Choreographing Copyright

“You stole my work! And you stole it poorly!” Choreography, Copyright, and the Problem of Inexpert Iterations

“…Before I continue my discussion, I want to point out that I am focusing only on the aspects of this controversy that bear directly on my argument in this essay: the mismatch between the connoisseurship standard for choreographic performances regarding what counts as a proper instantiation of a work, and the legal standard for adjudicating alleged cases of infringement. There is much to say regarding race, class, gender, and power regarding the Beyoncé/De Keersmaeker case, which I do not address here because it is beyond the scope of my argument and because Anthea Kraut has done a masterful job in this regard already (Kraut 2016).…”

“…8. For an illuminating discussion of how racial politics have played into the formal and informal ways in which ownership of dances has been managed in the United States, see Anthea Kraut 2010Kraut , 2011Kraut , and 2016. To take a local example, André Lepecki is credited for winning an AICA Award for Best Performance "as the co-curator and director of the authorized redoing of Allan Kaprow's 18 Happening in 6 Parts" (NYU Tisch , 2021).…”

Virtual Democracy: Online Ballet and Contemporary Dance Classes During the Covid-19 Crisis

“…Ballet and contemporary dance, on the other hand, have belonged to institutions, dancers who gain the right to perform and teach the repertory, and certification programs that allow teachers to disseminate these established dance techniques. Anthea Kraut argues that unlike other commodities in a capitalist system, dance circulates through body-to-body transmission, 30 therefore, it is perpetuated and dependent on people engaging in physical practice. By offering ballet and contemporary dance online for free, the dancers have bypassed institutions as holders of traditions and knowledge, and distributed dynamics and hierarchies of dance ownership and training.…”

What’s Inside?

“…As Kraut explores, while de Mille "benefitted enormously from the unprecedented success of Oklahoma!, the terms of her contract left her with a profound sense of injustice." 18 De Mille was awarded $50, then $75 a week once the musical opened and was a hit, in addition to $2,000 in fees, though Rodgers and Hammerstein and source material author Riggs were receiving thousands of dollars a week in royalties as the Broadway production's $7 million grosses accumulated. "[I]t took years of bitter arguments for the Guild to finally agree in 1947-48 to give de Mille a .5% percentage of the royalties."…”