StealThisDance.com – Examining Intellectual Property Through Dance

The intellectual property debate has affected everything from rap mix tapes to illegal downloads. As part of their new work, Punk Yankees, Lucky Plush Productions of Chicago have created a website that (rather humorously) examines this debate as it exists for dancers. In an art form where creation can often be largely comprised of a reordering of known material, the lines between sampling and stealing can be quite blurred. Where is the line between appropriate borrowing and stealing? How do you steal respectfully? Lucky Plush explores these and other questions on their new website: StealThisDance.com

The site features many videos that explore various forms of appropriation. Some particularly interesting selections explore the idea of teaching an impersonation of a re-choreographing of a remembering of a phrase (a true brain teaser). This convoluted method of developing material rather puts one in mind of the game of Telephone. The end result is quite different from the original, which itself is questionable in integrity because it is remembered rather than created. These videos make the viewer question the originality of the newly-developed material.

The most memorable video shows a dance that is a mash-up of different iconic moments of dance in the media. The piece is set to Beyonce’s song-of-the-moment, “Single Ladies.” The song’s music video has gained notoriety because it features Beyonce performing a routine that is heavily influenced by Bob Fosse, making "Single Ladies" an excellent music choice for a dance that focuses on appropriating movement. The finished product is entertaining and, oddly enough, puts me in mind of the days when I would watch and re-watch TRL every afternoon until I had the moves to “Bye Bye Bye” down pat. At the same time, the piece gets me thinking about the difference between an homage and appropriation. Fosse’s material is well-known enough that it doesn’t really need to be specifically cited in order for people to know that it is his. However, use of any material without proper acknowledgement of the original author is generally considered plagiarism. Did the “Single Ladies” choreographer, whoever s/he is, pay tribute to Fosse or steal from him? It’s a question I’m not sure I can answer, but I will say that given a choice between Lucky Plush’s Single Ladies (Stole This Dance) video and the new iconic-dance-moments-mash-up movie Dance Flick, I would much rather watch Lucky Plush.

The highlight of the site, however, is the Moves Boutique. Various movers (including Peter Carpenter and David Roussève) donated video-recorded moves and suggested a price at which the moves can be purchased. Of course, as the website acknowledges, it is up to the individual whether or not they will pay the full price, a portion of the price, or steal the moves instead of paying. While this is obviously a humorous spin on the concept of stealing movement, the idea of putting a dollar value on a given movement really gets me thinking about what the value of dance is in this society and who gets to decide which dances are move valued than others (in terms of dollar amounts).

The only criticism of the site that I have is that there is no discussion forum available to the visitor. I would love to discuss some of the questions that these works raise for me with others. However, I’m sure that Lucky Plush is receiving reactions to the site, thanks to an open invitation to share any work that includes moves, bought or stolen, from the website. There’s a lot to explore on this site, all of it thought-provoking and entertaining. I highly encourage everyone to check it out.

Punk Yankees is set to premiere in October of 2009 at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.