Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest dancer of them all? A naturalistic lens model study on the judgment of dance performance

Success as a dancer is closely associated with positive dance judgments by perceivers. Although dancers’ physical appearance (attractiveness, style) might affect dance judgments beyond dance-specific attributes (technique, expression), they have largely been unconsidered in previous studies. To contribute to a comprehensive explanation of real-life dance judgments, we applied the lens model, an approach explicitly developed to explain the emergence of social judgments by multiple attributes. Therefore, video-records of 70 solo performances were (1) rated regarding dancers’ physical appearance, technique, and expression and (2) judged by 33 perceivers. Results of cross-classified mixed-effects models revealed that attributes of all domains were significantly related to dance judgements. Considered simultaneously, however, only dance-specific attributes contributed to the prediction of dance judgments. Additional moderation analyses underscored the importance of perceivers’ expertise in judging dance. We discuss the lens model as suitable framework for a naturalistic approach to the study of aesthetic experiences and sports performances. •We studied judgments of 70 30-sec Modern dance solo performances (videos).•Due to the nested data structure, we applied cross-classified multilevel models.•Bivariately, physical appearance- and dance-related cues were used for dance judgments.•In controlled analysis, only dance-related cues were linked to dance judgments.•Moderation analyses underlined the importance of perceivers’ expertise.