The Death of the

Dancer.
About the dancer/choreographer’s authorship in
contemporary dance.
• Roland Barthes, Structuralism and
Post-structuralism

• “The Death of the Author” (essay

by Roland Barthes)

• “Xavier Le Roy” (performance by

Jerôme Bèl)

• Theoretical Task
author

scripto
r
A text is a coherent set of symbols
that transmits some kind of
informative message.
The word choreography literally
means "dance-writing" from the
Greek words "χορεία" (circular
dance, see chorea) and "γραφή"
(writing).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choreography (Retrieved 14/02/2010)
structuralism: there are
unobservable structures within a
system that generate observable
phenomena
texts could be interpreted based solely on the
cultural and social circumstances of the author
came to believe that the reader's culture and
society shared an equal part in the
interpretation of a piece. If the reader sees it
in one way, how do we know that that is the
way the author intended? We don't. [...] the
interpretation and criticism of any literature is
in the hands of the individual reader and will
necessarily include that reader's own cultural
biases and assumptions. While many
structuralists first thought that they could
tease out an author's intention by close
scrutiny, they soon found so many
disconnections, that it was obvious that their
own experiences lent a view that was unique
to them.
 Search for
analogies:
• “text” = “dance performance”, “art work”
• “author” = “choreographer”, “dancer”,
“artist”

• “reader” = “audience”, “spectator”

• “writing” = “choreographing”, “dancing”,
“creating”
"[The poem] is detached from the
author at birth and goes about the
world beyond his power to intend
about it or control it. The poem
belongs to the public.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author (Retrieved 14/02/2010)
Jerôme Bèl
“I consider that the audience
are the co-producers of my
pieces. Without them there is
no show!“ (Jerôme Bèl)
Jerôme Bèl: “Xavier Le Roy”

http://www.catalogueraisonne-jeromebel.com/player.php?ep=5
•To X: Who would you entrust with
the task to create a performance in
your style called “Y”?

•To Y: If X was the author of your

piece called “Y” what would it look
like and how would you go about
making it in order to follow X’s
style?

• Key: X = author, Y = scriptor and performance title

Titles:
• “Thom Bodle”
• “Katie Cheetham”
• “Amy Clark”
• “Rebecca Hollis”
• “Chantelle Hutson”
• “Rebecca Jeffs”
• “Rachael Jennings”
• “Nikki McLusky”
• “Hannah Rycraft”
• “Sarah Vaughan-Jones”
• “Jade Whitehead”
1. Which (type of) dancers would you use?
2. What would the subject of your piece be, considering that it
was a continuation of X’s last piece?
3. Which methods would you employ in order to create it?
4. What would the piece look like regarding e.g. light,
costumes, stage design/set, visuals, movement qualities
etc.?
5. What would the audience feel or think whilst watching the
performance?
6. If you were the author of this performance how would it be
different or similar?