ABSTRACT
Peggy Baker’s project, The Choreographer’s Trust, raises questions about the creator’s authority in the preservation process. Her dual goals—documenting her choreography while allowing for interpretive latitude—create an apparent contradiction in which the choreographer’s traditionally privileged position is both restricted and reinforced. Baker’s example provides an opportunity for reflection on such dance preservation issues as the significance of embedding uncertainty into the archiving process, choreography’s resistance to authoritative readings, and the positioning of an artist in relation to his or her archival material.
