Dance/pair partners

Ok,so legend has it that girls outnumber guys by variably vast margins in figure skating land, and romors are rife that any and every available guy will be fought over.
I'm slowly getting to the point where I might be interested in looking for a skating partner, so I've been kind of assessing the local situation.
While it is certainly true that there are vastly more girls than guys, 95% of said girls are under 15, there's a (very) thin smattering of single skaters in the 20's-40's group, all of whom are VERY much better than I am, and there's the widely scattered public session masses, most of whom are lucky if they can glide 2 feet without falling.

I was talking to another skater the other day, and he basically welcomed me to the club....
He told me he has been looking for a dance partner for over a year, and has found no takers.
According to him, many of the ladies do want to dance, but apparently not with a partner.....
I'm not sure how this is supposed to work, maybe they want to do 'nightclub' dancing (= by yourself), or perhaps true Albuquerque style ( = 2 ladies...), or maybe they just don't want to dance with him for some reason?
His only prospect, if you can call it that, is one lady who used to come to the Learn to Skate classes with her daughter, and is now just learning herself, so he is basically trying to 'grow his own' partner.......

Once again, I ask you if this is a typical scenario, and what happened to all those legends......?

Well, overall the 'legend' is very true--girls outnumber the guys probably 50 to 1 in most areas.

BUT--there are really good guys out there who don't have a partner. Why? Because it's very, very hard to find a partner who's a good fit for you. Personalities come into play as well as skating level, body type/size, work ethic, funds for training, loyalty to coaches, schedules, geography (are you willing to move to skate with someone?), etc.

If you looked at a wider area than just who walks through the doors of your rink, odds are you'd find someone suitable much easier than a girl would. Take a look at www.icepartnersearch.com -- note the ratio of girls to guys.

Your best bet is to become the best skater you can, while you're looking for a partner. IMO, The higher level you are, the more likely someone will want to skate with you.

That's basically what my coach said--we were in a lesson, and one of the competitive pairs working had a spill (he dropped her out of a lift) and my coach made a joke about don't throw your partner around, they're hard to find, I said it would probably be easier for a guy to find a new partner than a girl, and he said that it's just hard to find a partner, period, because you have to find someone who's a good match for you physically, tempermentally, etc.

For the girls dancing alone--a lot of girls around here test solo track now, because it's good for synchro work and spares them the trouble of having to find a partner. If they wanted to do dance, they'd have to go back and retest with a partner, but if they don't plan to compete most don't bother. I test with my coach, on the other hand, because I'm not interested in synchro, just dance.

It depends on so many factors - your age, your skating level, even whether you're looking for a dance partner or a pairs partner. And, of course, on how well your coach gets on with the other coaches - if there's a split in the coaches' room, no matter how many pupils a coach on "the other side" has who are looking for a partner, they won't recommend you if you're learning with the "wrong" teacher! And, indeed, I know at least one male solo dancer I wouldn't partner if you paid me, not even socially (I've danced with him before..... thanks, once was enough!).

I'm lucky enough to be married to my dance partner (we've been married a lot longer than we've been partnering each other!), so the issue doesn't really arise.... but let it be known you're interested in a partner, and ask your teacher to let it be known, too, and meanwhile work as hard as you can in your chosen discipline. Solo dance is a perfectly valid discipline in its own right (although not, as yet, recognised by the ISU), so if you are a dancer, just keep working on it!