After years out of favour, British dance music is back as a new generation of producers and DJs usher in its coming of age.

"People have become less blinkered, they've opened up their inspirations and like dance music for the energy it brings rather than for its bpm (beats per minute)," said one of the country's most respected dance broadcasters and DJs, BBC Radio One's Annie Mac — real name Annie MacManus.

Dance took hold in Britain when house music arrived in the "summers of love" of 1988/89. The music drew heavily on disco-influenced Chicago house, and was defined by its thumping 4/4 bass beat and euphoric vocals.

More resilient ravers introduced a more pronounced bass line, dancehall style MC-ing, and increased the tempo to over 165bpm, giving birth to drum & bass.

The philosophy of dance was pure hedonism, the era of the "Superstar DJs", who reportedly commanded over £100 000 a show, and superclubs such as Liverpool's Cream.

But after the excess came the come-down at the turn of the millennium when dance fell from mainstream favour to a burgeoning indie scene spearheaded by The Strokes and White Stripes.

"Dance music became very commercialised and went from small and exciting raves where it felt a bit illicit to huge big superclubs where you travelled for miles, paid a lot and queued for an hour to put your coat in," said MacManus.

"It became less romantic," she said. "It had to become exciting again."

The shoots of recovery came with UK garage and two-step. Drawing from dance and hip-hop, artists such as MJ Cole and The Artful Dodger took instrumental garage tracks and sped them up for MCs to rap over. The removal of the bass drum on the second and fourth beat became two-step.

Then the boundaries between dance and rock blurred as a first generation of artists who grew up with dance music began to hit the charts — Klaxons, Hot Chip and Bloc Party.

"It's the best thing that's happened to dance music since I've become a part of it," said MacManus. "Producers like Chase & Status can release an album with hip-hop, dubstep and drum & bass on it and be celebrated."

The current hot genre, dubstep, was developed from London's UK garage scene by pioneering artists including Skream and Mercury Prize nominee Burial.

Dubstep's tempo is between house and drum & bass but the sparse drum rhythm is often played at half-time. An omnipresent sub-bass maintains the speed, creating a deceptive and slightly unsettling result.

MacManus embarks on a British and US tour in March and April that will showcase rising stars including Little Boots, precocious young Sheffield producer Toddla T, and dubstep artist Rusko.

While dance is not yet as popular in the United States, MacManus is optimistic about the Miami, New York and Los Angeles shows.

"I think the US likes dance music, but UK dance is a lot more sophisticated. Maybe America isn't as tolerant of new sounds."

AFP