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 Is copyright an outdated concept?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?

Share this article

PARTNER CONTENT

Keep Reading

A (Mostly) Moving Romeo & Juliet for Our Times

Caedra Scott-Flaherty

Benjamin Millepied’s Romeo & Juliet Suite uses dance, theater, and film to retell a timeless tale.

David Adrian Freeland Jr., wearing a blue sleeveless top and pants, and Morgan Lugo, wearing a red sleeveless top and pants, kneel facing each other on the red-lit stage. With closed eyes and tilted heads, they touch palms, one arm straight and the other bent by their cheeks.
Photo: Stephanie Berger

My Tongue is a Blade, is a Blade, is a Blade

Caedra Scott-Flaherty

Sweat Variant’s new durational work tests the limits of attention.

Performers Bria Bacon and Okwui Okpokwasili, both Black women wearing black, stand in the middle of a spinning structure at the center of the room, surrounded by a seated audience. The structure is round with a black bottom and reflective panels about 8 feet tall surrounding it. Through the spaces between the panels, Bacon and Okpokwasili are seen standing close together, facing each other. Becon's knees and arms are bent. Okpokwasili has a hand on Bacon's head and gazes above it.
Photo: Ava Pellor