Loie Fuller | |
|---|---|
 Fuller in 1900 | |
| Born | Marie Louise Fuller (1862-01-15)January 15, 1862 Hinsdale, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 1, 1928(1928-01-01) (aged 65) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France |
| Other names | Louie Fuller |
| Occupation(s) | Dancer and choreographer |
| Partner | Gab Sorère (1898–1928) |
Loie Fuller (/ˈloʊi/;[1] bornMarie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known asLouie Fuller andLoïe Fuller, was an American dancer and a pioneer ofmodern dance andtheatrical lighting techniques.
Auguste Rodin said of her, "Loie Fuller has paved the way for the art of the future."[2]
Marie Louise Fuller was born on January 15, 1862, inFullersburg, Illinois, on a remote farm conveniently linked to Chicago by a newly-constructedplank road. When Fuller was two, her parents Reuben Fuller and Delilah Eaton moved to Chicago and opened aboarding house. Her early exposure to the arts came through her parents - her father was a skilled fiddler and dance caller, while her mother had aspired to be an opera singer before marriage.[3] Fuller's parents took her to the Progressive Lyceum, a hub ofFreethought, on Sunday mornings.[4]
Fuller debuted on the stage as a toddler, performing a variety of dramatic and dance roles in Chicago. Her first performance, according to her memoir, was reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb" at a Sunday school event.[3] Her formal dramatic debut at the age of four was at theChicago Academy of Music, playing a young boy inWas He Right?.[5] Fuller's career as a child performer progressed with little formal training and much variety, as she experimented with dramatic reading, singing, and dance.[6] From 1878 to 1879, she toured with the Felix A. Vincent Company, performing in "Aladdin," a pantomime spectacle filled with magical scene transformations. This experience exposed her to important principles of stagecraft.[3]
When Fuller was a child, her family moved in and out of Chicago, with Fuller eventually securing a part inBuffalo Bill's touring act at the age of nineteen.[4] From 1881 to 1889, she performed in western melodramas and musical burlettas in New York City and the Midwest, with notable roles in "Davy Crockett" (1882) and "Twenty Days, or Buffalo Bill's Pledge" (1883).[3]
Despite her initial success, Fuller faced significant financial challenges early in her career. In 1889, she attempted to expand her career by venturing into production, traveling to London to mount and star in the play "Caprice." This endeavor proved to be both a critical and financial failure, leaving Fuller broke and unemployed in London. Following this setback, Fuller's fortunes changed when she secured a role as an understudy at London's Gaiety Theatre, known for its skirt dances. This engagement proved pivotal, as it exposed her to a dance form that would influence her later innovations.[3]
Marie Louise Fuller changed her name to the more glamorous "Loïe" at the age of sixteen.[7] An earlyfree dance practitioner, she developed her own natural movement andimprovisation techniques. In 1889, she visited the Paris Exposition Universelle, where she was particularly impressed by the Palais d'électricité and the illuminated fountains of the Champs de Mars, which greatly influenced the innovative use of lighting in her performances.[3] In multiple shows she experimented with a long skirt, choreographing its movements and playing with the ways it could reflect light.[citation needed]
By 1891, Fuller was combining her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design and created the "Serpentine Dance".[8] Her reputation as an actress made it difficult to generate interest as a dance performer. EventuallyRudolph Aronson of New York'sCasino Theatre hired her to perform her piece, which he named "The Serpentine", between the acts of a comedy entitledUncle Celestine and she received rave reviews. After a dispute with Aronson she moved to theMadison Square Theatre.[3][9]
Almost immediately, she was replaced by imitators (originallyMinnie "Renwood" Bemis). Fuller's innovative choreography led to legal challenges as she sought to protect her work. In 1892, she filed a lawsuit against imitator Minnie Renwood Bemis in an attempt to secure intellectual property rights for her Serpentine Dance. The case, Fuller v. Bemis, became a landmark in dance copyright law.[10] Despite Fuller's precaution of submitting a written description of her dance to the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Circuit Court denied her request for an injunction. The court ruled that the Serpentine Dance told no story and was therefore not eligible for copyright protection as a dramatic composition, which was the only category under which dance could potentially be protected at the time.[10] The judge stated: "A stage dance illustrating the poetry of motion by a series of graceful movements, combined with an attractive arrangement of drapery, lights and shadows, but telling no story, portraying no character and depicting no emotion, is not a 'dramatic composition' within the meaning of the Copyright Act."