All year we covered the deals, the launches, the layoffs, the lineups and everything else related to the wide world of dance. We also tracked the numbers that provide an understanding of how well the scene is doing (with the dance industry growing by a not insubstantial 34% over the last year.)
Meanwhile, we looked at the trends driving this growth, and asked ourselves what this expansion means for genres that once fancied themselves underground, but now look massive. We went the big shows and talked to breakthrough acts, pioneering artists and new stars reworking classic hits. We looked at the practical challenges and the terrible tragedies, of which the dance world experienced its share of this year.
We did our best to give a fair idea of how things really happened, how they felt, how they sounded and why it mattered. We cheered on massive victories and comebacks. We talked to some of the people putting together the shows that moved the crowds and drew cutting edge acts. We looked at artists doing their part to make a difference in the U.S. and around the world. We broke down the awards, the ways artists get paid, how they manage their own finances and the kind of legal issues that only happen in the dance world.
But what it all always comes back to is the music that fuels the scene, allows us to celebrate when appropriate and mourn when necessary. While there were a few overt sonic trends in 2023 — the resurgence of drum’n’bass, the popularity of productions reminiscent of the house jams on your Jock Jam CDs from the ’90s — overall, dance music this year did what it always does, functioning as a the essential element the ever-evolving, sonically diverse, globally beloved and often joyous scene in which we exist.
These are our 30 favorite dance tracks of 2023, presented alphabetically by artist.
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