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"Seinfeld's" Elaine Benes can blame her brain for making her the ultimate dorky dancer.
By Bill Briggs
All these years, I thought it was because I was white. And straight. And old.
Sure, I’ll get my freak on if I hear “Disco Inferno,” or when Mary J. is in the spot. (Told you I was old. And let me add: Don’t need no hateration.) But my steps aren’t smooth. Those beats and my body never truly connect -- despite what the cocktails tell me. On the dance floor, I'm the male Elaine from "Seinfeld," all kicks, thumbs and no rhythm.
Turns out, it’s all in my head, not my hips or feet. A study, released today by researchers at the University of Oxford in England, claims a tiny messenger in the brain is partly to blame for those among us who struggle to grasp the latest dance moves.
This is all about GABA (short for gamma-aminobutyric acid). Again: not Gaga, GABA. A naturally occurring chemical, GABA is a bit like the brain’s traffic cop. Nerve cells in the brain are constantly firing and “talking” to each other. GABA helps keep all that chatter from getting out of control.
“Our research suggests that an important first step in learning that new skill is a decrease in GABA levels in the motor cortex,” explained Dr. Charlotte Stagg, a junior research fellow at Oxford and at John Radcliffe Hospital. Her study was published online in the journal Current Biology.
“It appears that GABA levels in some people are more easily modulated than in others, and that the differences between people (are) related to their ability to learn” new movements, Stagg said.
OK, she blinded me with science. So, in other words, people with brains that better restrain or regulate their GABA amounts have an easier time mastering motor tasks like tennis strokes, piano songs, or dance sequences?
“Less is more, certainly,” Stagg said.
She and her fellow researchers at the British university used “transcranial stimulation” in test patients, then looked at the link between their GABA decreases and their knack for learning a simple series of finger movements. (Transcranial stimulation is a non-surgical, non-invasive way to excite brain neurons in people by using weak electric currents and rapidly changing magnetic fields.)
Now, back to the dance.
Is there any way, I asked Stagg, for bad dancers to overcome their GABA issues so that they can, maybe, look less dorky on the floor?
The scientist offered a dash of hope with just two words -- both rooted, she said, in previous research: “More practice.”
Bill Briggs is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com and author of “The Third Miracle.”
Find The Body Odd on Twitter (@bodyodd) and Facebook (facebook.com/bodyodd).
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Leave a Comment:
No: Its because I am white. And straight. And old.
That I can't dance (AND I am taking lessons!)
Ya, and to make it worse, some people add alcohol. LOL
i doubt seriously it's quite that simple. i think there are other factors, including personality traits.
i have played one sport in front of ca. 20,000 people (more than once). i have refereed another sport (in which there is only one referee) in front of crowds of several thousand. i have acted on stage. i have lectured to groups of hundreds. all without a scintilla of nerves, stage fright, call it what you will. total sang froid. ask me to dance in a room with 3 other people present? instantly self-conscious. why? no idea.
Because a small crowd is much more personal.
You knew you were good at what sport you played/refereed, and you were good at performing on stage. You know your a bad dancer so you have no reason to feel confident on the dance floor. I think confidence is a big factor in dancing. Your too tight if youre nervous
sorry, i didn't express that well. ask me to dance with any other number of people present and i'm self-conscious.
The tasks you perform well in public use only your IQ, which allows your ego to stay in control. But dancing requires you to release your control, which makes you vulnerable. Perhaps you are not comfortable with the feeling of vulnerability that comes with not being in control? That could be why you get self-conscious when dancing. Learning to use your SQ (spiritual intelligence) is the remedy. www.sqi.co
I claim that having a low center of gravity allows your body to produce cool moves.
All this time I blamed it on being raised in a Baptist household.
And I thought it was because I was NORWEGIAN!
Hmm - I was never good at dancing, playing a musical instrument or handwriting! Today I am saved by computers, digital cameras and aps to help create images to share, mixing my pictures with computer graphics. Too bad I was void of creative talent for 70 years!!
I'm wondering if the writer did a poor job explaining what GABA does or if the writer just doesn't understand the concept of rhythm - moving with the beat has very VERY little to do with a specific step or movement. Based on the writer's description, GABA might be linked to the ability to learn a something like line-dancing, but moving to a beat has absolutely nothing to do with learning a step. You either inherently feel the rhythm or you don't.
I am an "improvisational" dancer - The first time I ever "danced" was at a school dance - I was standing against a wall and a girl drug me out on the floor. Fortunately, I didn't think and I didn't try to emulate anyone, I just moved. Since then, I've rarely heard music that I can't instinctually dance to. Basically, I move with the music. HOWEVER, I absolutely stink at trying to work out the steps of an "organized dance" like a line dance. Before you assume that I can't dance and just don't realize it - it is not unusual for me to go out dancing and have several people stop me at some point in the night to comment on how much they liked my dancing. I met numerous girlfriends and my wife dancing - I absolutely love dancing and apparently people like dancing with me.
