It appeared to the dancer himself that he was cutting a tremendous dash - Herodotus's version of "Read the audience"

From The Histories by Herodotus and translated by Tom Holland.

When the day dawned on which the marriage ceremony was due to be performed, and Cleisthenes was to announce which of the various suitors he had chosen, he sacrificed a hundred oxen and threw a great feast, to which both the suitors themselves and all the Sicyonians were invited. Then, with the meal done, the suitors put on a competitive show of music and public-speaking. As the wine flowed, so Hippocleides, who had established a clear lead over his rivals, ordered the oboe-player to strike up a jig on his oboe; and then, when the oboe-player did as instructed, began to dance. It appeared to the dancer himself that he was cutting a tremendous dash; but Cleisthenes, who was watching the entire performance, was signally unimpressed. In due course, Hippocleides paused in his dancing and ordered someone to bring in a table – on which, once it had duly been fetched, he began to perform some Laconian dance moves, then some different Attic turns, before finally, for his third trick, standing on his head on the table, and moving his feet to the rhythm as though they were his hands. During the first and second of these dance routines, Cleisthenes bit his tongue; appalled though he now was – witnessing such a shameless display of dancing – at the notion of having Hippocleides as his son-in-law, he did not wish to make his displeasure public. The sight of Hippocleides pumping his legs in the air to the music, however, was the final straw. ‘Son of Tisander,’ he declared, ‘you have danced away your marriage.’ To which Hippocleides retorted: ‘Hippocleides could not care less!’ And that was how the celebrated phrase first came to be uttered.

[130] Cleisthenes, after calling for silence, now addressed the assembled suitors. ‘To all you men who came here to woo my daughter, I offer my heartiest congratulations. If only I could please everyone, rather than having to choose just one of you as my favourite at the expense of the rest. But, of course, I cannot possibly satisfy you all – not when my deliberations have as their focus a single girl. Consequently, I present to each one of you whose suit has proved unsuccessful the gift of a talent of silver. This is to thank you for the honour you have done me by wishing to marry into my family, and to recompense you for your absence from home. But the man to whom I give the hand of my child, Agariste, is the son of Alcmaeon – Megacles. Let the ceremony be performed, then, in accordance with Athenian custom.’ After this, when Megacles had accepted the offer of betrothal, Cleisthenes formally ratified the marriage.

 

To which Will DeHaven responds:

@holland_tom 6.129 is my new favorite Herodotus chapter, and Hippocleides is now a new personal hero of mine. To throw away a year spent defeating other suitors in an ancient game of The Bachelorette just for so he could essentially breakdance to an oboe jig is totally badass. pic.twitter.com/5dMzfv6g9v

— Will DeHaven (@dehaven_will) March 29, 2021