DICKER, Holly
Dance or Die: A History of Hardcore

What is hardcore? It means many things to many people, and they’re all correct. It’s best described as a feeling, an attitude, a way of life. Dance or Die is the first critical study of city-based hard dance communities spanning three decades of musical reinvention mapped to sweeping gentrification, political intervention and seismic societal change.

From its 1990 Frankfurt techno genesis, hardcore has shattered into a myriad subgenres and discrete club tribes, but the core of hardcore has always stood for marginalised people worldwide finding family and acceptance in extremis, and in extreme sounds.

Featuring exclusive archive materials and personal anecdotes from veteran Godfathers and contemporary stars of the digital diaspora, paired with voices from trans trailblazers and heroines behind the scenes, Dance or Die is the queer, activistic, and flawed history of hardcore that has never been fully told before. [publishers’ note]

Published by Velocity Press, 2025
Essays / Scenes / Queer Culture / Music & Sound / Dance