Critics noted similarities between "Dance Again" and the duo's previous collaboration "On the Floor" but critiqued the former for its lack of originality.

An accompanying music video was directed by long-time collaborator Paul Hunter and choreographed by Frank Gatson, Jr.

[1] After experiencing a decrease in her commercial success with her fifth and sixth studio albums, Como Ama una Mujer and Brave (both 2007) and the single "Louboutins" (2009), Lopez left Epic Records in February 2010, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release her seventh studio album, Love?, under a new label.

produced two moderately successful singles: "I'm Into You" and "Papi", both of which topped the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

[13] Looking back on the song in December 2012, Lopez stated that: "'Dance Again' became my anthem ... an expression of what I needed to do at that time in my life and for what I was taking on with [my career].

Chris "Tek" O'Ryan and Trevor Muzzy handled audio engineering of the song, with assistance from Anthony Falcone and Peter Mack.

[22] A lyric video was released on YouTube the same day and the song was officially sent to mainstream radio in the United States on April 3, 2012.

[29] It was written by Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, The Chef, Enrique Iglesias, Achraff Janussi and Armando "Pitbull" Perez, who is also featured on the song.

[31] The beat of the song shifts from upbeat pings and claps to a bass backdrop as Lopez takes over the vocals.

"[31] It has been suggested that the chorus was "cheesy" and weak, and ends up being trumped by the pre-chorus, verses, overall production and fist-pumping beat.

[29] Katherine St Asaph of Popdust gave the song a mixed review, stating "[without sampling a song] means "Dance Again" doesn't have any of that swoon or allure, let alone one unifying riff, and it means that right before every verse-to-prechorus or prechorus-to-verse transition, you're imagining the "la-lalalala..." chorus that doesn't break out.

What breaks out instead is the stately dance-pop that makes up the rest of "On the Floor," more polite than pressing even when it's even clearer that the metaphor here is dancing-as-sex.

"[33] Robbie Daw of the website Idolator gave the song a positive review, writing that it was far more superior and much more euphoric dance-pop offering than "On the Floor".

Daw added that "the American Idol judge goes for more of a cheery, almost Kylie Minogue-esque dance-pop vibe with "Dance Again".

"[38] Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly gave the song a positive review, writing "Lopez once again sings over a buttery disco groove with an assist from Miami's favorite bilingual MC."

Anderson noted that the chorus of the song is "as pure a piece of effervescent pop as Lopez has ever been a part of, and while it probably isn't the sort of thing meant to be listened to on headphones in a cubicle, it should play pretty well in places where grinding is encouraged (like clubs in Ibiza, and middle school dances).

The song isn't as interesting musically as the pair's previous hit collaboration, "On the Floor" but it is more consistent in its commitment to being a full-on dance twirler ...

[43] For the week ending April 2, 2012, it debuted on Billboard's Pop Songs chart at number 34, and ultimately peaked at 17.

[50] Following her performance of the song on American Idol, it sold an additional 104,000 digital copies which brought "Dance Again" to its peak position of number 17.

[44][53] In September 2012, "Dance Again" received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million.

On March 3, 2012, Lopez revealed via social networking website Twitter that she would be shooting a new video for a song entitled "Dance Again", writing "R U Ready 2 #DanceAgain".

[68] The following day on March 4, Lopez posted a sneak peek of the shoe she wore in the music video on her official website.

[76] RadarOnline commented, "In the video, Casper is extra friendly to J.Lo's derrière, caressing his lady love's famous rear end as she shows off her fab figure in a black Basque and hellacious heels.

[76] Sarah Maloy of Billboard magazine noted the amount of sexual content in the music video, writing that it as "body glitter, random choreographed dance numbers, poles and sex—lots of sex.

[80] Entertainment Weekly's Marc Snetiker observed that although the song was "relatively harmless and catchy, the video is...confusing", but thought it was worth watching.

'"[82] Access Hollywood found similarities between the scene in which Lopez "can be seen grinding on the floor, surrounded by a host of hot bodies" and Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue's music video for "All the Lovers" (2010).

[83] AZ Central's Ed Masley heavily criticized the clip for airing on American Idol, and wrote: A representative from a Right Wing Group, Dan Gainor, condemned the video, saying it was too steamy for "family-friendly American Idol" and went as far as saying her "skanky new video shows how desperate she is to retain her fame despite her fading relevance".

Online's Natalie Finn commented, "Pitbull gets to keep his suit on, but Lopez, clad for the most part in a bodysuit and fishnets (and at times a solid coat of glitter) is bare for the grabbing.

Her fellow ladies in the video... may have even less on—which is perfect since there's a gravity-defying orgy taking place in the background as Lopez and the well-muscled Smart make eyes at each other".

[92] In August 2013, a clip of 13-year-old boy Sam Horowitz performing during his Bar Mitzvah became a viral video online.