Dancing is one of the most common social experiences throughout the world. Every culture, except for perhaps the Amish, will have dances, and those dances will always be terrible for 95 percent of the people attending. Well, okay, 95 percent of the guys attending. If you go to a dance, eventually you’ll have to dance, and that means you’ll be expected to not fall over your own feet, step on someone else’s fee, or tumble into any nearby tables. Fortunately, science has some tips on how you can improve your dance movies!
Researchers at Northumbria University have assembled a panel of women of various ages, given them various clips to study, and told them to grade the moves each CGI blob character has. That’s right, science is doing what So You Think You Can Dance has been doing on TV for years now. “This is the first study to show objectively what differentiates a good dancer from a bad one. Men all over the world will be interested to know what moves they can throw to attract women,” explains Dr. Nick Neave, head researcher on the dance project. “We now know which area of the body females are looking at when they are making a judgement about male dance attractiveness. If a man knows what the key moves are, he can get some training and improve his chances of attracting a female through his dance style.”
Of course, I don’t think either example is very good when it comes to dancing. Yes, the so-called good example is very demonstrative, but where’s the actual rhythm? Where’s the grace? Where’s anything not resembling the look of Elaine Benes getting tazered on the dance floor?
Tags: weird science, behavioral science, social science, scientists determine what makes a good dancer, good dancing, the secret to good dancing, Northumbria University, female perceptions of male dance quality, good dancing versus bad dancing, unusual videos, YouTube, Nick Neave
