The dancer’s role in twenty-first century western contemporary dance reflects the rapidity of information transfer at this current historical moment. The proliferation of choreographic signatures in recent years has ‘unhooked’ the dancing body from canonical modern dance styles and this progression from distinct choreographic styles into individualistic choreographic signatures has changed the ‘labour’ of the dancer from perfecting one technique to embodying a series of different choreographic incorporations over time. Furthermore, the availability of choreographic work through internet sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, allow dancers access to a range of influences through digital image, rather than body to body transmission. Thus, dance can more immediately influence through its simulacra, which denotes physical absence rather than through intercorporeal exchange which implies presence. How can dancers operating within a highly globalised culture draw together such a broad range of influences into a cohesive moving identity?

In this paper, I explore how choreographic movement traces collide through the dancing body to form new signature ways of moving. I reflect on approaches that enable dancers to create personal reference points in choreographic movement and to contextualise movement within a frame of reference that acknowledges the influence of cultural location, gender, training and anatomy on the moving identity.