I am referring to when people simply stand on the floor without making any attempt to actually engage.
The shuffling and swaying that you dismiss as "not dancing" IS their attempt to engage.
Dancing isn't as common anymore. A lot of people have no idea how to dance. Swaying to the music is how those people dance because they don't know any actual dance moves and don't know how to make it up.
Ooh, check out N.K. Jemisin's "The Broken Earth" trilogy.
The story opens with a cataclysmic event followed by shifts in how it's narrated that sometimes results in brutal circumstances being treated with a jarring casualness. And while there is a lot of worldbuilding at the beginning of the first book, I thought it made sense pretty quickly and I suddenly found myself in a world of survival and power struggles. Add in a magical ability to manipulate the earth and it's an incredible fantasy series.
It is dark and grim and unpredictable. It mixes unspeakable cruelty with moments of brilliant kindness. The characters are complex and so beautiful connected.
...I think I need to go read this series again. I had almost forgotten how much I love it!