The way a person moves to music reveals some of your personality traits. When you move your body to music, do you start shaking your head a little too much and do your movements tend to be jerky? How do you swing your hands when you dance to a tune? Do your movements resemble a robot controlled by sudden impulses, or a reed swayed by the wind? “
Tell me how you dance and we will tell you if you are an extroverted, neurotic, or sympathetic person, and also if you can be attractive to people of the opposite sex. This could be the summary of the conclusions of two recent investigations, which reveal that this activity, dancing, can reflect different aspects of an individual’s way of being, thinking and acting.
Some of the therapeutic effects of dance have also been revealed. For example, it is known that dancing can help improve the condition of children with hyperactivity or self-destructive and depressive tendencies, and also prevent heart disease and improve psychomotor skills in older people, as well as combat overweight.
However, it was ignored that the dance could be an indicator of the personality or even the degree of sexual attraction of those who move their anatomy to the rhythm of a tango, a waltz, a bachata or any other melody that invites to “move the skeleton”.
Gestures and synchronization
To discover whether the character of each participant was revealed through their dance movements, the scientists used advanced computer-based moving image capture and calculation technology, which recorded different dance parameters such as gestures and movement synchronization.
Neurotic dancers, on the other hand, tend to move their hands and feet abruptly and briefly, while the nicer and more pleasant dancers employ softer styles, balancing their hands from side to side, and the more open-minded individuals make rhythmic up-and-down movements.
Another work, by researchers from the University of Northumbria, in the United Kingdom, has analyzed the movements of men while they dance, especially those that seem more attractive to women, with surprising results.
The British experts asked several young men to dance following the sound of drums in the background while being recorded from different angles using twelve video cameras.
They then processed the captured images with a computer, identified the type of movements that each young man made most often, and “crossed” the information obtained with data on female preferences and what movements they look at when assessing male performance on the dance floor.
“We’ve found that women are more aware of, and more attracted to, the male who moves his torso, neck or head better when he dances, rather than the speed of movement or variability,” concludes Neave.
Far from scientific research, we can all draw certain conclusions by looking at the track (or the bar) for a while and discovering the range of stereotypes that move around in the music. In Running and Fitness we have detected a few. Which one do you identify with?
The choreographers
They’re easily recognizable. They dance to absolutely everything. They have choreographies, steps and ideas for any song, they don’t leave the dance floor all night and they try to infect the rest trying to get everyone to repeat their movements. They have the soul of a choreographer or entertainer.
The ways
They like to dance, but they never lose their temper, their movements are simple, elegant and they never lose their composure. They are not the soul of the party, but they make a lump.
The dedicated
You’re always wondering if they’ve had fifteen drinks or are just naturally high. They dance everything in an excessive way, they don’t control the distances and their choreographies are exaggerated and sometimes out of place. They often empty the dance floor when they try to spread their madness to others.
The Arrhythmics
The poor try, but rhythm is not their thing. Their intention is to dance to the music, but they have a kind of rhythm of their own that only they understand. They tend to arouse tenderness because it’s easy to see that they’re not giving more of themselves.
The ones that are left over
They are the divas of the track, nature has been generous with them and they are known to be the sexiest in the place. They wiggle with sensuality and watch the rest to corroborate that everyone is watching them. They are the closest thing to peacocks spreading their beautiful plumage.
They hold glasses
They hate dancing, are pissed off because they don’t like the dancing moment and hide at the bar holding a cubata. If the friends get too heavy they will make a slight right-left foot movement trying not to spill the liquid from the glass.
The basic steps
Their repertoire is limited to one step that they repeat throughout the night. If you try to get them out of there, they get stressed out because they know that going beyond that means making a fool of themselves. They try to make the most of it and they try to make the most of their star move.
The troublemakers
They tend to be over-drunk and that means that they are basically bad news on the track. They move without control, they push, they bother and more than one of them wants to invite them to leave the premises. They’re a nightmare for choreographers and for those who are left over.
Octopuses
The music awakens in them a feeling of exaltation of friendship or love that translates into more contact than necessary. They snuggle up to anyone, they rub, they hug, they grab you to dance “agarrao” and they are the closest thing to an octopus on a dance floor. They are highly tiring.
