20 women who shaped the history of dance music

History can be a tricky business. No matter how many facts are recorded, it's still written by those in power. Often omitted are the deeds and lives of the oppressed—not only the injustices perpetrated against them but also their accomplishments. Millennia of institutionalised sexism, in tandem with misogynist sexism, have prevented (continues to prevent) half of the world's population from enjoying access, opportunity, aid and recognition. Women get left out. A lot. Of everything. Dance music is no exception.

Working towards equilibrium means updating the narrative and acknowledging instead of undervaluing, underestimating and undermining. Important female contributions to the history of dance music culture are usually numbered by vocals—the diva's voice commanding a track. But upon closer inspection, women have been defying the odds all along: vocalists, yes, but also risk-taking label managers, scene-defining DJs and visionary artists and producers. History may have been written by men, but women have ever been present in making it. With that in mind, here's a countdown of some of them. LB

The Black Madonna is a DJ, producer and Music Director of the Smart Bar in Chicago

Lisa Blanning is a freelance journalist who has contributed to Mixmag, Resident Advisor, Pitchfork and Electronic Beats, among others

Check more of Patch Keyes' work here

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop has an enduring legacy for electronic music, and some might favor Daphne Oram over Derbyshire in this list inclusion. But it's the latter's radical musique concrète interpretation of Ron Grainer's composition for the Doctor Who theme song — inspiring and infecting generations of future electronic musicians — that wins the nod. LB

Carlos was one of the first visible trans artists, but more importantly an undisputed electronic music pioneer. As a friend and early customer of Bob Moog, she helped him develop and refine his early synths. Plus, Kraftwerk used to open gigs with her A Clockwork Orange rendition of Beethoven. LB

The massively influential Summer embodies the disco diva like no other. Beginning with her canonical mid-'70s collaborations with Giorgio Moroder, she achieved chart dominance that led to an estimated 140 million records sold worldwide over the course of her career. LB

Robinson is known as half of Mickey & Sylvia and her 1973 solo hit 'Pillow Talk'. She also co-founded Sugar Hill Records, the label that launched hip hop by releasing the huge 1979 single 'Rapper's Delight' by The Sugar Hill Gang. She recognised rap's potential very early on and brought the Gang's vocalists together to record on a beat featuring the bassline from Chic's 'Good Times', inadvertently launching sample culture too! LB

Joining New Order as a keyboardist after the death of Ian Curtis and subsequent end of Joy Division, you can send one-fourth of the thanks for Blue Monday to Gilbert. TBM

Hailing from David Mancuso's legendary Loft and pulling strings for four decades, this co-founder of Def Mix also created one of the first ever record pools, For The Record. Frankie, David, Hector, Satoshi: all roads lead to Judy. TBM

The first woman to ever play the Saint. The only woman to play Paradise Garage. Add in Studio 54, Limelight and a host of other hotspots and you'll see that White is a one woman who's who of American dance history. She was also Billboard's first female reporter. TBM

From Medusa's to their seven year streak at Chicago's Crobar, Teri and Val kicked open the doors for Chicago's women in dance. TBM

In 1990 Heather Heart co-founded the first all-techno record store, Groove Records in New York, with Frankie Bones and Adam X. The Brooklyn badass also started the Under One Sky zine, which became a key publication for techno heads across the US, and became an icon at Storm Rave, the seminal NYC party founded by Bones. She's a driving force for the foundational moments of the American rave scene. TBM

The Acid Queen herself created the Djax-Up-Beats label in 1989. This powerhouse imprint quickly became a rocket launcher, delivering American techno to a global audience. The impact that this label and her career had on the international techno scene cannot be overstated. TBM

These co-founders of the seminal Metalheadz, along with Goldie, were two of the first female label bosses to release a dance album with international distribution – Goldie's 'Timeless'. Their breakthrough onto the international scene as DJs was a bright light in a male dominated industry. Tragically, Kemistry was killed in a road accident after a show in 1999. Click here for our tribute to her. TBM

A resident of Detroit's historic Motor club, Minx has been a stalwart defender of Detroit dance culture for decades. From the airwaves of WGPR to the inaugural Detroit Electronic Music Festival in May of 2000, Minx continues to lead with her Women On Wax label. TBM

The Canadian artist's seminal electroclash album 'The Teaches Of Peaches' was the gateway drug to both dance music and a liberated sexuality for a legion of uptight, white indie kids in the early 2000s. LB

Elliott is a rapper and performer, but her impact as songwriter, arranger and producer make her importance incalculable. Her enduring partnership with childhood friend Timbaland not only introduced Aaliyah, it helped to establish an era-defining, revolutionary sound joining r'n'b and electronic music, inspiring a generation of producers across all genres. LB

The producer, vocalist and DJ was an early '90s resident at places like Tresor and E-Werk, making her old-skool Berlin. Add to that her label BPitch Control, which was crucial for mid-2000s minimal techno, launching the likes of Ben Klock, Modeselektor and Paul Kalkbrenner. LB

If dubstep is a mafia, then Lockhart is a don. Station manager of Rinse FM, the former pirate radio turned licensed community station, and co-founder of both the club night FWD>> and the record label Tempa, Lockhart—a former major label A&R—is one of the main players in London dance music. LB

A trailblazing trans woman in the hyper-masculine world of jungle/drum 'n' bass, Jordana survived a hate crime at an Ohio dance event, going on to thrive as a producer, DJ and advocate for transgender people. She is currently scoring the Free Cece documentary from Laverne Cox and working on a new album and return to touring later this year. TBM

At a time when visibility for women in house music was incredibly low, this fab-four supergroup (comprised of DJ Heather, DJ Colette, DJ Lady D and Dayhota) held a successful Smart Bar (Chicago) residency and inspired a whole generation of women, including yours truly. TBM

There's no denying the effect of Kraviz's 2013 Resident Advisor video profile – where she is interviewed while presumably naked in a bubble bath. Whether unwitting or calculated, the techno artist prompted a much-needed discussion of feminism in a severely male-dominated and often sexist genre. But let's not just focus on that: with a deep knowledge of dance music, gigs across the globe and a record label that pioneers new talent, she's one of the foremost female DJs in the game. LB

The outspoken New York DJ and party promoter is a sign of the times. Her GHE20G0TH1K events were a safe place for queer people of color, honoring the ballroom house legacy and mixing it all up with unlikely club sounds from all over in true post-inernet fashion. LB