A slightly bizzare bit of research carried out by the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with Radio 4's Today programme has indicated that although men may be initially reluctant to get up and dance, once they hit the dancefloor they will generally be quite confident. For women it's more complicated...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/news/8412333.stm
(just excuse the lame headline)
The results were compiled from the Dance Style Questionnaire completed by nearly 14,000 people.These show that, although up to the age of 16, men lack confidence in their dance moves, after that their dance confidence rises steadily. And men over the age of 65 rate themselves more highly than those between 55 and 60.
The results for women tell a different story. Up to the age of 16, females are extremely confident about their abilities up to the age of 16. This level of confidence falls between 16 and 20 before a steady rise up to 35 and a steady fall between 55 and 65.
So, how confident are you on the dance floor? Or do you just avoid it entirely? :)
Oh, and on a related note, another set of research shows the office Christmas party is in decline, so (perhaps mercifully) you now have fewer chances to embarrass your colleagues with your dodgy dancing... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8409155.stm
Comments
Dancing?
I learned to dance for one reason only. That was to meet a partner-for-life and I succeeded. I think we were both using the activity for the same reasons because over 40 years later we very rarely dance or ever wish to dance. Of course our dancing was 'proper' dancing - waltz, quickstep (our favourite) and a bit of jive :)
Interestingly (or not?), I attended the University of Hertfordshire in the 50s. Then it was for night school and it was called Hatfield Tech.
Robi
Mind you
My sight and hearing are duff, and my balance is haywire, so I still can't dance for toffee. I tried again on holiday earlier this year but the teacher limped away nursing his feet.
He was drop-dead gorgeous but I could only hang on like a demented limpet. I don't know who gave up first....
Susie
this is research?
Unfortunately, this -- and some of the other "research" mentioned in the blogs of the past few weeks -- shows that there are some "academics" who will publish ANYTHING to keep from perishing, and some newspapermen who will put it in the papers.