Dazzling a woman on the dance floor is a tricky¹ challenge for a chap. Now science has come to the rescue, with a move-by-move analysis of what makes a man a good dancer.

在舞池里用花哨的舞技征服女人，这对小伙子们来说可是一个不容易搞定的挑战。如今科学出面帮忙，科学家通过分析每个舞蹈动作，最终找到了如何让男人成为优秀舞者的答案。

Psychologists asked 19 young men to dance to a drum beat from a German nightclub tune. Their impromptu² routines were recorded on special 3D cameras and then transferred onto featureless computer characters. This allowed a panel of 35 women to judge their performances without being influenced by the dancers' looks.

心理学家首先让19为年轻男士随着一段德国夜店曲调的鼓点跳舞。他们的即兴动作被录入3D摄像机，而每个人都被转录成毫无特征的计算机人。这使得35位女性在评判他们的表现时不会因舞者的相貌受到影响。

The women rated the men's ability on the dance floor and the scientific team worked out which moves had made the difference. It appears the mistake most men make is to use their arms too much.

女士们给男士在舞池里的舞蹈能力打分，然后科研小组分析是哪些动作决定了舞蹈的好坏。结果发现，大部分男性犯的错误似乎是胳膊甩得太多了。

Researcher Nick Neave said: "Good dancers made big and small movements." Variability shows creativity. "They did a little head nod with a big body twist and a big head movement and a small body twist." It is thought that such twists and turns of the neck and torso are attractive because they signal a strong, healthy and flexible body.

研究人员尼克-尼夫说：“好的舞者动作有大有小。”舞蹈动作的多变显示出一个人的创造力。“他们轻轻点头，同时身体大幅度转动，然后头部动作幅度加大，身体小幅扭动。”女人们认为脖颈和身躯的转动和扭转代表着身体强壮、健康和具有柔韧性，故而具有吸引力。

Those flagging on the floor find it hard to do such moves for any length of time and so often resort to exaggerated swings and flings of their arms and legs. These, however, do nothing to attract women – with the exception of the right knee. Flicked³ in and out and twisted from side to side at speed, a nifty knee apparently⁴ catches a lady's eye. This is the first study to show objectively what differentiates⁵ a good dancer from a bad one.

而那些舞池中的失意者们觉得这种舞蹈动作难以实现，于是求助于夸张的摇摆和甩胳膊甩腿。然而这些对于吸引女人来说毫无用处——除了右膝盖。向里向外快速移动膝盖以及快速转动膝盖，只要做得漂亮利落，你足以获得女士的青睐。该项研究首次分析了是什么导致了舞蹈好坏之分。