Orchestrating a successful first date during a global pandemic is tough. Ok — to do it really right is darn near IMPOSSIBLE. And when you add the fact that the only way to meet comfortably for many people is through computer screens - conducted through the vast ethereal space that is the internet - it’s easy to feel disconnected. It’s just plain hard to maintain the same kind of spark over a video call as you could during a night on the town.
But maybe things don’t need to be so bad. For better or worse, COVID-19 has pushed us into a new frontier of digital dating. And for all its downsides, there are new opportunities to infuse creativity and shake up the traditional dating model. And it may even be possible to do so without losing the cultural touch NYC dating deserves (even if you don’t happen to be in the Tri-State Area)!
Here are some fun ways to take your virtual first date to the next level, brought to you by The Poetry Society Of New York.
Invite a poet to help you break the ice!
Our Poet Stream service connects you with a network of poets, artists, tarot readers, mystics and more who perform in The Poetry Brothel, our international immersive theater experience. We can assure you that if you invite one of these artful characters to chaperone your date, they will instantly sense the mood and interchangeably intoxicate your soul and melt your heart.
Simultaneous evening cocktail and a movie!
Why not bring the classic romance of dinner theater to your living room? Make it a suit and tie affair. Or wear pajamas. Settle into your loveseat with some fresh popped popcorn and an Old Fashioned, then bravely drape an arm around the back of your laptop. Count back from three and simultaneously click to watch The Sound Of Music. Or something else is fine. Aren’t those von Trapp children just delightful! Or - wait - why didn’t Carol Baskin just let investigators DNA test her meat grinder??
Initiate a deep conversation.
If you’ve already established with each other in the initial Hinge chat that you are creative, complex and thoughtful people, double down and take the conversation a few levels deeper. Talk about visual art and its place in contemporary society, or the most important elements that constitute a good poem, or that new Cardi B music video and just how were they able to train all those snakes??
Seize the day: Go mobile!
Disconnect yourselves from those power chords and push the limits of your 4G network. Take your vid chat to-go on your cell phone, go out for a nature walk or stroll around your neighborhood and see what you both can discover. Find a cave in the woods (if you each have service) and recreate the chanting scene from Dead Poets Society. Oh captain, my captain!
Light a candle and share scary stories.
Nothing gets the blood pumping like a good horror story. Light a candle, cut the lights, and dive into the world of the grim and morbid. Or - if you’re not wanting to include fear as an element of your first date, scavenge through your house, locate the most ancient book you can find—the more tattered pages the better!—and recite a few passages to each other. Modern romance is steeped in nostalgia; tap that cultural reservoir of the ages and share something special!
I hope you enjoyed this semi-serious article, but Poet Stream is for real. Invite one of our poets to chaperone your next virtual date night for a one of a kind live arts experience!