alternative dance

Alternative dance or indie dance (also referred to as underground dance in the US) is a musical genre that mixes rock subgenres with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide exposure through acts such as New Order in the 1980s and The Prodigy in the 1990s.

Allmusic states that alternative dance mixes the "melodic song structure of alternative and indie rock with the electronic beats, synths and/or samples, and club orientation of post-disco dance music". The Sacramento Bee calls it "postmodern–Eurosynth–technopop–new wave in a blender". Cultural historian Piero Scaruffi suggests that electronic body music first witnessed in Belgium, and later in Canada, between 1980 and 1984 laid the foundations for the alternative dance saturation in the 90s.
The genre draws heavily on club culture for inspiration while incorporating other styles of music such as synthpop, acid house, and trip hop. The performers of alternative dance are closely identified with their music through a signature style, texture, or fusion of specific musical elements. They are usually signed to small record labels.