Works, Actions, and Structures
Chapter 5 elaborates the view that dances are indicated structures of action-types, manifest in performance events. The nature of dance action-types and choreographic structuring principles are discussed. The chapter develops the idea that choreographic authorship is a form of artistic indication and explores debates about dancer co-authorship, arguing for the latter under certain conditions. The notion of a norm-type or kind is also considered, alongside the idea that choreography specifies norms for performance. The chapter considers how dance works often depend on underlying consensus about such norms rather than on scores or texts which articulate them explicitly. Contemporary scoring practices are examined in this regard, and it is argued that there is no sharp division between works and structured improvisations. The question of how a norm-type or kind can be manifest is addressed, the chapter arguing that works (qua norm-types or kinds) are only indirectly perceptible.