The journal Nature, yesterday published details of a study by Professor William Brown, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, that looked at how dancing ability was correlated with a person's body symmetry, which is a typical measure of the quality of a mate in evolutionary biology.

Over a wide range of species, less-symmetric bodies are associated with increased risk of disease and poor ability to reproduce.

Professor William Brown recorded 183 Jamaicans strutting their stuff and then presented the results to 155 peers for evaluation on a dance rating scale.

The body symmetry of those taking part in the study was assessed by matching their elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, feet, ears and third, fourth and fifth fingers.

Professor William Brown discovered that symmetrical men were evaluated as significantly better dancers than asymmetric ones. Not surprisingly considering this finding, the men preferred the dances of symmetrical women, although this effect was not as pronounced, which suggests that women are more choosy in selecting mates.

But the researchers are not able to explain why symmetry is so important and say that more research is necessary.