Ok, here's the deal. Recently, I made a very hard decision to resign from my position at a studio. It was a horrible situation and a lot of dance drama...(we all know about that!)

Anyway, I have some girls who have also quit at the studio. They want to register at a competition who allows Independents. For solos, or anything where I was paid a private lesson fee, I assume that I can take my choreography anywhere I want and so can the parent since they paid for it.

However, how does that work if it's a routine in which I completely choreographed, but is a part of the studio class time. Meaning, I was paid by the studio for that class and therefore, routine.

Do I have any right to take that routine to the competition? Or can the owners take action against me if I do so. Who has property of that choreography?

Any concrete advise would be much appreciated.

If the studio paid you to create the choreography for their students, they own the choreography.

Did you work under a contract? You should check this out with a lawyer who specializes in contracts. It is my understanding that if you are contracted by a studio and not an employee of the studio, you own the rights to choreography.

I went to a dance concert at my university yesterday and interestingly I saw on the playbill, "Originally choreographed for the XYZ College Dance Team." Maybe it's okay with a disclaimer like that? Don't know about competitions though... definitely re-read your contract or terms of employment.

It all depends on the contract you signed, if it states that they own the choreography, then they do and you don't. If they neglected to put that in your contract, or even didn't get you to sign a contract, then it's yours. End of story !
Just read over the contract you signed.

No matter how attached we get to a routine, the fact is that everyone executes it differently. We've all "recycled" dances that worked well...change in tempo, intent, music, focus, port a bras..... I think it's difficult to claim ownership of one piece or another.

Most ballet variations are etched in our brains from our early teen years and I'm sure we often tap into someone's choreography without intent to plagiarizer.

Is your old studio competing in the same event?

With a few minor changes I'm sure you can make your new piece unique.

Most choreographers tend to repeat favorite phrases anyway. It's not steeling. It's just where your heart lies. Did you see Movin' Out? If you take away the Billy Joel music, the steps, leaps, and turns are all pretty predictable. And we're taking Twyla Tharp here, not neighborhood dance schools.

Do what you do best and move forward. If you're done with your old studio, be done with it. Focus on the future and stop thinking about what didn't work out in the past.

Good Luck

If you are concerned about legality, or if there was a ton of drama with your departure, then like everyone else said, take a copy of your contract to a lawyer and see what he has to say.

Most studios have a clause in their contract like this: "anything created here at xyz studio is sole property of xyz studio".

It may be a bit sketchy when it comes to solo/duo/trio because it is like the parents directly commissioned the piece of work from you, so really go talk to a lawyer about it.

My understanding (as a dancer and not a lawyer) has been that anything that I created while being paid by that school is owned by that school. I can not take that choreography and reset it on dancers of a different school. Despite the fact that the individual dancers are the same in this case, I would think that this would work in a similar fashion (even if they are now independent.)

Do I think the school will attempt a legal case against you? No. Do I think it's best to avoid additional drama? Of course. Personally, I would choreograph new pieces. If you were good enough to set amazing pieces for this old school, you are good enough (hopefully now better) to set more amazing pieces for your independent dancers.

As others have stated, read your contract.

I have had a few problems with this and my feeling is that if I was not specifically paid for the actual choreography (say a dance I did during regular class time for recital) then it is my choreography and I have rights to reuse it at will. If the studio contracted me to choreograph a piece and paid me for the choreography I make them sign a disclosure that they have rights to it for 1-2 seasons (depending on the individual contract). That allows them to compete the piece and not worry about seeing the same thing from someone else. After that specified period, though, its my "property" again. If they would like to reuse it for another competition season, we renegotiate the terms.

This has made things very clear for me and my employers. With it being the same competition season, it gets a little tricky. Good Luck with it all!

Unless you sign a contract otherwise, it is the studio. But I have never run into a studio that would press the issue if the teacher used it elsewhere.

For me it is never an issue, no matter where I teach, as I never choreograph the same song the same way, no matter how many times I have used a song.

As a studio owner, I would never have stopped a teacher from using it again elsewhere, even if they left to work for someone else. It does not bother me in the least and I never feared that it would affect my bottom line.