Alternative dance (known primarily as indie dance in the United Kingdom) is a term used for the genre of music combining elements of dance-pop (or other forms of electronic dance music such as house or techno) and alternative rock genres such as indie pop. Alternative dance music is typically predominantly electronic, with programmed beats from drum machines or sampled drum loops and sequenced synthesizer melodies, and thus musically very similar to commercial dance-pop. The indie element is most prevalent in the songwriting; unlike much dance music, alternative dance typically contains lyrics, and, as in indie pop or indie rock, these are often more thematically complex and/or less polished than those of commercial pop. Dance-pop is a style of dance music that grew out of disco in the mid-80s. ... Dance music is music composed, played, or both, specifically to accompany social dancing. ... House music is a collection of styles of electronic dance music, the earliest forms of which originated in the United States in the early- to mid-1980s. ... Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in Detroit, mid-1980s with influences from electro, chicago house and Germany, which subsequently developed in the 1990s into numerious and varied subgenres. ... The terms alternative rock and alternative music were coined in the 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didnt fit into the mainstream genres of the time. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... A Boss DR-202 Drum Machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. ... In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion of one sound recording, the sample, and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording. ... A synthesizer (spelling var. ... In popular music, indie music (from independent) is any of a number of genres, scenes, subcultures and stylistic and cultural attributes, characterised by perceived independence from commercial pop music and mainstream culture and an autonomous, do-it-yourself (DIY) approach. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ...

It could be argued that the seeds of alternative dance were sown when New Order, inspired by Kraftwerk and the New York club scene, started combining sequenced electronic elements with their often dark and uncommercial lyrics. (Their best-selling single, "Blue Monday," is a prime example of this.) Other Manchester bands, such as the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays continued the tradition of combining traditionally guitar-based indie music with electronic instrumentation and production; this culminated in the Madchester scene. New Order are an English rock group formed in 1980 by the surviving members of Joy Division following the suicide of singer Ian Curtis. ... Album cover of Trans-Europe Express (1977). ... Blue Monday is a 1983 single by New Order, often considered an iconic dance music classic. ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... The classic line-up at the time of Spike Island The Stone Roses were one of the most influential bands to come out of Britain during the late 1980s and early 90s. ... Happy Mondays are a band formed in Manchester, England in 1985. ... An NME original issue covering the Madchester movement. ...

Alternative dance gained in popularity after the Second Summer of Love, when the sounds of Acid House music had filtered through to and influenced the sounds of chart pop. Various people from an indie background soon adapted the equipment and techniques of dance-pop, combining it with a more astute and less populistic songwriting sensibility. Well-known examples of this movement include Saint Etienne and Dubstar. The Second Summer of Love is a name sometimes given, particularly in Britain, to the time (1987-1989) of the rise in popularity of Acid House music and the euphoric explosion of unlicensed Ecstasy-fuelled rave parties. ... Acid house is a variant of house music characterized by the use of simple tone generators with tempo-controlled resonant filters. ... Dance-pop is a style of dance music that grew out of disco in the mid-80s. ... Saint Etienne is a British indie dance act, fronted by Sarah Cracknell (born April 12, 1967, Chelmsford, Essex). ... Dubstar were a British dance-pop act formed of Sarah Blackwood, Steve Hillier and Chris Wilkie. ...

As both the financial costs and levels of musical virtuosity required to make passable-sounding electronic music drop under the influence of technological improvements, and people who grew up listening to electronic pop take up music, the electronic style epitomised by alternative dance is increasingly becoming the mainstream of independent music, with the once dominant guitar-based form of pop that dominated low-budget independent recordings now becoming just another subgenre.