I’ve encountered many instances in dance wherein you come
face to face with dancers who have plagiarized other dancers. Some copy the
steps, some copy the music, some copy the costumes, and some copy the name… some
even copy the crew motto. The term “biter” is very popular nowadays
merely because there are so many times that this term needs to be used. Although
“Biting” has been going on ever since the birth of modern dance, YouTube, and
other video sharing sites, have made it significantly easy to “bite”. Biting
even gets mistaken for “inspiration”, and it’s about time we all accept that
there isn’t just a small line defining between
“biting” and “inspiration”, there’s actually a HUGE chasm
in between them.
Of course my initial response to this was “what the hell!?” hating them from the
very bottom of my heart. But after some contemplation I’ve come up with this
understanding:
People imitate because when they see something they like
they want so much inside to be like that too. They wish so much to be on
"that" level that when they cannot come up with a way to get there
they end up duplicating what they see and hope that others don't catch on.
Sometimes people copy because they see others do it, thus justifying the act. Most
(if not all) crews do this. We see others in action and take bits and pieces of
what we think looked good. We do it to be effective.
This is what normally happens for crews that care about nothing more than to
look good. Which I’m sure most of us are guilty of.
Why not be original?? Because originality has a price. To just "be
original" is a gigantic responsibility. As I said earlier, crews copy from
others to be "effective" coz we know it works therefore why not use
it too? Right? Originality is so burdensome and it's risky. Because there is no
way for you to find out if it will be effective unless you try it out. And in
trying it out, the chances of failure is far too great.
When the Philippine all-stars did their thing the nation started doing their
stuff, down to their costumes, to their steps, to their dynamics, to their
music... heck even to their name. And why? Because tried and tested it works.
originality means you have to put up with the criticism, put up with the lack
of followers, lack of fans, trying to avoid selling-out, trying to STAY
ORIGINAL. And all these things are very difficult much more of you're not all
that serious about dancing. If you’re just dancing for kicks then why not stick
to something people will enjoy? Why not do something people are familiar with? It’s
far easier to make it around dancing by doing what others have done.
But I guess that's what marks the difference... whether you take dance as a
trade, or as an art. If you truly are serious about it then copying won't be
good enough for you. If you are just "ok" or "so-so" with
dance then go copy, heck everyone's doing it.
But please, if you do copy (bite) please don't sprout that "expression",
"inspiration", "for God", "for art", "for
the Philippines" crap. Saying stuff like that to counter the hate
you'll be receiving from REAL dancers won't work.
Ok guys? Take responsibility for your actions, please.
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