Straight male. A few years ago I would have said I hate dancing, but I’ve recently realized that it has the potential to be really fun. The major problem is that I hate 99% of the music that people dance to. And loud music that I don’t enjoy is quite painful for me. I have sensitive ears. If I could find a place that played music I enjoyed, I would definitely be down to attempt to dance. It seems like a lot of fun. In the meantime, I will be shaking my booty in the privacy of my own home to music I pick out myself.
Good point. A lot of so-called “dance” music is horrible to listen to. I can’t stand most house, drum’n’bass, or 70s disco.
I see what you’re saying, but I still say for a lot of women, we’re just glad to have a man willing to actually do it. If he’s a horrible dancer, he gets one zillion brownie points just for dancing with me, and if he’s a good dancer, two zillion points.
Oh, absolutely. The OP asked (slightly tongue-in-cheek, I assume) how he could use dancing to succeed romantically with women, and that’s what I was responding to.
Exactly, including the “slightly” part.
I liked to dance before the dance lessons Jim and I took, but they have been really beneficial at reducing my self-consciousness and increasing my overall dancing ability. It’s really cool to bust out in a proper waltz at the staff Christmas party (even though all the "stand there and sway"ers are getting in the way of decent movement) - a waltz MOVES - you cover a lot of ground. The latin dances are great for dancing when a salsa or merengue song starts, and they’re also great for adding steps to your club dancing. It also really impresses the crowd when you start doing a salsa at the Christmas party - we never meant to show off, but when you start doing a salsa, people notice. 
This.
This again.
I grew up around musicians & dancers. All the guys I thought were cool in high school were into music and getting bands together. We all thought the epitome of fun was to go out, listen to a band, and dance (or, if you were a musician, play in the band.)
It wasn’t until I was older that I ran into this “I don’t like to dance” thing and I still don’t understand it. To me, it’s sort of like saying “I don’t eat in public” or “I don’t like to walk.”
Nobody cares if you’re a good dancer or not. Nobody’s really looking, unless you’re a GREAT dancer, and then everybody watches. For the vast majority of people, we’re just out on the dance floor, having fun.
Nowadays I rarely get the chance to go out dancing, but I’m glad as hell that Mr. Athena is a straight, male, white guy who likes to dance. Heck, we do dance, it’s just that it’s most often in our kitchen in the midst of making dinner and the music we have on starts gettin’ funky.
And if you’re a great dancer, you’ve probably had lessons, and got over your self-consciousness about dancing in public a long time ago. 
I love to dance. If I like the music. And if I love the music, it’s hard not to dance. I’m not all that great, but that doesn’t stop me. Straight (mostly) male.
I have an insane sense of rhythm. If I’m playing outdoors and wearing my drum (djembe, generally strapped around my waist) I can’t help but sway and groove to whatever beats are out there. I don’t let it interfere with my playing and won’t invade anyone else’s space, but my entire body gets into it.
Similarly, if I’m at a show that catches and shakes my inner ear (e.g., Pfunk, Balkan Beat Box, New Mastersounds) I can’t help but get moving. It’s all part of getting to that zone where music, mind, and body combine. Sweat ensues.
But in a club? Ouch. You’d never know. Mostly because I just can’t get into pop dance music–I just can’t catch the vibe. I can hear it well enough, but Madonna, Lady Gaga, blah blah, and whatever just don’t grab my soul and shake it about. I’m not casting aspersions on their talents or anything, just that it somehow generally bypasses the direct channel from my ear to my motor cortex. I end up shuffling around with a painted smile on my face and a longing to be off the dance floor. It’s painful to watch.
I know people say this, but this is incorrect. Dancing has to do with coordinating the different systems of your body. It involves moving not only in time with music, but in time with the other parts of your body. It also involves the ability to move those parts of your body in the first place.
I cannot dance specifically because of that. I can march in rhythm, I can play musical intruments, but when I try to do something that involves multiple parts of my body in perfect sync, I fail.
The only dancing I do well is slow dancing–and that has more to do with making your partner feel comfortable.
And, yes, people do care about how well you dance, or I wouldn’t even know I couldn’t do it. I mean, I was told on the dance floor that I couldn’t dance, repeatedly. I can move to music just to have fun, but that is at best bad dancing, and, in my preferred nomenclature, not dancing at all. It’s just enjoying music.
As for the question here: I can only answer with the idea that, if I enjoyed dancing, I would do it more often, even though I suck. I don’t. So I must not.
I also forgot that, at choir camp, I tried to be in the choreography group. I was the only person who was dismissed.
Choreographing is a whole different beast, though.
Then you were dancing with assholes. I’m with Illuminatiprimus - dancing doesn’t really involve anything but having fun.
Word girl. Come on, let’s get on the dancefloor - the Noisettes just started playing.
Hey, don’t sit down yet - the next song up is All Nite (Don’t Stop)! I’m don’t think I’m physically capable of not boogeying to this song.
Phew!
Fans self
Yes that certainly was fun. Oh wait, I love this next tune! Back to the dance floor!!!
Cool!
Due to the pertinence of the material (and simply for the hilarious visuals) I feel kind of compelled to link to this review - and no I’m not shilling for either him or Microsoft.