera.
"But it would be less so
than in a bar, where people
are only judging you by your
looks," said Ms. Davies'
friend, Beth Garfield, also of
Oak Park.
"Some people are not
natural in front of a
camera," added Lisa Biller
of Southfield, a third friend.
"But I guess videotaping has
its good and bad points — if
writing personal ads doesn't
do it for you, but talking
does, then it's for you."
"I think anything (that
helps Jewish singles meet) is
a good idea in a situation
where everybody feels they
already know each other,"
said Andy Collen of Farm-