Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Identity Theft

Some people do not even realize that they are stealing. It's one thing to use choreography with permission, but it's another to make a practice of incorporating ideas from someone else and presenting them as our own. It's also dangerous to blatantly copy everything that we admire about our fellow dancers.

After dancing a few years back, I had a lady call me on the telephone who informed me that she had taped our dance and wanted to know the song title and artist. Her direct quote to me was "I am going to teach that piece to my girls!" I was shocked to say the least. I have also had people teach pieces recently that I have choreographed without first asking permission, and then inform me about it afterward. I have no problem granting permission for choreography use, but it could get sticky if I were to show up and dance and my piece looked all-too-familiar...

It's great to be inspired by each other. The Bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. We have all been influenced directly or indirectly by someone else. We are also reminded in the Word that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He did not make every flower look the same. We are all uniquely appointed to carry out His work. Let us continue to rely on the Lord for our choreography, garments, song selection, and leading. We can never go wrong when we are inspired by Him.

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