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from the everybody-look-at-your-hands dept.
Papas Fritas writes:
The Washington Post reports that a group of evolutionary biologists have looked at the science of bump and grind, and say they have figured out exactly which dance movements catch a woman's eye. Researchers set up the experiment as follows: they recruited 30 men to dance to a core drum beat for 30 seconds. The dancers were given no specific instructions on how to dance beforehand, and their movements were recorded via a sophisticated motion-capture system. Each dancer's 30-second routine was then used to animate a "featureless, gender-neutral" computer-generated avatar. Researchers then asked 37 women to view each of the dancing avatars and rate their performance on a seven-point scale.
The results: Women rated dancers higher when they showed larger and more variable movements of the head, neck and torso (PDF). Speed of leg movements mattered too, particularly bending and twisting of the right knee. Going beyond the dance floor, these findings could demonstrate that men's dance moves could carry "honest signals of traits such as health, fitness, genetic quality and developmental history." No word yet on whether similar findings hold true for men's assessments of women's dancing ability as an indication of their genetic quality and fitness.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hatta on Wednesday March 26 2014, @12:54PM
And as a bonus, when you're enjoying yourself, you look good. Here's a tip for those having trouble. Bob from your hips, not your head. It's not scary, gently bouncing doesn't stand out amongst head bobbers. Once your hips get in the rhythm, it's easy to ramp it up from there since your whole body is already moving. All powerful movements come from the hips. Bob your head, and your whole body is just dead weight.
Even the socially awkward can have fun dancing, believe me. It's not a social experience, it's you and the music. At least, until women start to notice and approach. Just don't try to dance to music you can't get into. Feel the groove and let yourself fall into it. That's my advice.