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Growing up in a small Texas town, I couldn't tell if it was the music, the costumes or the videography, but I remember feeling captivated by music videos. As I got older, I realized what drew me into them the most: the movement.

Layered over the film and lyricism flowing off the screen, dancers trotted across, riding the wave of the groove so elegantly. To me, they brought the song to life. The one that stuck out for me the most was Sia's music video for "Chandelier." I hadn't seen anything like it before. The more I was consumed by Maddie Ziegler's performance, the more I became obsessed with the question of where it all originated.

Who was the choreographer?

Screenshot of Sia's "Chandelier" music video (source: Vevo)

Looking for credits, I turned to the description below the video and found nothing but more information about Sia. This became a common trend for me each time I saw a music video that caught my eye. Soon the trend expanded to film and TV.

Where was the choreographer? Why no credit?

I'm not the only one with these questions. In the dance world, and especially now in the digital age, questions about how dancers and choreographers can protect their work are becoming increasingly urgent. Under U.S. law, choreography is protected under the 1976 Copyright Act, but there are a host of stipulations nearly impossible to unravel.

The Copyright Act has yet to be updated for the digital age. The latest revision was made in 1998 in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to catch up with the rise of the internet, focusing on the distribution of music.

But there were no updates made for choreography and dance.

"There's nobody in Congress or the Senate who feels it's important enough to spend any time or money on that [dance copyright] and the Digital Millennium Copyright act is so outdated, but that's where the work has to be done." said intellectual property lawyer Robin Russell, who is former executive vice president of Business Affairs at, Sony Pictures.

It sounds simple, but Russell believes it'll take the effort of agents and dancers to catch dance up with the law.

"It's super important to enlist those agents and representatives to start creating a new licensing model as opposed to doing everything on a work-for-hire basis and that's going to be your first step," she said.

Today's Dance

Dancer, choreographer and USC student Olivia Gieringer said part of the reason dance makers struggle with credit is because of the lack of appreciation given to dance.

"There's nothing negative that could come out of crediting a choreographer, so I don't understand why that disconnect is there," she said. "I think it all comes down to a lack of respect for dance as an art form, in general."

As a student at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, she learned how to stand up for herself as a dancer from the faculty who work in the entertainment industry. However, she said there is no right answer.

There are only so many tips on how to politely ask for more credit as a dancer. She said there is still a sense of hierarchy in entertainment.

"For dancers, there's a fear to stand up for yourself," Gieringer said, "because jobs are so scarce and opportunities only come so often. You don't want to burn bridges, especially considering how small the dance world is, and so I think a lot of dancers are really fearful for standing up for themselves and saying, ‘I would like to be credited for this.'".

Choreographer Amy O'Neal, who is a hip-hop lecturer at USC, shares this reality with her students. She said she has experienced moments on set where she's had to draw the line for herself and other dancers.

"Whatever route they choose, you need to really be a strong advocate for yourself and for other dancers," she said. "You have to be educating people about your worth all the time."

O'Neal said most of the time, the producer or director just doesn't know the perspective of the dancer. In one instance, a group of dancers were asked to choreograph, but in their contracts they were told they were only going to freestyle. As the casting director, O'Neal had to step in and explain that choreographing goes beyond what they signed up for and would be asking more out of the dancers. The team was receptive, but sometimes this may not be the case.

"Luckily," she added, "with the projects that I've worked on, I've been able to make sure that I talk about that [credit] right up front when we're talking about contracting so that it's either written in my contract that I get a very specific credit or that it's already in the conversation from the get go."

Negotiating Dance

Talent agents typically negotiate contracts for dancers and choreographers. The big-name agencies representing talent in the dance world include McDonald/Selznick Associates (MSA), Go 2 Talent Agency (G2T), Clear Talent Group (CTG), Bloc Talent Agency and The Movement Talent Agency (MTA). This is important because there aren't a lot of agencies representing dance.

Talent Agencies

Here are some of the prominent agencies representing dancers and choreographers

A talent agent for a dancer has a different mind set from an actor, for example, because negotiating contracts are a bit more extensive. Senior Agent and co-founder of MSA Julie McDonald said when negotiating contracts, she ensures she doesn't agree to anything that the dancer doesn't agree to, especially because dancing is a bit more intimate and physical.

She also advocates for credit when negotiating contracts with talent.

"What I have done in my career is I have tried wherever possible to ensure that these choreographers get put [in the credits] for their work," she said.

Dancers and choreographers in entertainment are not unionized, so unlike directors or actors, they only operate under work for hire. Actors have the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA. Once actors appear in three speaking roles on TV or film, they are eligible to join the guild. With a membership, SAG-AFTRA sets a bar for working conditions, wages, etc. Meanwhile, dancers and choreographers don't have set benefits and standards universally known in entertainment. It is all negotiated.

Since dancers are work for hire, it creates complexities in their career, particularly when going between the stage and the screen.

"There's a lot more respect for the craft of choreography in the theatre and in the concert world, like the ballet world and the modern dance world, than there is in the commercial dance field," McDonald said.

She noted that as part of the creative team for a staged production, whether it be for theatre or concert dance, there is more protection put on the work of the choreographer. This is because they will most likely have an intellectual property clause in their contract.

The intellectual property clause ensures that both parties, the production and the artist, retains ownership of the work. By the end of the production, the choreographer then has royalties on the work.

In TV and film, there is no guarantee of royalties or credit.

