Professional Norms and the Legitimacy of Violence

The asymmetry in the relationship between employer choreographers and employee dancers can be seen in reports of specific forms of symbolic force, necessary for the choreographer to be seen as a ‘creator’ and for the dancers to think of themselves as interpreters. This game of dupe allows choreographic production to work, even when the charismatic legitimacy of the choreographer is weakened and the economic dimension of the working relationship then comes into the foreground. This observation then leads us to take into account the different expressions of violence, including when violence occurs through ‘soft’ cooperation and even with the cooperation of those experiencing it, so that it can be measured only after being viewed through reflective looking back on the working situation.