Tuesday, November 22, 2011
From Petipa to Balanchine, Borrowing Is Part of Dance
NYTimes.com: The “Nutcracker” season is almost upon us — but can you be sure who choreographed all of the versions you might see? Last year, as I toured the United States in a “Nutcracker” marathon, I observed how more than 12 American productions featured the Sugar Plum pas de deux that Lev Ivanov choreographed for the 1892 original in St. Petersburg. But in only one case was the pas de deux — whose adagio, early on, features a beautifully spectacular phrase unlike anything else in 19th-century ballet, with the ballerina seeming to peel herself open in her partner’s arms — actually credited to Ivanov.
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We just had a terrible sad moment in 33 watching the Beyonce video at the same time as the Rosas Danst Rosas video. Why Beyonce?! I feel fooled and betrayed. It's one thing with her music video Girls where she at least publicly announces and explains that she was inspired by the African dancers and brings them to her studio to teach her the dance. It's another thing when it's sneaky, under the rug, and not cited. When you're passing someone's ideas off as your own it's always plagiarizing- it would be in written art, it is in visual art, it should be so in performance art. De Keersmaeker has every right to be mad. That being said, her work would not be receiving so much spotlight right now had it not been such a controversy with Beyonce. That doesn't make what Beyonce did okay. It's sad to consider that similar things are happening to Balanchine/Ivanov's work. Being inspired by something does not mean that putting on the same performance without acknowledgement of the creator is not stealing.
So much of this industry is reactions to others' work, and taking a building block we have seen another establish. Taking that established element, and building upon it to make it our own is what makes the product. Yes, if someone was the original creator of a thing, and you took that thing exactly as they created it, they should get some credit. But let me be all "sunshine and daisies" right now, and say that when people want to use some of your work, it should be taken as a compliment.
Getting into some of the nitty-gritty of this subject, we can explore the copyright issue. In terms of most art there are very strict copy right laws. For example, with music, you cant have the same 4 notes or rhythm used in the same progression, in that same conglomeration. Please bear in mind that I am SUPER over-generalizing here, but go with me. I do wonder what the stipulations are surrounding dance. If it is something as traditional and as rooted as the Pas De Deux in Nutcracker, maybe the original creditor should be listed. But if the choreographer for that production put a little bit of his own twist on the Pas De Deux, maybe he gets credit. Nutcracker is a story that is told and adapted through dance hundreds of thousands of ways each year. The story does not change, but the choreographer's adaptation of that piece is what makes each selection unique.
I guess technically this is plagiarism, but how do you tell the difference between plagiarism and inspiration? Who decides if a move or style is "too similar"? Whether Beyoncé was right or not, I don't know. But I think there's certainly a form of flattery in there if she loves someone else's work so much that she wants to use it in her choreography. It's such a fine line that it's so hard to differentiate sometimes. When do you credit someone and when is it not an issue? I guess it's always safe to give credit.
No matter what form, borrowing will always be evident in art. As Pablo Picasso said, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." The idea of artistic plagiarism makes sense in theory, however in actuality, its unrealistic. And plus, what about the concept of inspiration? As artisitc natured people, we are constantly seeking other people's works to arouse our creativity and let us form our opinions about our liking. However, with this particular instance, I cannot apply the idea of inspiration. There is obviously a differentiation between copying and influence.
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