Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode where Jerry dates a gymnast? He was pretty much beside himself about the potential for sexual adventure. The gymnast did not work out well for him, but popular culture suggests that dancers have an even greater sexual mystique, which often seems slightly unattainable to non-dancers. I suppose any pre-judgment of a person for the group they are a part of should be somewhat offensive, but somehow this one seems AWESOME!!!
- When someone you do not know approaches you in the grocery store or on the elevator and asks if you are a dancer, how do you feel? What does it make you think? You probably feel amazing and think “Damn, I must be looking pretty hot today”.
- If the same person had asked if you were a lawyer, computer analyst or even a singer, would you feel as hot? Probably not.
- One of the most awesome things is that it idea of sexually attractiveness and even sexual skill being connected to dancers seems to have a lot of support:
In May 2015, the Daily Mail in the UK published the results of a survey of 2000 women from Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and London.
- 80% says that they believe that the way a man moves is a good indication of the kind of lover he will be.
- Half admit to purposefully “testing a guy out” by luring him on to the dance floor.
- The women were clear that flapping arms and legs, the side to side shuffle, and low energy were all not good, and were actually a pretty negative indication of how the man would be in “other” movement based activities.
- Rhythmic and relaxed movements were very very very good. Rhythmic is good for obvious reasons. The ability to move well in a relaxed (effortless) way suggested staying power, which is also a very good thing.
Dr Peter Lovatt, a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire, has been often noted as saying that sex hormones, sexual attractiveness and dancing are strongly related.
- From Dr. Lovatt’s research, men who danced with large movement, which were complexly coordinated, were viewed as the most attractive by women.
- Both attractiveness to women, and this type of dance movement were more likely in men with higher levels of prenatal testosterone.
- Women were viewed as more attractive to men when they moved their hips move, and made larger hip movements.
- Both their attractiveness to men, and these dance movements, was more likely when the women had higher levels of estrogen and other fertility hormones.
- Dr. Lovatt is not alone. Other researcher have explored the same thing, with the same result. It would also be interesting to see studies that look at whether the effect is the same in same sex attraction, but it seems likely.
With this, the next logical question is: Which comes first? Can dancing increase hormones or do hormones increase both attractiveness and good dancing?
- For men, it is not entirely clear. Past research has linked testosterone to attractiveness even without dancing, but more recent studies have contradicted this. The link between good dancing and making a man more attractive is however, as solid as a rock.
- In support of the impact of dancing, a German study by researchers from Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, showed that tango dancers had lower levels of stress hormones and higher levels of testosterone after dancing with partners, and they felt sexier and more relaxed.
- For women, hormonal fluctuation seems to change the way the same woman dances at different times. Hormonal fluctuation in women has also been known to increase the attractiveness of a woman, even when she is not dancing.
- In spite of this, the one thing that remains clear is that whatever the starting point for a woman in terms of hormones and everything else, dancing well ramps up a woman’s attractiveness several fold.
So now, the next question is: What actually has the strongest influence on attractiveness? Hormones or dancing?
- If dancing can increase testosterone in men and make women more attractive overall, could dancing be the strongest of all the factors? Absolutely!!!
- Think of the good dancers that you knew before they started dancing and compare how attractive they were then, to how attractive they are now…… See what I mean!
Of course, attractiveness is not only about sex, right?
In the movie the Adjustment Bureau (2011) the “Bureau” tries to control a course of events by keeping the male hero (played by Matt Damon) from falling in love with the female hero, a dancer (played by Emily Blunt). A key line in the script between Adjustment Bureau members is…..”don’t let him see her dance”.
When the male hero does see her dance, it’s all over and he falls hopelessly in love with her…of course! This may be a film, but it would certainly not be hard to imagine this happening once or twice in real life as well (the falling in love part, not the idea of a Bureau of Adjustments).
Now, lets look at this on a more personal level. Think about you … Yes, YOU!
1. Since you started to dance, do you have more stamina, flexibility, body awareness, and body control?
Do you think that any or all of these would be attractive to a sexual partner?
2. What attracted you to dance in the first place?
- Are you passionate, driven, creative, and open to connection with others?
- Is rhythmical movement fun for you? If you are reading this, it probably is.
- If you LOST all of these traits, would your sexuality improve? Hmmm…
3. Do you think that being a dancer provides a “sexual” benefit?
Since several indications suggest that this was the case, and it is really hard to find any indications that it is not, the answer “YES” seems AWESOMELY clear 🙂
Author: Miss P [Celebrate DanceSport]
Photography: Egorich.ca
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review