dance hall

noun

1

: a large room set aside or suitable for dances

especially : a public hall offering facilities for dancing

2

dancehall

ˈdan(t)s-ˌhȯl 

ˈdän(t)s-

: a genre of Jamaican music derived from reggae in which an artist improvises vocals over a recorded or live beat

… anyone who knew her or worked with her knows that she loves dancehall and has much respect and passion for the genre.

—Stephanie K

—often used before another noun

dancehall music

A key form of symbolic capital obtainable in Jamaica is knowledge and possession of many Jamaican dancehall records.

—Marvin Sterling

Examples of dance hall in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then the movie skips ahead, to 1863, with Horizon now thriving, filled with tents, small houses, and even a dance hall. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 28 June 2024

Fullington had always felt that many of La Bayadère’s group dances, as shown in the Stepanov notation, looked a lot like traditional American dance hall steps. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 June 2024

The Jokers were a regionally popular act that could fill 1,500-capacity dance halls. —Wade Tatangelo, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2024

Designed by San Francisco architect Edward Glass in the 1920s, the hotel was the star gem in the diadem of downtown bars, dance halls, vaudeville theaters and assorted eateries. —Vincent Medina, Sacramento Bee, 16 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1