[10] The precedent set by Fuller's case remained in place until the passage of theCopyright Act of 1976, which explicitly extended protection to nondramatic choreographic works.[11][12] Another notorious imitator was Lord Yarmouth, later7th Marquess of Hertford, who performed theSerpentine Dance under the stage name of ‘Mademoiselle Roze’.[13][14] Fuller's pursuit of copyright protection was part of a broader struggle for artistic recognition and control over her work in a male-dominated theatrical industry. As a performer selling her live enactment of the Serpentine Dance in the theatrical marketplace, Fuller's body circulated in commodity form. Her attempts to protect her performing body from becoming fully open to capital by asserting property rights over her image and choreography marked a complex negotiation between her status as artist and commodity.[10]
In the hope of receiving serious artistic recognition denied her in America, Fuller left for Europe in June 1892, one of the first of many American modern dancers to seek recognition in Europe. Her warm reception in Paris persuaded Fuller to remain in France, where she became one of the leading revolutionaries in the arts.[6]
A regular performer at theFolies Bergère with works such asFire Dance, Fuller became the embodiment of theArt Nouveau movement and was often identified withsymbolism, as her work was seen as the perfect reciprocity between idea and symbol.[4] Fuller began adapting and expanding her costume and lighting, so that they became the principal element in her performance—perhaps even more important than the actual choreography, especially as the length of the skirt was increased and became the central focus, while the body became mostly hidden within the depths of the fabric.[15] The choreography of theSerpentine Dance was filmed by multiple early filmmakers, includingAuguste and Louis Lumière, but it is unclear whether the recordings depict Fuller herself.[16][17]
Gab Sorère and Fuller made three films together:Le Lys de la vie (The Lily of Life, 1921),Visions des rêves (Visions of dreams, 1924), andLes Incertitudes de Coppélius (Uncertainties of Coppelius, 1927).[18]Le Lys de la vie was a silent film based upon a story written byQueen Marie of Romania, a close friend of the couple.[19] Of the three, only a reel of the first survives.[18] It depicts "a show within a show with classically-costumed figures dancing by the sea, a banquet, royal intrigue, and romance with René Clair featured as a prince on horseback".[20][21][22][23][24] The singerDamia had persuaded Clair to participate by describing the beautiful women who would be dancing.[25]
Fuller's pioneering work attracted the attention, respect, and friendship of many French artists and scientists, includingJules Chéret,Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,François-Raoul Larche,Henri-Pierre Roché,Auguste Rodin,Jean-Léon Gérôme,Franz von Stuck,Maurice Denis,Thomas Theodor Heine,Paul-Léon Jazet,Koloman Moser,Demétre Chiparus,Stéphane Mallarmé, andMarie Curie.
Fuller was also a member of theSociété astronomique de France (French Astronomical Society).[26][27] Fuller patented many of her innovations in stage lighting, including the use of chemical compounds for creatingcolor gel, and the application of chemicalsalts toluminescent lighting and garments.[16]
Fuller supported other pioneering performers, such asSada Yacco[28][29][30] and fellow United States-born dancerIsadora Duncan. Fuller helped Duncan ignite her European career in 1902 by sponsoring independent concerts in Vienna and Budapest.[31]
Fuller met her romantic partner of over 30 years,Gab Sorère, in the mid-1890s. Sorère was born Gabrielle Bloch, the daughter of wealthy French bankers, in 1870, and took the name Gab Sorère in 1920. Bloch first saw Fuller perform at the age of 14, and by 1898 Fuller and Bloch were living together.[32] Fuller and Bloch's lesbian relationship initially attracted some attention in the press, as Bloch dressed exclusively in menswear and was eight years Fuller's junior. Press coverage of their relationship declined over time.[33]
Fuller metCrown Princess Marie of Romania, later to become Queen Marie, in 1902, at a performance inBucharest. Marie and Fuller became close friends and maintained an extensive correspondence. Their relationship was the subject of scandalous rumors,[34] alleging that Fuller and Queen Marie were lovers.[35] Fuller, through a connection at the United States embassy in Paris, played a role in arranging a United States loan for Romania during World War I.[citation needed]
Fuller befriended the futureCarol II of Romania when he was living in Paris with his mistressMagda Lupescu and alienated from the Romanian royal family. The couple remained unaware of Fuller's relationship with Carol's mother Marie. Fuller first advocated on their behalf to Marie, but she later schemed unsuccessfully with Marie to separate Carol from Lupescu.[36] With Queen Marie and the American businessmanSamuel Hill, Fuller helped found theMaryhill Museum of Art in ruralWashington state, which has permanent exhibits about her career.[37]
