An Argentine tango dance hall may be coming to Vienna’s Mill District light-industrial zone, located in part of a building that previously housed a controversial nightclub.
The Vienna Planning Commission on June 26 unanimously recommended the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals approve a request by Melody Yazdani, owner of Melody Yazdani Studios LLC, for a conditional-use permit to operate a dance facility at 303 Mill St., Suite C.
A portrait-photography studio currently operates there on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. The applicant is proposing to run the dance hall in the same space five or six times per month, with monthly operations from 8 to 11 p.m. one night per week and one weekend evening per month.
“These nights aren’t just about dance,” said Yazdani, who has tango danced for a decade and met her husband and many of her closest friends through the activity. “They’re really about the social impacts and community and rejuvenation.”
People often view Argentine tango as performance art, she said.
“When you think of tango, you probably think of a steamy dance with a rose between [the dancers’] teeth, but that’s what we call ‘stage tango.’ The social dance of Argentine tango is so much more. It’s a fully improvised social dance that fosters mindfulness, skills and lifelong relationships.”
The facility would draw an estimated 40 to 50 people and have a maximum of six staff members, including the owner, her husband and daughter, plus three dancers who will be volunteering their time in exchange for free admission, Yazdani said.
The first floor would have a 432-square-foot dance floor and 600-square-foot seating area; the mezzanine level would be used mostly for office work.
Because of the proposed hall’s private membership and organized recreational nature of Argentine tango, the town’s zoning administrator considers such a use to be a private indoor-recreational facility rather than one devoted to dancing and live entertainment. The hall would play music similar to the kind used for exercise classes, officials said.
The application would not result in any physical changes to the 159-by-80-foot, single-story building or its parking lot, which are located on 0.63 acres.
Built in 1971, the steel-frame-and-cinderblock building has four tenant spaces.The since-departed Bey Lounge, which racked up a slew of noise complaints several years ago and eventually saw its conditional-use permit revoked by town officials in 2019, had been located inthe same building.
While the former Bey Lounge operated until 2 a.m., to the chagrin of neighbors, the dance hall would close at 11 p.m.
The dance studio’s hours would differ from those of surrounding businesses, reducing parking strains. Planning Commission member Deepa Chakrapani expressed concern whether there still would be enough spaces available to accommodate the studio’s clientele.
Yazdani said many of her customers are eco-conscious and it is common practice for people arriving from outside the local area to carpool. She added she had reached out to neighboring businesses about trying to forge a parking agreement.
This application, and a recent one nearby for a baseball-training facility, are two businesses that “embody what we want to see happening in Mill Street,” said commission member David Miller. “I am excited for the applicant and excited for the town.”
Planning Commission Chairman Jessica Plowgian commended the applicant for proactively reaching out to neighbors to address their concerns, notably about noise.
“I just encourage you to keep the conversation open and hopefully they will all be happy customers and participants at the events,” she said.
The Vienna BZA will review the application at its July 17 meeting.
