Motion capture has been a staple of film, TV, and gaming for multiple decades. And dancers, as expert movers, are often involved in the recording process. But, recently, artificial intelligence has led to advances in performance-capture and animation technology, making it simpler to record, analyze, and digitally re-create a person’s movements. (Those clunky sensors might soon be a thing of the past.) While these changes have the potential to streamline the motion-capture process, they also introduce new questions about the future of artistic production—and dance artists’ role in it.

While the phrase “my dancers” may not deliberately subjugate dancers, the notion of ownership over other bodies, their work and their ideas is linked to patriarchal traditions and the legacy of slavery. With that in mind, the linguistic habit, used mostly as a shorthand—or even a term of endearment—becomes rather alarming.