Lots of great, thoughtful posts above!
What's funny is that I was just thinking about this yesterday. I was trying out a new uke setup and started strumming really loudly -- pushing it as far as I could. From a technical standpoint I was seeing if I could overdrive the instrument -- play so hard that the sound started to distort/break-up. However, as I was doing that it occurred to me that I tend to strum at a more or less steady volume -- partly because I play a lot at our meet-up. It's safer to blend in, particularly if you happen to play the wrong chord at the wrong time.
So, I took a moment and strummed from as quietly as I could manage to as loud as I possibly could -- in steps. I discovered that it was a lot of fun, and that lots of things change as you do this. This happenstance exercise stretched me well outside of my normal, safe and predictable limits.
I think we have a very human tendency to play it safe -- and that means staying inside a certain box we've gotten comfortable with in things like dynamics (volume), tempo (rrythm), strum pattern, etc.
One way out of the box is to push the limits, which tends to expand the often discussed "comfort zone". We can't possibly know what might work if we never go there to hear it.
Taimane Gardner is probably one of the most dramatic uke players out there. Youtube her and check out how she uses dynamic range, tempo, strumming/picking/drumming on the uke patterns to express herself. She also tends to move around a lot, and I don't think I've ever seen her in shoes