Why Dance in SL? A Sad Commentary on Life.

I can't understand this appeal of "dancing" in sl. Why do it? Okay, I understand its potential for chatting while picking someone up, but avis can't send body signals and facial language to each other in sl like we can in real when we are on the dance floor and "in da groove". In sl, a relatively short movement sequence is repeated ad infinitum and clumsily at that. I also appreciate that people who are confined by a disabiliy can expeience something of the "dance experience".
But really, people, why submit yourself to the horrors of lag and self-abuse by waving a pixil hand around and doing a St. Vitus dance imitation when you could be having sex with your partner in comfort of a private sim or a public nude beach?

Because it makes me happy.

I don't need any other reason.

1 User Agrees.

Because it's fun and a great way to meet people..
It's not like the sex animations don't suffer from the same things the dances do..Probably even worse.. Then again it's been awhile on here for me in that area lol

It's Friday!!

I dance because I'm enjoying a live musical event with my fella. I dance at a social event, where music's playing, and I'm catching up with friends. I dance because I can. I love watching my avatar as she's held fast in her partner's arms swinging or swirling across the dance floor, or just swaying in his arms, from side to side. And I love dancing with friends at gatherings, too!

Whilst here at my desk, I am chair dancing, along with them.

And as the song goes "For dancing...soon becomes romancing...

The best things happen while you're dancing
Things you would not do at home
Come naturally on the floor
For dancing soon becomes romancing
When you hold a girl in your arms
That you've never held before
Even guys with two left feet
Come out alright if the girl is sweet
If by chance their cheeks should meet while dancing
Proving that the best things happen while you dance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXYYfHICSc

I was kinda looking for a bit more of a reaction than that.

Because RL me dancing is rather alarming, and would be youtube worthy.



It's something to do while you socialize -- fire up a dance anim while you chat with people and listen to some tunes.

Maybe because "sex" is not reduced to only sport with full body contact but starts with - for example - dancing. So seen is dancing *sometimes* the preparation for the *sometimes* following events like "having sex with your partner in comfort of a private sim or a public nude beach"...

...and, by the way, the animations for "sex" are mostly not less stupid than the dancing animations. From my view is a good sampling of dance animations often more elegant than the ratatatatatbangbangbangbang anims...

It's fantasy and wish fulfillment - you may have 2 left feet in RL, but in SL you can be a great dancer.

ditto

Why?

You expected me to explain in a long, drawn-out post the reasons why it makes me happy? Okay, here's the best I can do: "I don't know why it makes me happy. It just does. And I'm happy with that".

I don't analyse what makes me happy. I'm just glad that many things in life, both real and second, engender that feeling. To analyse it would be to spoil it, and that would make me UNhappy.

Sometimes, Jig, the simplest answers are the ones with more meaning, because they are immediate, honest, and from the heart.

double-ditto

Because your idea of fun is not the same as other people's. Face it, people are different, and they like different things. This applies both within and outside SL. If you are into killing monsters or shooting big f**king guns, there are better games for it. The people into that go play other games than SL mostly.

If you are into shopping, or building stuff, or 3D social interaction, well this is the best place I know of for it. Heck, my current idea of fun is writing parts of the User's Manual (https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User%27s_Manual
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User%27s_Manual ), and I doubt a whole lot of people share that particular one. I don't obsess over "Why doesnt everyone write manuals", or "I dont get Gor" (which I dont). I have my fun, they have theirs, and its cool we can all have our own kind of fun in a shared world.

I tried it but it just doesnt scratch my itch. Am I the only one who finds it abysmally boring?
And dancing in real isnt that hard. Most people clomp around coz they have shyness, I guess or ... okay, yeah, I can see the situation; some people simply can't dance: physical reasons etc.

I always thought it would have been great if sine wave would have made sex animations..

why walk in second life, does it actually get you anywhere?

