This bilingual (English/Spanish) book is the first critical volume to cover the complexity of Caribbean popular music through the lens of contemporary art, including the ways musical and social movements such as dancehall, reggae en español and reggaetón evolved into global phenomena. Topics include the history and global spread of Jamaican sound system culture; the transnational history of reggaetón through reggae en español in Panama and Jamaican dancehall; the ways that feminist and queer spaces and aesthetics are growing within—and against—the male-dominated spaces; and how dance amplified the 2019 demonstrations in Puerto Rico that brought about the resignation of then-governor Ricardo Rosselló.

With essays by Carla Acevedo-Yates, Julian Henriques, Sonjah Stanley Niaah, Juan Rivera, Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, and nibia pastrana santiago, Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón draws attention to the politics and aesthetics of Caribbean popular music and the dance hall—a space where race, sexuality and class collide.

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Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón was presented at the MCA from April 14 through September 20, 2026.