The Science Of Sexy Male Dance
Christopher Philip
According to researcher published in the Journal Biology Letters, dancing, specifically being a ‘good’ dancer is an evolutionary signal of strength, fitness and overall health – especially for men.
“Male movements serve as courtship signals in many animal species, and may honestly reflect the genotypic and/or phenotypic quality of the individual,” say the researchers in their paper.
In their study, the researcher used advanced three-dimensional motion-capture systems to identify possible biomechanical differences between woman’s perceptions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ male dancers.
Their study involved recording 19 male dancers using specialized motion-capture systems. These were then converted into avatars and played back as 15 second video clips to female raters.
Their results showed that 11 movements were positively correlated to dance quality, while 3 movements were key which included the speed and movement of the head, neck and trunk as well as movement of the right knee.
“A ‘good’ dancer thus displays larger and more variable movements in relation to bending and twisting movements of their head/neck and torso, and faster bending and twisting movements of their right knee,” say the researchers.
The right knee being more important than the left may be reflected in the fact that most people are right-footed, according to the paper.
“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. We now know which area of the body females are looking at when they are making a judgment 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” said Neave, lead researcher.
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Science of dancing – The ‘bad’ dancer)
Science of dancing – The ‘good’ dancer
“Good Dancer” goes GAGA
Don’t believe it works? On YouTube, a user named girlmeetsbike mapped the movements and re-choreographed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. Tell us you wouldn’t be impressed by this guy if you saw him on a dance floor.
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Resources
Neave, Nick; Kristofor McCarty; Jeanette Freynik; Nicholas Caplan; Johannes Hönekopp; Bernhard Fink. Male Dance Moves That Catch A Woman’s Eye. Biology Letters. 2019; 7(2): 221-224.