A team of psychologists showed video footage of male dancers to 37 young women who rated them, and used the results to pinpoint what makes a man a good dancer or a bad dancer.

Men who were judged to be good dancers had a varied repertoire and more moves that involved tilting and twisting the torso and neck.

But the majority of men displayed highly repetitive moves that used their arms and legs, but not the rest of their bodies.

“It’s rare that someone is described as a good dancer if they are flinging their arms about but not much else,” said Nick Neave, a psychologist at the University of Northumbria, who led the study.

“Think about a head banger. Their head movement has a large amplitude, but it’s not changing direction or showing any kind of variability. That’s a bad dancer. Or someone who is just twisting and turning left and right? That’s a bad dancer too.”

The article includes a video of a dancing avatar demonstrating “bad” dancing and “good” dancing. Next research needed: the science of getting a man to even try dancing at all. Link -via Metafilter

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