Xavier Le Roy

Xavier Le Roy holds a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Montpellier, France, and has worked as a dancer and choreographer since 1991. From 1997 to 2003, he was artist-in-residence at the Podewil in Berlin. In 2007-2008 he was “Associated Artist” at Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier, France. In 2010 Le Roy is an Artist in Residence fellow at the MIT Program in Art Culture and Technology (Cambridge, MA). Through his solo works such as Self Unfinished (1998) and Product of Circumstances (1999), he has opened new perspectives for dance and his individual approach has radicalized academic discourse about the body and choreographic art. His latest works, such as the solos Le Sacre du Printemps (2007) and Product of Other Circumstances (2009), as well as the group piece Floor Pieces explore more explicitly diverse mode of relationships between spectators and performers.

Xavier also created and was involved in several works that are linked to recreation, copyright, authorship and piracy, such as: Yvonne Rainer's "Continuous Project-Altered Daily" (1970) recreation with the Quatuor Albrecht Knust in 1996, "Xavier Le Roy" (2000) from Jérome Bel, "Giszelle" (2001), "Untitled" (2005) and "Le Sacre du Printemps" (2007).

Xavier Le Roy was given carte blanche to invite somebody to discuss copyright from the perspective of performance arts, and invited Mårten Spångberg as discussion partner. How to deal with re-usage, re-interpretation and re-enactment? Is it an infraction of copyrights, or should it also be taken as a compliment and a possibility to find a new audience for a work?