dance bands
Groups playing ballrooms
Dance bands are musical ensembles that play popular music for dancing, typically at ballrooms, hotels, and social events.
The term especially evokes the big band era of the 1930s and 1940s, when orchestras led by figures like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman dominated American entertainment.
Dance bands generally emphasize rhythm and melody over improvisation, prioritizing danceability: The hotel hired a dance band for the wedding reception.
- orchestraLarge instrumental ensemble
- swingSuspended recreational seat
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- Lindy HopSwing dance from Harlem
- cut a rugDance with enthusiasm
musicians · live music · tempo · concerts · ensemble · western swing · Dixieland · Charleston · rhythm section · horn section · bandleaders · Glenn Miller · gypsy jazz · performances · one-night stands · combo · melody · brass sections
- musical groupsorchestra, orchestras, choir, choirs, ensemble
- 1920s Musicjazz, ragtime, Charleston, Dixieland, blues
- Swing Eraswing music, swing, swing era, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington
- Troop Moralemorale boosters, morale boosting, troop morale, USO, USO shows
- Haitian Musicmeringue, RAM, carnival music, Haiti