What makes male dancers so desirable? The majestic and powerful gait is one of the most attractive features of any male dancer. Be it a classical Indian dancer who dances with his torso exposed or a Ballroom dancer in his sophisticated tailcoat, the male dancer is here to sweep you off your feet.
It is said that if a dancer is good looking and in good shape, it adds more “value” to his performance. So has this value got nothing to do with his dance technique and training? Surely, there’s much more to it than the looks and the presentation.
As a male dancer, I was always curious to know the answers to most of the questions above. So I spoke to many dancers — male and female and gay dancers as well. After speaking to them, I decided to write this piece and share the thoughts of other dancers and their point of view.
Men are often under the impression that they are being checked out for their attractive physique. Some women dancers have also confessed to fantasising about the male dancer on stage. And it’s the vice versa for male dancers who also find the female body attractive on stage.
Recently after our performance, a lot of people complimented my partner Jesse Randhawa and me on our physique and the way we maintain ourselves. But somewhere instead of feeling good about it, I kept wondering if the compliments that came our way were for our performance or our physical appearance. It led me to think about the various physical features of a male dancer, which contribute to the personality and performance of the dancer.
The first physical trait that does draw attention is the shape of your lips. The lips constitute an important physical aspect of a male dancer. Most of the ladies I spoke to admitted to thinking about the lips of the male dancer they saw performing on stage. It’s no surprise that women definitely find the lips incredibly charming. So keep the smile and a bit of sexy pout going when you dance and lip sync the song that you are performing to, as it takes your performance a few notches higher.
Next on the list are the eyes. Yes, the eyes have it. Eyes are every Casanova’s secret weapons. Or, at least, they ought to be. One saucy, salacious stare across the floor and most women would melt. Of course, you have to know what you’re doing. You can’t just stare like a man who’s just escaped Alcatraz, and she’s the first woman you’ve seen in eons, because that quickly goes from sexy to scary. If you can’t manage the sexy saucy stare, you could always go for the serious “I’m so into you” look. Like the one you see in Amitabh Bachchan. The eyes are windows to the heart and for a dancer, it is the door to the heart, so be expressive and enjoy the attention you get when you open your door for the female dance lovers.
Also, strong and muscular arms are a turn-on for many. For a dancer the expression, the subtlety and the finesse of a dance move is through his/her hands. The stronger the arms, the better the movement of the male dancer.
Take most of our famous male dancers and one common feature you would come across is their arms. Broad arms indicate that men are strong enough to do the lifts and drops on the dance floor. So guys get up and get moving.
Women love men with a taut chest. Salman Khan is said to have the best chest in Bollywood. Male dancers should make sure their chest is toned and defined and pumped to a normal size that looks right on their body. A good chest is like a trump card, especially if you are doing a bare chest performance as it adds sensuality to the dance. If you ever looked at Latin dancers on the DanceSport championship floor, most of them show of their chest all the time.
Believe it or not, as a choreographer I don’t give a toss about abs or six packs. In fact, I prefer a male dancer not having much definition in this area beyond the normal toning, but so many women talk about abs being important, so here you go. There is rock solid abs, and then you have the defined abs. But if you don’t have them, remember what I said in the beginning. As long as you don’t have a beer belly, women will be pretty happy! A fat belly means a man does not care enough about himself so where
will he care for his
woman.
After talking to many women and gay men, I’ve realised that everyone sitting in the audience to see you dance is not looking at your dance all the time. There are many out there whose imaginations are running wild and your sensuality is adding more to your own performance. Dance of love, Latin dance, Rumba is said to be vertical moves of the horizontal expression. So all the male dancers who flaunt their gorgeous bodies, enjoy the attention in a positive way. A dancer dances and creates dreams and makes stories come alive. Let the people watching you dream whatever they like, but as a dancer you should remain grounded and not take advantage of what God has blessed you with.