Walter Hughes argues that disco music structures the dance floor in a contradictory way: it disciplines the dancers’ bodies “in the empire of the beat” while also offering a forum for free expression that, especially during the height of the genre’s popularity in the 70s, allowed people to freely express queerness.

Can you think of any other dance music that can compare with what Hughes argues in his essay? How so? What are the similarities and differences? Are there any current styles of music that operate in similar ways? Or, do you have experience with a style of dance music that aims to create more conservative forms of intermingling?

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