McDonald explained that a big part of establishing credit is the placement of dance. The credit line for a choreographer depends on how much of the dance was on screen and how collaborative it was. For having choreographed a single scene, the choreographer's name will most likely appear lower in the credits.

While working with her talent involved in "Michael Jackson's This Is It" documentary, she had to fight for their names to make the credits.

"There's a lot of different choreographers who contributed to Michael Jackson's choreography over his career," she said. "I fought pretty hard to make sure all of those choreographers were listed, at the very end of the film, but at least their names are there."

Needless to say, there's a lot that goes into putting a name in the credits, especially for dancers and choreographers. Dancers Alliance helps to alleviate the stresses of working in the professional world as a dancer.

As defined in their mission statement, they "continue to work with agents, SAG-AFTRA, and the community to build productive relationships with producers, casting agents, and record labels that ensure continued improvements in our industry, and are dedicated to sustaining our movement through mentoring and direct community outreach."

The alliance's website has outlined rates dancers should be asking for on projects, resources for healthcare, events and more.

In collaboration with agents like McDonald, Dancers Alliance makes up for what dancers are missing out on without a union. McDonald hopes it'll only be temporary.

"My great hope is that one day choreographers will have a union for their work in film and television," she said.

Stealing Dance

Dancers eased their way into the chairs that surrounded the perimeter of the stage. They flowed down like feathers,

    until          POP!

Each dancer, bathed in red lighting, jumped out of their chair one by one. Their chests opened above them, as if being lifted by an outside force. Just as quickly as they came up, they fell back to their chairs, hunched over in agony. All came back to the chair except for the last one in the line of dancers. Instead, the last dancer collapsed to the ground in front of them.

All while singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini sang in the center.

This choreographic description may sound similar to those familiar with Ohad Naharin and his work. On Nov. 14, 2018, Ballerini performed "Miss Me More" at the CMAs with choreography that resembled Naharin's.

The following week, Dance Magazine reporter Lauren Wingenroth called out Ballerini and her choreographers Nick Florez and R.J. Durell for copying Naharin's "Echad Mi Yodea" sequence in Minus 16.

Not long after, Batsheva Dance Company responded with a post on Facebook saying, "Over the past few days, we have received many messages from friends about the extraordinary similarity between Kelsea Ballerini's CMA performance and Ohad Naharin's "Echad Mi Yodea". Come watch the real thing: "Decadance" by Ohad Naharin in Tel Aviv.

Finding Dance

On Sept. 25, 2019, Jalaiah Harmon posted a dance with her friend on Instagram to the song "Lottery" by rapper K-Camp. Little did she know her dance would become a popular trend on TikTok. However, as the dance trend titled the "Renegade" spread over social media, her name didn't.

It wasn't until Vox published an article on Feb. 4, 2020 about the origin of the "Renegade" that her name was connected to the dance.

In the age of digital media, dances are easily spread and uncredited, but at the same time it is easily caught.

"I think that social media just makes it more widespread or makes it happen faster but then the cool thing is that we can actually catch it," O'Neal said.

This has been happening for a long time, O'Neal explained. It goes deep into the roots of American history and reflects the cultural inequalities of the U.S.

Black social dances are notoriously stolen and popularized by white America. The television program ‘American Bandstand' featured dances taken from African American culture. Those moves were soon translated to ‘Soul Train' in the 1970s where the originators were represented on screen, unlike American Bandstand.

The history of stolen black dances goes as far back as slavery and is as prevalent as today.

The difference today is that it is out in the open for everyone to see through the internet, O'Neal remarked.

Across TikTok, the latest social media platform that is rising in popularity, dance trends spread like wildfire. As they spread, there is more attention given to crediting the choreographer, especially after Harmon's story made it to the public. When the credit isn't given, other users are quick to add them in the comment section.

TikTok has shown that the attention given to credit is rising, and that mentality is slowly making it to the entertainment industry.

Rising artists like mxmtoon, half alive and Kevin McHale are adding the choreographer in the description below their music video. Grammy-winning artist FINNEAS includes all parts of the team in the description, including dancers and choreographers.

Dancer Ilan Nunez performed in FINNEAS's music video for "Shelter" and commented on the importance of crediting the dance community.

Screenshot from the "Shelter" music video by FINNEAS (source: Vevo)

"It's a lot that goes into it to not give it the respect it deserves," Nunez said. "It's also kind of sad because those are the moments people tend to remember all the time."

Nunez believes that the more people see the names of dancers and choreographers credited, the better informed the public will be.

By crediting dancers, people will know who makes the music video so mesmerizing. O'Neal remembered having a similar experience watching music videos, wondering who the talent was behind the movement.

"Because I did see a lot of music videos growing up where there was this iconic choreography and then you never know about those choreographers unless you're in that scene and you're working with them or you were a part of that project," she said.

I experienced exactly that. I didn't know the choreographer of "Chandelier" until I came to Los Angeles. After freshman year, I looked for dance studios nearby campus. One of the ones that popped up online was Ryan Heffington's The Sweat Spot. I looked deeper into the studio and learned that he was the choreographer of the music video, as well as many other projects by Sia.

After seeing him move, I saw his choreographic signature in his dancing. It was similar to the movement seen in Sia's music videos.

I figured it out. I just had to travel 1,400 miles and get a job at the choreographer's dance studio to get the name behind the movement. Meanwhile, others are still searching in the description below.