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Beyonce accused of dance move plagiarism
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 10 October 2011
Beyonce has been accused of nicking dance moves off Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for the video to her new track ‘Countdown’. Teresa commented after a number of people noted online the similarities between the Beyonce promo and two of her dance pieces.
According to AceShowbiz.com, Keersmaker wrote on a Danish blog: “I didn’t know anything about this. I’m not mad, but this is plagiarism… This is stealing. They took pieces from ‘Achterland’ and ‘Rosas danst Rosas’. It’s a bit rude, I must say. What’s rude about it is that they don’t even bother about hiding it. They seem to think they could do it because it’s a famous work… Am I honoured? Look, I’ve seen local school kids doing this. That’s a lot more beautiful”.
However, while admitting she and Beyonce viewed a number of existing dance pieces before devising the ‘Countdown’ vid, hence the possibility of a few moves influenced by Keersmaker’s work, the video’s co-director Adria Petty insists that the overall choreography of the promo is original. Speaking to MTV, she says Beyonce and her team developed significantly any specific elements taken from other pieces, while adding that “German modern-dance references” were actually the greatest influence over all.
Although choreography is generally covered by the dramatic copyright, it looks unlikely Keersmaker will take any action besides blogging her disappointment.
