In this sweeping history, Rennie McDougall explores how dancing shaped New York City. Across the 1900s, in theaters, ballrooms, and nightclubs, dancers blazed trails of resistance and revolution. From the dance marathons of Prohibition to the military precision of the Rockettes in WWII, the commercialized physicality of Broadway, the elated mingling of disco, and the explosive energy of hip hop, dance has been a reflection of culture and backbone of social change.

Charting these stories, Nonstop Bodies reveals how each form was a product of its time, with movements rumbling across the United States coming to a head in the exceptional density and diversity of New York City. While dance mirrors these larger national and international histories, the city has proven uniquely capable of innovating how we move together.

Derrick L. Washington, curator of “Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor” at the Museum of the City of New York, joins in conversation.