Fire Dance
‘Fire Dance’ Dancer: Mary Kelly Kren Photographer: Steve Ewert
Loïe Fuller’s “Fire Dance” was first performed in Paris at the Folies Bergere in 1895 as the “Sun” or the “Dance of the Sun.” She extended her signature white silk dress from her ‘serpentine’ dance with foot long bamboo rods. On to this fabric she cast richly colored electrical light created by ‘painting’ a sheet of glass with colored gelatin and, as she became more advanced, she painted these glass disks with several colors so they could be turned to change colors in succession.
In 1896, “Fire Dance” had become a sensation due in part to the color of the lights as well as the lights’ direction. Fuller placed lights directly below her, shining up through a piece of glass in place of a trap door, above her, and lighting at all angles from the sides. “Fire Dance” became her signature piece because of all of these technical inventions and because of the metamorphic development of her movement. The human body morphing into or merging with nature was a significant theme of the Art Nouveau movement. And Fuller was the epitome of this theme. Her dancing inspired countless painters, lithographers, sculptors, glass blowers and dancers. “Fire Dance” changed significantly over Fuller’s lifetime and the title of the piece became synonymous with her dancing style.
‘Fire Dance’ Dancer: Mary Kelly Kren Photographer: Steve Ewert