Alternative dance (also known asindie dance^[4] orunderground dance in the United States^[5]) is a musical genre that mixesalternative rock withelectronic dance music. Although largely confined to theBritish Isles, it has gained worldwide exposure through acts such asNew Order in the 1980s andthe Prodigy in the 1990s.

AllMusic states that alternative dance mixes the "melodic song structure ofalternative andindie rock withelectronic beats,synths and/orsamples, and club orientation ofpost-discodance music".^[6]The Sacramento Bee calls it "postmodern–Eurosynth–technopop–New Wave in a blender".^[2]

The genre draws heavily onclub culture for inspiration while incorporating other styles of music such aselectropop,house, andEBM. The performers of alternative dance are closely identified with their music through a signature style, texture, or fusion of specific musical elements.^[6] They are usually signed tosmall record labels.^[7]

Many of the alternative dance artists are British, "owing to the greater prominence of the UK's club andrave scenes inunderground musical culture".New Order are cited by AllMusic as the genre's first group because of their 1982–83 recordings, which mergedpost-punk with electro/synth pop in the style of German groupKraftwerk. Alternative dance had a major impact on Britain's late-1980sMadchester scene (adapted fromManchester, New Order's home city) and1990strip hop and rave scenes.^[6]The Haçienda club in Manchester, founded by New Order andFactory Records, became the hub of the genre in 1980s Britain.^[8] Meanwhile,indie-orientated acts such asSaint Etienne,Dubstar,Space andWhite Town also explored dance beats and rhythms in their music.

The Prodigy,Fatboy Slim andthe Chemical Brothers are prominent examples of British artists^[9][10] in the post-Madchester-era, who crossed over from the dance music world to alternative,^[11] with most of their releases falling under thebig beat music genre in the mid 1990s.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]} Of the three acts, the Prodigy had the first international alternative dance hit when their thirdstudio albumThe Fat of the Land debuted at number one in 25 countries, including the US, in 1997.^[9] Also finding international success in the 1990s was Icelandic musicianBjörk, a former member of indie bandthe Sugarcubes, whose solo albumsDebut (1993) andPost (1995), incorporated alternative dance elements and featured production from artists likeTricky,Howie B and808 State'sGraham Massey.^[18]

In the US,Chicago'sLiquid Soul toSan Francisco'sDubtribe expanded dance music "beyond its old identity as asingles-driven genre with no identifiable, long-term artists".^[5] The American scene rarely received radio airplay and most of the innovative work continuedunderground or wasimported.^[7]

As computer technology andmusic software became more accessible and advanced at the start of the 21st century, bands tended to forgo traditional studio production practices. High quality music was often conceived using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances led to an increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music, including alternative dance, available via the Internet.^[19] According toBBC Radio 1DJAnnie Mac, part of the strength of the scene in the new millennium was "the sense of community"; she noted, "Websites,blogs andMyspace pages all get people talking about records and checking out each other's recommendations. It's not like the old club scene, where these established DJs dictated what would be big. Word-of-mouth is so important now."^[20]

In the early 2000s, the term "electroclash" was used to denote artists such asFischerspooner andLadytron who mixed new wave with electronic music. The Electroclash festival was held inNew York in 2001 and 2002, with subsequent tours across the US and Europe in 2003 and 2004.^[21] In the mid-2000s, the British music magazineNME popularised the term "new rave" ("new wave" and "rave") to describe the music of bands such asKlaxons, whoserock aesthetic includes paraphernalia from the 1990s rave scene such as glowsticks and neon lights.^[22]

• Electronic dance music
• Computational musicology
• Gospel music
• Rock music
• Soul music

• List of alternative dance artists atAllmusic

• Alternative dance
• 20th-century music genres
• 21st-century music genres
• Alternative rock genres
• British styles of music
• Rock music genres
• Electronic dance music genres
• Fusion music genres
• Post-disco

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata