In from rock to rock, Brooklyn-born, Basel-based choreographer Jeremy Nedd takes inspiration from a rapper’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a video game company.

Nedd delves into the complexities of dance ownership and cultural appropriation in this performance, which centers on the “Milly Rock,” a dance move popularized by Brooklyn rapper 2 Milly that became the subject of a legal dispute when it was incorporated into the wildly popular video game Fortnite without acknowledgment. The piece features five talented performers who engage in repetitive iterations of the move, with variations that explore the hidden poetry inherent in social and viral dances.

With its focus on a gesture that has moved from smaller communities to mainstream platforms, the performance highlights issues of cultural exploitation and the dynamics of creative expression in the age of TikTok and internet virality. “What does it mean to have a billion-dollar video game company be able to capitalize off of something that comes from a Black space of creativity?” Nedd asks. He explores the “algorhythm” of viral dances, asking whether a dance move or gesture can really belong to someone, and if so, who really benefits.