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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Can Music Artists Stop Stealing from Choreographers Already?
Dance Magazine: What makes big-time music artists and their collaborators think they can directly plagiarize the work of concert dance choreographers?
And, no, this time we're not talking about Beyoncé.
5 comments:
Mirah K
said...
I thought this article, though brief, brought up an interesting issue. The article discusses the surprisingly common plagiarizing of choreography. I wonder why dance choreography specifically is so often plagiarized, as it was in the case mentioned in the article. I feel that dance is not as publicized as other areas of the arts industry, like theater or music and, as much, it may be easier for choreographers to get away with plagiarizing without drawing attention to themselves. I think it is unfortunate that this is so common and it gives a bad name to the dance industry. Because this copying is so common, and may be the only time most people hear about the dance industry, the public image of dance and the dance industry cannot be viewed well and with respect. I hope that in the future, choreographers are careful with the pieces they create and make sure to give credit so as to preserve the image of the dance industry.
I think the title of this article is a little misleading. It made it seem like a musical artist took credit for the work of a choreographer they hired. Which I feel like happens very often. But this article is actually presenting a different, but adjacent, issue. One choreographer stealing another’s work. I imagine this is a huge issue in the world of dance, although I don’t hear about it very often. It’s often difficult to tell where the line is between inspiration and blatant stealing. But in this case it’s pretty obvious. It’s a little wild to me that this could get this far without some network executive stopping it. The article places some of the blame on the artist, but I’m not sure that’s entirely founded. Especially since the artist isn’t dancing at all, and maybe wasn’t even paying attention to what the choreography was at all. Overall though, this kind of plagiarizing has serious implications. I wonder how this will all play out.
As a choreographer, especially one who has been given the opportunity to choreograph a mainstream artist on a significant stage, it baffles me that they would not take the time to create an original piece of work. The dance world is highly competitive and breaking onto this scene is an incredible feat, so it just absolutely baffles me that someone wouldn't use their platform to showcase what they can do. This plagiarism is just lazy. I understand if you love someone else's choreography you may want to perform it yourself (and this is common), but there's a difference between re-performing with credit, and just taking someone else's work. Plagiarizing within dance occurs a lot, from small scale competitions to these large music videos and award shows. It's not okay to plagiarize in ANY way, but it's baffling how the choreographer thought they would get away with this. As the above comments have stated, this really is one of the only things you hear from the dance community, since most people are quite unfamiliar with it. This is really disappointing because it distracts from all the great work and art being created. These dancers, and the choreographers, just like any other artist, have unique techniques and visions that separate their work, so I guess as a warning to all future artists, don't plagiarize work because you will be found out.
It honestly surprises me that a choreographer who had been hired for such a prestigious event would not create art of their own to showcase, and instead plagiarize someone else’s. At the same time, however, I feel like this happens a lot in these types of situations, because choreographers hired for big events often get (what we talk about at CMU a lot) “imposter syndrome” and begin to think that they don’t belong there and that their work may not be good enough. This mentality can lead someone to try and take credit for someone else’s work, that they know has already proved to be successful. While this is a terrible practice, I feel like it happens a lot, and unknown/more obscure artists, are usually the victims of these actions. Choreographers often “borrow” work from others and teach it well enough that singers hiring them, who may not be familiar with certain pieces, will just believe that all of the choreographer’s work is original. This is a big issue because if a choreographer is hired based off the practice of already borrowing other’s art, they will continue to do so and not see the problem.
Though the title is a little misleading, like Emma said, the article still brings up an issue I never thought about. If there isn’t video evidence of a choreographed piece, it’s hard to defend your own hard work. A lot of choreography is “borrowed” by other choreographers and published as their own. A Los Angeles based dance company who I have followed for a very long time has this problem all of the time. While it’s not traditional ballet or contemporary dance, the head choreographer’s work is stolen for music videos and other hip hop performances all of the time. Though all of their work is posted on Youtube, it’s still hard to accuse people of stealing moves when dancing isn’t copyrighted. In this situation, it is still appalling that having such an opportunity wasted by stealing the work of a place as well known as Alvin Ailey is honestly just stupidity showing through. I’m interested to see how this plays out in the dance world and if any more light will be shed onto this ongoing problem.
