Numerous species engage in courtship rituals linked to dance prowess. Perhaps none is as extraordinary as the "moonwalk" performed by red-capped manakin males. Not surprisingly, humans engage in similar courtship displays. In my book, The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption, I discuss a highly elaborate dance ritual, known as the Geerewol (also written Jeerewol or Gerewol), practiced by the Wodaabe People, specifically by Wodaabe males (see photo) as a means of impressing prospective female partners. The general message that is being communicated across species is the following: "If I dance this well, I must have good genetic stock. Let's hook it up!"

Two recent studies conducted with human males seem to point to this intriguing possibility. In a paper published in Nature, William M. Brown et al. (2005) report a correlation between men's dance abilities and their body symmetry (a measure of phenotypic quality). More recently, Bernhard Fink and his colleagues (2007) found that women judged the dancing ability of men possessing masculinized finger digit ratios (a marker of exposure to testosterone in utero; see my earlier post on this topic here), as more attractive, dominant, and masculine than that of their male counterparts possessing more feminized digit ratios. This again points to the fact that dance ability is correlated with phenotypic quality.