As we enter a new year, Laura Reynolds looks at how the dating game differs from previous generations.
Laura Reynolds looks at the freedoms of festive singledom
Join Jason Rose for a peek behind today's door.
Lauren Tabbron writes about the difficulties of spending Christmas away from a loved one.
For thousands of years, dancing has been the way to attract a mate, express emotion and draw attention to yourself. Like animals we preen ourselves, undulate, grind and roll our hips in order to make ourselves irresistible to the opposite sex. Highlighting the key areas, for girls, breasts and bum, for boys, the crotch area, seems to become acceptable when there’s music playing. Shaking your bum at the attractive boy in the supermarket is not the done thing. But in a club with an infectious R&B beat, this is not only normal, but expected.
So for the talented, rhythmic booty-shakers, R&B music is fun, sexy and a chance to show off to lecherous, admiring and envious stares. My problem however, is that I have no rhythm. There is a distinct delay between my brain and my hips, making me look more like a baby giraffe than Beyoncé, with flailing gangly limbs and a goofy, awkward expression. Under the influence of much alcohol one occasion in Fresher’s Week, I had a hip-hop style ‘dance-off’ with a stranger. Highly embarrassing for both parties, it ended in shame and regret.
The world would be a simpler place if we all cast off our pretensions of coolness, attractiveness and social skill. The top floor of Ziggy’s, Reflex, Flares, the bottom floor of Gallery and Fibber’s 90s night have all become my havens, enabling me to get drunk, wave my arms, jump up and down, head bang, Irish dance, Charleston and robot dance to my heart’s content. Cheesy music, 70s music, 80s music, 90s music – they are not made to be cool, they are not made to make you look attractive, they are pure, irresistible fun. Losing your voice because you’re singing along to Bon Jovi beats worrying about whether you look stupid trying to ‘bounce your booty’ any day.
Of course if you’re trying to seduce someone, do try and do so by simulating sex in the middle of a crowded dance floor. If you really are the type of cool person who can dance properly and not look a complete fool, then by all means, go for it. But if you’re not, if you’re uncomfortably aware of how awkward you feel, then wouldn’t you rather have fun, dance like a lunatic and find someone who appreciates that, rather than your best stripper move? We’re all a little bit mad and nerdy on the inside, and that’s far more interesting than being able to grind. You don’t need to be good at dancing to love it and that’s all that matters.
"Do try and do so by simulating sex in the middle of a crowded dance floor." - haha I know too many people that do this.
"Highly embarrassing for both parties, it ended in shame and regret."
Like so much of Fresher's week...
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