The Better Move: Revitalizing Dance in Club Culture

While DJs define much of the sonic identity of nightlife, dancers embody its spirit. Yet despite their central cultural role, dancers remain economically and institutionally underrepresented in the nighttime economy.

The international project The Better Move explores how integrating dance more strategically into club programming can enhance social inclusion, economic sustainability, and community wellbeing.

This panel connects stakeholders from Berlin and Amsterdam — two cities with rich, intertwined club cultures — to discuss how movement-based formats can reshape nightlife. It will highlight collaborations between dance educators, DJs, and promoters, showing how club dance styles such as House, Whacking, or Elektro can strengthen nightlife’s cultural and social fabric.

The session examines:

• How dancers might be regularly booked to club programmes, just like djs - and what the obstacles are.
• How dancers can access new, more stable income streams through nightlife venues.
• How decolonial, inclusive programming can restore the BIPOC and queer roots of club dance.