Thread: Giving Credit correctly...question

If you take a workshop from someone who teaches a choreography and then 2 years later you perform to a song, and you know that you have a handful of movements that came from the choreography as it was taught, but that the majority of the song you had to "reinvent" because you forgot the original choreo....how do you appropriately credit the workshop instructor? Would it be, for example, "Song X, choreographed by Sonja, inspired by XYZ" or would it be "Song X, choreographed by XYZ, modified by Sonja"?

Thanks! I find this to be a perplexing situation, and just wanted to know in case I decide to perform a particular piece where I would need to provide this info.

i guess it depends on how much you remembered and how much you reinvented. if you made up most of it, then i'd tend to say "inspired by", whereas if you keep quite a big proportion of the original, then i'd say "modified by"..

I would go with the first option b/c you have changed the original choreography but still you are using some of the instructors choreo. as well, so it is INSPIRED by so and so.

I would agree with inspired by. Also, I have come full circle with applying credits. Often there isn't an opportunity to, and I used to make a point of having someone announce the credit, or announce it myself. However, if I dance something that's inspired by someone, or fully choreographed by someone, it's going to be an Egyptian, and really they are not that bothered (I checked with the persons concerned!). So now I credit where there is an opportunity to (for example if someone say 'great choreo caroline!', or if there is a programme - but I no longer stand out like a sore thumb to do it on each & every occassion.

I'd say 'inspired by' or even, if it was just bits and pieces and I wasn't sure the teacher would even recognize most of it -- 'with special thanks to...'

"Inspired by" means you saw something and you went off and made up something new from that "inspiration." To me, a workshop choreography where you've filled in the gaps isn't "an inspiration" unless you walked out of the workshop thinking, "I really liked this one combination, and I liked it so much, I'm going to build a whole different dance around it by exploring its theme further." That's not the same mind set as thinking, "I liked this choreography, and I wish I remembered it in tact, but I don't, so I'm going to make a stab at making up some stuff to cover the parts I forgot by trying to do things that I think are consistent with the style." The first situation is artistic innovation and the second one is reverse engineering. That's not to say they're not both creative endeavors (they are), but they're working in two different directions.

Personally, I wouldn't use the words "inspired by" for the situation you're describing. To me, what you're doing is better described as "based on." The words "based on" also have the advantage of being considerably less pretentious sounding, and considering a workshop choreography isn't a participant's innovation to begin with, I think it's a more honest fit.

I'd say "Song X, performed by Sonja, based on a choreography by XYZ" if it's mostly XYZ's original, and "Song X, choreographed by Sonja, based on the style of XYZ" if it's just a few memorable combinations.

I might say something like, "adapted from a choreography by XYZ."

Originally Posted by nisaasaintlouis

I might say something like, "adapted from a choreography by XYZ."

ohh - I like that better than "inspired by"

When in doubt... give credit

But you have to be careful, if only 10% of the original dance remains, that you're not assigning YOUR work to someone else (who might not like or appreciate it).

If I were doing more than, say, 60% of the original choreography, I'd say 'Choreographed by XYZ, adapted by Lauren.'

If about 40-60% of the original choreography remained, I'd say 'Based on a choreography by XYZ'

20-40% of the original choreo, I'd say 'Inspired by...'

If it was mostly my own work but I had a feeling some bitschoreos from the workshop were sneaking in there (which is what I understood from the OP) I'd say 'With special thanks to XYZ.'

The percentages are kind of arbitrary, of course, but I wouldn't want to attach XYZ's name to a piece they wouldn't recognize and blame them for whatever mess I'd created.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

The percentages are kind of arbitrary, of course, but I wouldn't want to attach XYZ's name to a piece they wouldn't recognize and blame them for whatever mess I'd created.

This is true! I remember one workshop instructor telling us that she would prefer her name NOT be attached to choreographies that had been modified--I guess what if they really suck? ..l;,

I think Lauren gives a nice rule of thumb. The bottom line is to give credit in some form, the rest is just semantics--your "inspiration" may be someone else's "adaptation" and vise versa. The only time I would not give credit is if the original creator has specifically asked not to be credited, in that case I might say "inspired (or whatever or word of choice is) by material from a special workshop on XYZ" or in some way acknowledge the origin of the work.
If it is a very well know piece, chances are a BD audience will know how much you kept and how much you created yourself & you will be appreciated for having the class to admit that you borrowed from someone else's creative genius. Which is not a bad thing at all, but there are often threads about dancers who fail to credit the original creator at all.