The Swashbuckler’s Battledancer style states:
To you, a fight is a kind of performance art, and you command your foes' attention with mesmerizing motions. You are trained in Performance and gain the Fascinating Performance skill feat. You gain panache during an encounter when the result of your Performance check to Perform exceeds the Will DC of an observing foe, even if the foe isn't fascinated.
Question 1
Does the performance used for the performance check have to be a dance?
There are a number of performance types you can use each with different traits. The section on the performance skill states:
Performance Traits
When you use an action that utilizes the Performance skill, it gains one or more traits relevant to the type of performance. The GM might change these depending on the circumstances, but the most common performance based traits are listed below.”
Act or perform comedy: Auditory, linguistic, and visual
Dance: Move and visual
Play an instrument: Auditory and manipulate
Orate or sing: Auditory and linguistic
Each of these have their own advantages and disadvantages. Dance provokes attacks of opportunity as it has the move trait but can be used on anything, while sing is safe to use in melee but requires you to share a language with your target.
If the performance check has to be dance then that makes sense with the flavour text (It is called a Battledancer after all) but it doesn’t specify that it must be a dance performance in the rules section. If you can use any type of performance then the ability becomes more flexible as you can choose different performance types depending upon your opponent. It also has an impact on the Virtuosic Performer feat as that provides a bonus only for a specified type of performance.
Question 2
Do you have to use the Fascinating Performance feat or can you just make a performance check without it?
There is nothing in the description that states you need to make a performance check using fascinating performance. Although a performance check in and of itself does not require that you exceed the target’s Will DC the description in the text: You gain panache during an encounter when the result of your Performance check to Perform exceeds the Will DC of an observing foe does infer that you are using the Will DC as the DC for your performance check. However this is then further complicated by the last element: even if the foe isn't fascinated which does assume you have attempted a Performance check using Fascinating Performance.
Question 3
If you need to use Fascinating Performance to make the check to gain panache can you use it in circumstances where the target is immune to the effect?
Fascinating Performance states that:
When you Perform, compare your result to the Will DC of one observer. If you succeed, the target is fascinated by you for 1 round. If the observer is in a situation that demands immediate attention, such as combat, you must critically succeed to fascinate it and the Perform action gains the incapacitation trait. You must choose which creature you’re trying to fascinate before you roll your check, and the target is then temporarily immune for 1 hour. If you’re an expert in Performance, you can fascinate up to four observers; if you’re a master, you can fascinate up to 10 observers; and if you’re legendary, you can fascinate any number of observers at the same time.
The rider on the end of the paragraph states that all you need is for your performance check to exceed the opponents Will DC. But can you still use it on the same target on following rounds when the target is immune to the effect for an hour. Are you allowed to repeatedly take an action against an opponent that is immune to that action?
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1) Actually, now that you point it out, it isn't actually spelled out - but I had read the battledancer style as adding a new performance type. One that is just you waving your weapons and stepping around. So it shouldn't have the move trait and provoke, nor should it require Auditory or Manipulate or any particular equipment. You just make a performance check while fighting.
2) Fascinating Performance is a passive ability. I'm not sure why you wouldn't pick a target for it when you make a performance check for battledancing. Also, what would you have for the DC to gain panache if you don't have an enemy to get the DC from? So I think that yes, you do have to use fascinating performance while battledancing in order to get a DC to exceed in order to gain panache.
3) The target becomes immune to the fascination effect. But I don't think it becomes immune to you gaining panache. So yes, do the battledance, make the skill check against a target's DC, gain panache. Regardless of whether you actually fascinate them or not.
Otherwise the battledancer style would be rather inferior to the other Swashbuckler styles.
Just found the section in the rulebook on Immunities which answers question 3 and makes question 2 kind of redundant as it doesn't matter if you are using fascinating performance or not.
The section in the core rule book on immunities at pg 451 is pretty clear that you can target a creature which is immune to the effect:
You can still be targeted by an ability with an effect you are immune to; you just don’t apply the effect
In terms of Question 1, breithauptclan's post does raise another option on how to treat it that I hadn't considered. Treating it in that manner is very similar to how Starfinder treates Operative Trick Attacks so there is certainly examples of Paizo using that approach.