LONDON // Bob Hope once explained: "I grew up with six brothers. That's how I learned to dance - waiting for the bathroom."
And that, unfortunately, is how too many of us males seem to learn. Did you ever see footballer Peter Crouch's cringe-inducing attempt at robotic dancing after scoring for England? Or Ricky Gervais's performance in The Office? Or, indeed, your dad's gyrations at the last family wedding?
Now, though, university researchers in Britain are claiming that women can be powerfully attracted to a man who knows how to skip the light fantastic.
More than that, psychologists at Northumbria University say that, for the first time, their research has established what moves make men good or bad dancers in the eyes of the opposite sex.
And it seems from the report in this week's Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, the ability of a male to make exaggerated and varied movements with his neck and torso on the dance floor (think John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever) are the main ingredients for attracting the ladies.
Oddly, perhaps, the speed of movement of a man's right knee and his left shoulder were also found to have a lot of sex appeal.
Nick Neave, who headed the research project, said: "We thought that people's arms and legs would be really important. The kind of expressive gestures the hands make, for example. But in fact this was not the case.
"We found that women paid more attention to the core body region: the torso, the neck, the head. It was not just the speed of the movements, it was also the variability of the movement. So someone who is twisting, bending, moving, nodding."
Mr Neave conducted the research by getting a group of 19 young men, who were not professional dancers, to dance in a laboratory to a very basic drum rhythm and filmed their movements with a dozen 3D cameras.
The dancing was then converted into computer-generated cartoon figures - avatars - to prevent a 35-strong female panel from being influenced by the physical appearances of the dancers.
Each performance was then rated by the women on a scale of one to seven and the results showed that eight variables, including that all-important right knee movement, influenced the panel's perceptions.
Mr Neave said he believes that the various dance movements not only indicated to the women which partners might be the least embarrassing at a disco but, more importantly, indicated a man's reproductive qualities in terms of health, vigour or strength.
"This is the first study to show objectively what differentiates a good dancer from a bad one," he said.
"Men all over the world will be interested to know what moves they can throw to attract women.
"If a man knows what the key moves are, he can get some training and improve his chances of attracting a female through his dance style."
Researcher Kristofor McCarty added: "Our results clearly show there seems to be a strong general consensus as to what is seen as a good and bad dance, and that women appear to like and look for the same sort of moves."
dsapsted@thenational.ae
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Founder: Ayman Badawi
Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software
Size: Seven employees
Funding: $170,000 in angel investment
Funders: friends
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m