Perusing BBC’s 100 things we didn’t know last year, I stumbled upon this gem on attraction.  According to a study by New York University, it’s all about the motion.

The team carried out a series of studies involving over 700 participants who were shown a variety of animations and videos of people moving.  Some showed shadow figures, where it was not possible to see if it was a man or a woman, while others obviously showed a man or a woman.  No matter which format was being used, the participants rated women or “female” figures as more attractive if their hips swayed as they walked, while men were more attractive if they had the characteristic shoulder movement.

From my experiences dancing salsa, the women are always taught to push into the floor to make their hips rock and men are taught to pop their shoulders to create a swagger.  It seems this study supports what’s happening on the dance floors.

Links:
Attraction ‘determined by walk’
100 things we didn’t know last year