Mary Whitesell spent several years renovating an old store on the square in Mount Vernon, creating a place where she can share with others her two loves - dancing the tango and working with stained glass. Globe/Noppado Paothong

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — As one climbs the steep staircase leading to Murray’s Vintage Venue, the music lilts downward from behind the door at the top.

Without even a hint of percussion backing it, the strings and piano playing over the sound system create a rhythm that ebbs, flows and beckons.

Behind the door lies what has become the embodiment of Karen Whitesell’s passion for the last several years — a luxurious studio where she can share her love of the tango.

She lives next to the studio in the building’s second floor. On the first floor, she is in the final stages of renovating what will become a place to share her second love, a stained-glass shop.

While the studio space has served primarily for dance lessons and a place that can be rented for special occasions, it will host tango enthusiasts from around the country next month when Whitesell hosts a national tango festival.

Set for Friday, Aug. 6, through Sunday, Aug. 8, the event is open to tango enthusiasts or even just those who just want to enjoy some live music and a bite to eat.

Whitesell said she first became acquainted with the dance in 1997 while watching a segment on the television news program “60 Minutes.”

“They were describing how it was such an emotion-driven dance,” she said. “I was attracted by the fact that you could put your emotions into a dance.”

According to the program, many of the “old timers” who practiced the dance were dying off, prompting Whitesell to travel around the world and immerse herself in the tango culture.

For those unfamiliar with the dance, Whitesell said that one of the major draws of the tango is that it’s completely improvised.

“You adjust to the music, you adjust to your partner and you never do sequences or choreographed work,” she said. “It’s strictly lead and follow.”

Couples stand in what she calls an A-line shape, with only their chests touching.

From there on, emotion and improvisation take over. The leader leads, the follower follows and it’s as simple as that, she said.

Two years of travel took her to Buenos Aries, Argentina, and other countries where she studied the dance.

It also instilled in her the desire to make a permanent home for tango in Missouri.

“I tried to find the perfect building where I could live, work my stained glass and dance my tango,” Whitesell said.

She found exactly what she was looking for in the two-story building that sits on the square in Mount Vernon. The former dry-goods store, which was built in 1896, was built around the same period that Argentine tango first developed.

Whitesell said she spent several years and a small fortune renovating the building, but it has ended with the ideal place for her to teach the tango and instill in others her appreciation for it.

“For the average person, it’s not hard (to learn),” she said. “You can walk the dance. We learn to do a social tango, so you can do it anywhere, with anybody in the world.

“I enjoy the passion, the challenge and the intimacy of the dance,” she said. “It’s close and it’s sensual, but it’s not sexual. We’re very respectful of each other. We’re not there to bump and grind.”

Registration is still open for the Mount Vernon festival, which she said will bring in tango enthusiasts from across the country — from San Francisco, Calif., to New York City, N.Y.

Cost for the weekend festival is $90, and will include classes, meals and dances taught by four master instructors. Tickets are also available for $25 for a Saturday dinner and dance, which will feature prime rib and live music by Tango Lorca from Kansas City.

Details: (417) 471-1001.