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This was discussed before, apparently with the consensus that it might be a good idea to extend the scope. There was a trial, but the results were never analyzed. There seems to be a consensus that 'identify-this-dancer' questions are off-topic.

So what do we do with questions like this one: What stock character/stereotype/thing does Cab Calloway imitate near the beginning of this 1950s "music video"?

This seems to be a question purely about dance moves that are totally unrelated to the music, and I consider it off-topic.

Dance and Music have a very close relationship and questions that specifically relate to this relationship should be considered on-topic.

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    I was under the impression that the trial run is still on, since there was no follow-up. Based on that impression, I had already upvoted the question on Cab Calloway's dance moves.
    – user3955
    Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 12:04
  • @Brahadeesh Maybe it's time to look at the results.
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 12:33

1 Answer 1

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You say that "There seems to be a consensus that 'identify-this-dancer' questions are off-topic." But from your link, it seems the opposite, voters said that it should be on-topic.

In the Calloway's case, the dance moves are performed by a singer during a song on a live performance full of musicians. Whatever it meant, it could add some meaning to the song (maybe he's portraying a character of the song, of having an attitude described in the song), so I still agree that the question is on-topic.

In general, I'm still in favour of these questions being on-topic. Like I said in your linked post, it would be very hard to enforce the opposite. Music and Dance are very closely related and it would very hard to decide on which side of the line the question is.

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    "Identify-this-dancer" implies that the poster wants to identify an anonymous dancer. I interpret your answer to that question as "one-time dancer: off-topic, long-term band member: on-topic". That makes the voting (including answers) 5 to 4 in favor of off-topic. Admittedly that's not a clear majority.
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 13:05
  • I agree it's hard to decide on which side of a line a question is. But that's the point of this discussion: is there a line, and if so, where is it?
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 13:20
  • @PiedPiper, yes I agree, and we need more opinions and votes from users and questions. Until now, I didn't find any trouble with questions tagged "dancing", and them seemed pretty accepted by community.
    – Bebs
    Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 13:28
  • @Bebs I agree with you. I do presume that this was question was sparked by a recent question just as much as the linked one did.
    – user8686
    Commented Jan 29, 2020 at 20:27

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