Please vote before you look at the comments.
The idea that women and gay men like to dance is quite widespread. How true is it? If it is, why is it so? What about lesbians? What about bisexuals?
Most importantly, how much will learning to dance help me, personally, score?
… to be fair, if I was any good at dancing, I’d probably like to do it. I am relatively coordinated and athletic in every other way in life, but dancing is just not happening. 
Woman, straight, can’t dance well at all, but put a glass or two of wine in me and I think I’m Paula Abdul in the 80’s… Learning to dance, or at least be willing to dance, will transform your life, I guarantee it. I spent many an evening in teh discos, back in the day, and we young ladies (if it was crowded and nowhere to sit) stood around the edges of the dance floor signalling we were there for a fun evening. That’s how we met guys back then, and there was a 50-50 chance we’d all meet at the all-night diner after last call, talk, laugh, exchange phone numbers. Good times!..if you are a straight guy looking to meet women, it would behoove you to pull the beer bottle out of your mouth, leave your stupid buddies, man up, and ask a girl to dance. Otherwise, you will go home with your stupid buddies, bitching about stuck up/unavailable/uninterested women who think they’re too good to sit and guzzle down pitchers with you.
Straight female. I love to dance. I was classically trained almost all of my formulative life, and there are few things that I love so much as dancing. These days, I don’t dance as much in a structured environment like in my younger days, but I still try to sneak it in somehow; during late nights in the Tokyo subways, I’ve been prone to break out into a few moves while I’m listening to the ipod and just soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the city.
I am also really attracted to guys who can dance well. I didn’t know who he was then, but the first time I saw a clip of Harry Shum Jr. dancing, I was like, “Who is this guy???!! Tell me who this guy is, pronto!!!” It does weird things to me, like suddenly I had this urge to buy 30 posters of him half naked and hang them in my room. I’ve been accused of being an ice queen before, but if a guy started busting out some serious dance moves, he wouldn’t even need a pickup line. I’d be alllll over him.
I don’t know where this idea that straight guys can’t dance or wont dance comes from. If true, it’s too bad because dancing prowess instantly makes their attractiveness go up 2 notches on the proverbial 1 to 10 scale.
Straight female, LOOOOVE dancing, will keep an eye out for lshaw busting the moves on the late night Tokyo subway, etc.
I can’t recall ever seeing a straight guy who could dance well. Bless 'em, they try, but they are usually painfully self-conscious or worse yet, not self-conscious enough about their horrible dancing. I’ve given up on looking at that as a measure of attractiveness, so lack of ability is a given, rather than a minus, when it comes to straight guys dancing. YMMV.
Straight male. Can’t dance and don’t find it fun to try.
Straight male. I don’t like to dance, but that’s due to not really knowing how and being afraid to learn.
I have immense respect for those who can, though. And I enjoy well-done choreography.
Straight woman. Don’t like to dance, because I’m so uncoordinated that I trip over carpet lint.
I don’t like to dance, I ADORE it! I wish I could still do it the way I used to! (straight woman). FWIW those of you thinking you’re uncoordinated and “can’t” dance? Try couples ballroom type dancing. It provides a great framework for learning actual steps and a pattern to it.
I am female and I don’t “like” to dance. I *am *dance, or at least I feel that way sometimes. I have never felt so alive in my entire life as when I am dancing, and when I used to be up on stage it was probably the most wonderful experience in my life.
You might also have voting choices based on nationality. I’ve been reading an interesting article that says the male aversion to dancing is part of American culture not a worldwide phenomenon.
I’m a hetero male and love to dance. But only ballroom dancing. I suck at any kind of party or fast dancing and don’t like those. But I am a pretty good ballroom dancer and have gotten compliments on it.
“Man Straight I like to dance.”
I’m as self-conscious as the next person when it comes down to it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I kind of don’t believe anybody who says they really actively dislike dancing, rather than saying what the other males in the thread have said. Any dude who had access to an oracle to tell him to an absolute certainty that he’d look at least OK if he started dancing would suddenly be dying to get out there, is what I think. I also think that for 95 out of 100 of them that would be true, but I’m not telling them that.
Ditto for me. I’ve never tried it, I’d feel like an idiot even attempting it. If I felt that it was something I could do, I’d be happy to give it a shot, maybe even take a class. But nope, not happening.
Straight female, love to dance. It’s one of my favorite things. I started dance lessons when I was three and took numerous types of dance and gymnastics throughout my childhood and teens. As an adult I’ve taken even more classes although not as religiously as when I was young.
A man that will dance? He’s automatically elevated in my book.
Straight male. I love dancing. I’m not great at it, but I try. However, I don’t think straight male reluctance to dance is an American thing - it’s pretty much standard in the UK.
The only actual coordinated dance moves I know are ceilidh / Scottish country dances - Dashing White Sergeant, Gay Gordons (fnarr fnarr) and the like - because we got them taught to us at school in the weeks leading up to our Christmas dance. This is very useful in adult life when attending Scottish weddings.
That aside, it’s a case of “dance like nobody’s watching”. Generally, women appreciate a man who doesn’t mind making a fool of himself.
What is this “I don’t know how to dance” crap? Unless you’re expecting to be paid for your dancing all you need to do is:
Get on the dance floor during a track you enjoy
Move about in ways you enjoy
Have fun
You’re not expected to break out into some kind of choreographed masterpiece on a Friday night at your local club, just go and enjoy yourself.
Male, gay, love to dance and can do it well but consider that irrelevant to whether I’m enjoying it or not.
The only time I dance as if nobody’s watching… is when nobody is actually watching. I’m so self conscious in life and dancing is writing a big HEY LOOK AT ME sign on me. No thanks, I hate that kind of attention.
Straight Male
I wouldn’t say that I “dislike” dancing as that, I would say, generally means that either you’re too macho to dance or too shy (which are both effectively the same thing). I just find it boring. I wouldn’t find plays better if they had flashing signs which told me to “Applaud Now” or “Laugh Now”; I wouldn’t find novels better if they had side notes telling me to rub my belly or whatever other random movement; nor would I like art better if they placed flashing lights that told me where to stand to look at the picture at that particular moment in time. I love music, but I don’t think it’s improved in any way by hopping at the same time as I’m listening to it.
Now, I can appreciate that the goal of dancing is to be creative and to express yourself, but that I can tell nobody actually does that. They just sort of jog in place and rock their shoulders front and back. If someone actually did come in and start going all performance art in the middle of the dance club, I suspect that it would quickly become annoying (though initially cool.) And of course, you’d have to spend a few years learning dance and the art of choreography to get to that point to begin with. I’ve tried the jogging thing and it’s just repetitious and tedious. I’d rather listen to the music and talk to the person I’m dancing with. shrug
My problem I guess is that I don’t get this randomly moving about business. When I was in the reserve, I liked drill, which is a type of very choreographed dance. I might like some other dances you learn. But flail my arms this way and that, why?