Because dancing is one of the best ways to share a private conversation, to flirt, to seduce, to just plain get to know another person. If you are halfway intelligent you can send those body signals and facial expressions with emotes. Besides, Feline and I look damn good when we are dressed up and on the dance floor together.

I rarely dance in 2L and a lot of my dislike has to do with lag. I rarely turn my speakers on, so the music isn't a draw for me either. I do have a nice hud with a number of cool dances I break out every once in awhile. I like it best for doing Crane Falls or Hero Standing on my dock, kind of like meditating. I went to a few of the bigger clubs when I was new and I hated it. It was like moving through oatmeal and just so totally not my thing.

The last dance I went to was a reminder of why I don't need to get myself into these situations. A bilingual friend tp'd me to a sim having a 50's themed dance. I threw on my saddle shoes and made my way to the very laggy dance floor where he was swanning about, the beau of the ball, and encouraging me to get on a dance ball. Because it's fun! Because the lag was so bad I ended up dancing not with him but with a lovely German speaking lesbian woman. Totally uninvited, there I was shaking my caboose in her face which really did look like I was hitting on her (and I discovered she was partnered to a woman with a name that gave the impression she might be the jealous, vengeful sort). All the while my darling friend was IM'ing between fits of giggles.

Then said friend bugged out leaving me in a room full of people who only spoke a language I don't speak and to extricate myself from what was becoming an increasingly awkward situation. I think my parting IM shot to him was, "YOU SH*T!!!! Don't leave me here!!!!"

Yeah. Crane Falls on the dock. Much safer.

On it's own, it can be really boring, I'll grant. As a reason to socialise, flirt, listen to or play music it comes into its own. Much like RL.

Jig, just like sl is your world, your imagination, that applies to the rest of us. Who's to say one is not making love in private chat while they are dancing. Some of those dances are glorius for foreplay.

I love to be held tightly by my hubby, swooning to a nice tune and listening to his soft words while we are dancing.

From reading some of the things you like to do, well it wouldn't necessarily be my cup of tea. But, I would never say to you what you do is "a sad comentary on life".

I can see a point if you have all day to ponce around on a dance floor, but I cant see it working as a great pick-up place for people who have limited time. It seems too harnessed to the computer, if you know what I mean.
That German woman sounded rather interesting, Deira, though "she" was prolly a man in drag.

I would, lol!
Let me qualify that. I have a good life and I have been very fortunate but I just do stupid things in it. The same goes for sl, also.

Dance is one of the most elemental rituals in human activity. It is a physical communication of the vitality of life and being alive. In my view it is no coincidence that it is often a precursor to sex. In that, that act is designed to bring more life into the world.
Even many species of animals have a form of foreplay that is similar to dance. Possibly indicating that we are to some degree hardwired to dance potential.

In the case of virtual dancing I will often opt to work instead of dancing for long periods.
However whenever I do dance in SL it causes a sort of mental mirroring effect. In the sense that my eyes and ears perceive the environment of a version of me dancing which brings up the sensation of fun. Not just from what I see onscreen, but also from memories of dancing and the associated experiences in general.

It is similar to the perceptual difference between skydiving and and just relaxing with friends all sitting or lying down on furniture. The brain reacts to simulations of what appears to be happening on screen. Clearly not to the same intensity of doing it in real life. But more similar to identifying with a main character while watching a movie.

Or to put it another way, it can be fun. Why, just because.

wow, who says romance is dead eh, dont want to sit and woo your mate with a dance and maybe a walk jig, just want to get on with it!
I get the part that you dont get it. You know I dont get alot of things in sl, for instance I dont get why you dont get it!...I think the best thing to do is acknowledge some people like it and you dont ..end of convo really! no one can make you get the point of anything just accept we are all differnt.

Because it looks better than a room full of stock-still zombies. We choose our animations (dances, whatever) as an expression of our emotional/psychological state of mind. I mean if you're fine standing like a statue at an event / gig/ performance then fine. Other people may choose to animate their avatars with dances. Good for them. It's not sad. A room full of zombie bots is sad.