P.S. 38: Copyright and Choreography

These are on people’s minds following Philly’s recent Remix Festival. How do artists navigate issues of appropriation, especially with readily available internet content (remember Beyoncé vs. De Keersmaeker http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PDT0m514TMw)? Is copyright an outdated concept? And as Claudia LaRocco wrote on Arforum on March 24: “Who owns a tradition, a technique? How can you translate it? Must you be on your knees to pay homage?” When is it OK to borrow art?

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To You—who I think about all the time:

Jennifer Passios

A letter to my favorite student

In a dance studio with white walls, a light gray marley floor, and two large whiteboards along the back wall, situated above a double-stacked wooden ballet barre, eleven college students lay supine with their arms raised and legs parted in an “X” shape on the ground. They lay at different angles, breathing deeply, following the instructions of the teacher at the front of the room. The instructor, tD writer Jennifer Passios, faces the students. She wears a black Adidas jacket. Her hair falls in a half-up-half down updo as her arms reach skyward in the same “X” gesture that the students make on the ground.
Photo: Jacob Regan