Fuller occasionally returned to America to stage performances by her students, the "Fullerets" or Muses, but spent most of her final years in Paris. There she died ofpneumonia at the age of 65 on January 1, 1928, two weeks shy of her 66th birthday. She was cremated and her remains placed in thecolumbarium of thePère-Lachaise cemetery (site No. 5382) in Paris.[38]
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After Fuller's death, her romantic partner of thirty years,Gab Sorère inherited the dance troupe as well as the laboratory Fuller had operated.[39][32] Sorère took legal action against dancers who wrongfully used Fuller's fame to enhance their own careers[40][41][42][43] and produced both films and theatrical productions to honor Fuller's legacy as a visual effects artist.[44]
Fuller's work has been experiencing a resurgence of professional and public interest. Rhonda K. Garelick's 2009 study entitledElectric Salome demonstrates her centrality not only to dance, but also modernist performance.[45] Sally R. Sommer has written extensively about Fuller's life and times[46] Marcia and Richard Current published a biography entitledLoie Fuller, Goddess of Light in 1997.[47] The philosopherJacques Rancière devoted a chapter ofAisthesis, his history of modern aesthetics, to Fuller's 1893 performances in Paris, which he considers emblematic of Art Nouveau in their attempt to link artistic and technological invention.[48]Giovanni Lista compiled a 680-page book of Fuller-inspired art work and texts inLoïe Fuller, Danseuse de la Belle Epoque in 1994.[49] In the 1980s, Munich dancer Brygida Ochaim[50] revived Fuller's dances and techniques, also appearing in theClaude Chabrol filmThe Swindler.
In 2016,Stéphanie Di Giusto directed the movieThe Dancer about the life of Loïe Fuller, with actressesSoko as Loïe andLily-Rose Depp as Isadora Duncan.Jody Sperling choreographed Soko's dances for the movie, served as creative consultant and was Soko's dance coach, training her in Fuller technique, which earned Sperling a World Choreography Award nomination.[51] The movie premiered at the2016 Cannes Film Festival.[52]
Commissioned by thePaul Taylor Dance Company for their November 2024Lincoln Center Season, Sperling developedVive La Loïe, an expansion upon material created forLa Danseuse (The Dancer) with the Loïe character performing atop a box containing lights within. The work for the Taylor company mines Fuller’s synaesthetic concept of “color harmony” in which multi-hued lights are composed like musical notes into luminous “melodies” and “chords.” Sperling collaborated closely withBessie Award-winning lighting designer David Ferri so that each dance moment unfolds as a synthesis of motion, emotion, fabric, and light.[53]
Fuller continues to be an influence on contemporary choreographers. Sperling has choreographed dozens of works inspired by Fuller and expanded Fuller's vocabulary and technique into the 21st century. Sperling's company,Time Lapse Dance, consists of six female-identifying dancers who are all versed in Fuller-style technique and performance. The company reimagines the art of Fuller in the context of contemporary and environmental forms.[54]
Ann Cooper Albright collaborated with a lighting designer on a series of works that drew inspiration from Fuller's original lighting design patents.[55] Shela Xoregos choreographed a tribute,La Loȉe, a solo which employs several of Fuller's special effects.[citation needed]
Taylor Swift's 2018Reputation Tour featured a segment dedicated to Fuller. During her performance of "Dress" each night on the tour, several dancers recreated the Serpentine Dance.[56][57] In theReputation Stadium Tour concert film, Taylor's dedication to Fuller follows the performance of "Dress".[58]
Into the 2019 filmRadioactive Loie Fuller (Drew Jacoby) is a friend of the main character Marie Curie.The scientist envisions Fuller dancing in the green light ofradium.[59] The dancer also introducesthe Curies to a medium.
In 2025 the documentary filmObsessed with Light was released, chronicling Loïe Fuller's life and legacy.
Fuller's autobiographical memoirQuinze ans de ma vie was written in English, translated into French by Bojidar Karageorgevitch, and published by F. Juven (Paris) in 1908 with an introduction byAnatole France.[60] She drafted her memoirs again in English a few years later. These were published under the titleFifteen Years of a Dancer's Life by H. Jenkins (London) in 1913.[61] The New York Public Library Jerome Robbins Dance Collection holds the nearly complete manuscript of the English edition and materials related to the French edition.[62][63][64] Fuller's autobiographical writings are in part fiction: she was known for being very adaptive in her story telling. She describes her invention of the Serpentine Dance and proposes her own theories of modern dance and motion.[65]