So basically, I'm not sure GABA is the inherent cause of a lack of rhythm. Of course that belief is hardly scientifically validated.
I wonder what the cause is. I have never in my life seen my husband do anything that even resembles dancing...
Well, I work with a man who does the Elaine really well and he is proud of it. I believe he uses her moves as a way to cover his own inadequate dance moves, he sure enjoys it and I sure get a kick out of it.
I'm a black female and I can't dance at all. I do a basic swaying move that gets me through the times that I have to dance, but I constantly have to think about the beat to stay on track and have never been able to come close to doing any actual dance "moves." Funny that people assume that genetically, I should be able to dance, but maybe it's biology afterall that's stopping me from being able to...
Soooo....thattssss.....why I can't dance!
Aww,come on people dancing is about HOW you feel and if you feel it do it, NO JUDGING!
I have trouble moving to the beat. Not a big deal though, I wouldn't be caught dead listening to today's mainstream hip hop, rap and pop. No need to dance to it then. The most dancing you could get out of me would be either slow dancing, or sensual flowy type moves.
Stagg is right -- more practice.
When I was 10, I looked like an idiot trying to Roger Rabbit or do the Time Warp or whatever PE class dance things they made us do. Oddly enough, I was an average gymnast in my gymnastics class, could do forward walkovers/round-offs and nickel drops off the uneven parallel bars. I liked (and still do) the feeling of movement and I like music, but couldn't sync the two together.
Fast-forward 5 years when some gal pals made it onto the high school dance team and were kind enough to teach me the choreogaphy. I was good with imitation, and made it onto the dance squad the next year.
Fast-forward 10+ years to today, after literally hundreds of hip hop, jazz, modern, salsa, capoeira, breaking, and bellydance classes, and you can't keep me off a dance floor. Did I mention I also teach?
And I couldn't dance one lick for the first half of my life. It's really all about practice and confidence, and learning what your body is comfortable doing.
So, that's why I have two left feet!
Never liked to dance. Cost me my marriage, I think. Is dancing the "one thing" that humans need to master to have a successful life, more important than rich moments of growing together, raising children, creating a meaningful history? How shallow. How pathetic. Life is so much more than the latest dance craze, more than the excitement of Baryshnikov or Nureyev (or the Joe Bitzflitznick of the week, Mr. "Right Now.") Fred and Ginger are rolling over in their graves. They sought to bring beauty and style into the world, not to destroy marriages. But some shallow airheads were captivated nonetheless and thought that whirling around the floor trumped kids, family, real life. Shallow. Ultimately lost souls, swinging to the end.
there is no certain way to dance anymore ,no certain moves just get on the floor and move
I love to dance oh by the way I will be dancing in Vegas the month of April for a saxist name name Carl Ferris watch for me on U Tube
Maybe the inability to translate musical rhythm into dancing lies on the autistic-Asperger's syndrome spectrum.
Dance instruction anad practice has been shown to help those with those affected by these conditions.
I don't dance, because its so stupid.
And how much money was wasted on a study that ends up saying "more practice"
most people who can't dance can't dance because they don't dance
1) sit on the floor for an hour. if you feel stiff when you get up you need to sit on the floor more often.
2) anticipation anxiety... a flu shot hurts more when you clench your arm muscles in anticipation
3) If possible do some exercises and stretching before heading to the dance...loosen up
4) And most of all don't think...just dance
So, if I took GABA supplements, my dancing would get worse? Good to know.
Dancing use to be an enjoyable pasttime for anyone of any age, but I almost never see people older than their '30's dancing anymore. Not only are dance venues often only of interest to those younger than 30, but many seem to just view them as pick-up joints for sex.
There is a growing trend of dance studios and gyms who cater to people who stopped dancing at a young age but want to get into it for fitness, fun, and meeting new people as adults. I see people of all ages and all levels of ability in my classes. Everyone who becomes a "regular" invariably gets better as they get more familiar with the moves and just the idea of themselves as a dancer, if even for 50 minutes after work on a Tuesday.
But, first and foremost, the desire to learn and improve must be there.
Side note: I don't think WiiFits would be so popular if people as a whole have given up on dancing.
I couldn't dance for a long time b/c I was so uptight and self-conscious. Just feeling the music and going with it helps me. I don't know any line dances, but I can have fun on a dance floor. I don't really worry about what others are thinking.
it's about having an innate sense of rhythm, which not everyone has. those of us who can dance are able to sync ourselves with and "become" part of the music. other people can enjoy the music but cannot comfortably move with it. and that's okay too.