The 1861 court ruled in favor of Perrot, agreeing that the composition of a dance "could nevertheless constitute a composition in which copyright might exist".
The "Nutcracker" dances, from Rudolf Nureyev's production, illustrate at once everything that was always most horrid about Nureyev's methods of dance composition.
The awards, which acknowledge achievements in dance and performance art, are named for Bessie Schönberg, a teacher of dance composition who died in 1997.
Most impressive was "Dashavatara," a varnam, or kind of dance composition that requires the performer to balance demanding technical effects with a clear flow of abstracted storytelling.
The other was his use of a Life Forms (now DanceForms) system of dance composition on the computer, which, from 1989 on, he has not only used but also helped to develop.
The production includes a film featuring the musings of Martha Myers, 80, a noted teacher of dance composition, and a text by Coleman Hough that ponders how the lines of our lives form a complex social map.
The 16th annual New York Dance and Performance Awards, familiarly known as the Bessies in honor of Bessie Schonberg, a noted teacher of dance composition, were given on Friday night at the Joyce Theater.
Its introduction to an English-speaking audience enabled more widespread communication of dance compositions and promoted a uniform set of standards in dance throughout England.
It's Bach's only long-form keyboard composition (the others are suites of dance movements), thus making it resemble, oddly enough, the grand and absorbing musical experience of a romantic symphony.
Events this weekend, "Design Fabulous Rose Combinations," a demonstration, tomorrow and Sunday at 1 p.m. "The Color Wheel in Roses: Yellows, Oranges, Mauves and Stripes," a tour, tomorrow at 2 p.m.; "All-America Rose Selections" preview tour, Sunday at 2 p.m. Two performances, both at 1 p.m., "A Composition of Music and Roses" (tomorrow) and "Dancing in an Autumn Garden" (Sunday).
