Dance music

Dance music is music made especially for dancing. It can be a whole song or just a part of a longer piece of music. People have been dancing to music for a very long time, with some of the earliest examples coming from ancient times, like dances shown on Ancient Greek vases. In the past, special dances like the waltz and minuet were popular in concerts and court events.

In more recent times, dance music grew from music people played at balls and social gatherings. In the 1920s, dance music became very popular, and in the 1930s, Swing music was the favorite for dancing in America. Later, rock and roll became the music people loved to dance to in the 1950s. New styles kept coming, like salsa dance from the late 1960s and disco in the 1970s.

Today, a lot of dance music is made with electronic instruments. This type of music, called electronic dance music, is played in nightclubs, on the radio stations, and at big parties called raves. There are many different kinds of electronic dance music, each with its own style and beat.

Origins

Dancing to rhythmic music has been a cherished tradition in many cultures around the world. People often used drums, bells, and rattles to create music while they danced, which helped express their culture, bring communities together, and hold special meaning in spiritual practices.

Folk dance music goes with traditional dance. This is different from older, more formal dance music and from popular dance music you might hear today. For example, in the United States, old-time music is played for square dances and contra dances.

Historical dance music

See also: History of dance, History of ballet, and Historical dance

Dance and music have been enjoyed together for a very long time. Ancient Greek vases sometimes show dancers with musicians. Some of the oldest dance music we can still play today comes from medieval dances like carols and the Estampie. These dances are almost as old as the way we write down music.

During the Renaissance, people played dance music on instruments such as the lute, viol, tabor, pipe, and the sackbut. In the Baroque period, elegant dances like the French courante, sarabande, minuet, and gigue were popular at royal courts. Later, during the classical music era, the minuet became a common part of songs and symphonies, and the waltz also appeared. In the romantic music period, new dance styles such as the barcarolle, mazurka, and polonaise developed, and dance music became very important in ballet and opera.

Popular dance music

Modern popular dance music began in the late 1800s from Western ballroom and social dance music. It often matches the name of a dance, like waltzes, the tango, the bolero, and the can-can.

Dance music changed a lot over the years. In the 1920s, jazz became very popular for dancing. The 1960s brought Rock and roll and soul. The 1970s were the time of Disco, with famous songs like those by Donna Summer. By the 1980s and 1990s, electronic music took over, with genres like house, techno, and drum & bass. Today, we still have many types of dance music, from electropop to trap.

Radio formats

The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart shows the most popular dance music tracks played on the radio. Dance music is a big part of rhythmic adult contemporary and rhythmic contemporary radio formats, and sometimes appears on contemporary hit radio when dance songs become very popular.

Mixshows are special radio programmes that play a series of dance music tracks, blending the end of one song into the beginning of the next.