5 comments:
I thought this article, though brief, brought up an interesting issue. The article discusses the surprisingly common plagiarizing of choreography. I wonder why dance choreography specifically is so often plagiarized, as it was in the case mentioned in the article. I feel that dance is not as publicized as other areas of the arts industry, like theater or music and, as much, it may be easier for choreographers to get away with plagiarizing without drawing attention to themselves. I think it is unfortunate that this is so common and it gives a bad name to the dance industry. Because this copying is so common, and may be the only time most people hear about the dance industry, the public image of dance and the dance industry cannot be viewed well and with respect. I hope that in the future, choreographers are careful with the pieces they create and make sure to give credit so as to preserve the image of the dance industry.
I think the title of this article is a little misleading. It made it seem like a musical artist took credit for the work of a choreographer they hired. Which I feel like happens very often. But this article is actually presenting a different, but adjacent, issue. One choreographer stealing another’s work. I imagine this is a huge issue in the world of dance, although I don’t hear about it very often. It’s often difficult to tell where the line is between inspiration and blatant stealing. But in this case it’s pretty obvious. It’s a little wild to me that this could get this far without some network executive stopping it. The article places some of the blame on the artist, but I’m not sure that’s entirely founded. Especially since the artist isn’t dancing at all, and maybe wasn’t even paying attention to what the choreography was at all. Overall though, this kind of plagiarizing has serious implications. I wonder how this will all play out.
As a choreographer, especially one who has been given the opportunity to choreograph a mainstream artist on a significant stage, it baffles me that they would not take the time to create an original piece of work. The dance world is highly competitive and breaking onto this scene is an incredible feat, so it just absolutely baffles me that someone wouldn't use their platform to showcase what they can do. This plagiarism is just lazy. I understand if you love someone else's choreography you may want to perform it yourself (and this is common), but there's a difference between re-performing with credit, and just taking someone else's work.
Plagiarizing within dance occurs a lot, from small scale competitions to these large music videos and award shows. It's not okay to plagiarize in ANY way, but it's baffling how the choreographer thought they would get away with this. As the above comments have stated, this really is one of the only things you hear from the dance community, since most people are quite unfamiliar with it. This is really disappointing because it distracts from all the great work and art being created. These dancers, and the choreographers, just like any other artist, have unique techniques and visions that separate their work, so I guess as a warning to all future artists, don't plagiarize work because you will be found out.
It honestly surprises me that a choreographer who had been hired for such a prestigious event would not create art of their own to showcase, and instead plagiarize someone else’s. At the same time, however, I feel like this happens a lot in these types of situations, because choreographers hired for big events often get (what we talk about at CMU a lot) “imposter syndrome” and begin to think that they don’t belong there and that their work may not be good enough. This mentality can lead someone to try and take credit for someone else’s work, that they know has already proved to be successful. While this is a terrible practice, I feel like it happens a lot, and unknown/more obscure artists, are usually the victims of these actions. Choreographers often “borrow” work from others and teach it well enough that singers hiring them, who may not be familiar with certain pieces, will just believe that all of the choreographer’s work is original. This is a big issue because if a choreographer is hired based off the practice of already borrowing other’s art, they will continue to do so and not see the problem.
Though the title is a little misleading, like Emma said, the article still brings up an issue I never thought about. If there isn’t video evidence of a choreographed piece, it’s hard to defend your own hard work. A lot of choreography is “borrowed” by other choreographers and published as their own. A Los Angeles based dance company who I have followed for a very long time has this problem all of the time. While it’s not traditional ballet or contemporary dance, the head choreographer’s work is stolen for music videos and other hip hop performances all of the time. Though all of their work is posted on Youtube, it’s still hard to accuse people of stealing moves when dancing isn’t copyrighted. In this situation, it is still appalling that having such an opportunity wasted by stealing the work of a place as well known as Alvin Ailey is honestly just stupidity showing through. I’m interested to see how this plays out in the dance world and if any more light will be shed onto this ongoing problem.
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