Serpentine Dance, Refocused pays homage to Loïe Fuller’s (1862-1928) surreal creations of light and motion. Fuller’s Serpentine Dance, featured in many silent films, became popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Fuller is known for her liberating approach to movement and creating abstract representations of the body in motion. She often concealed her body with flowing silk sheets that enveloped her as she twisted and turned in space. Fuller is also known for her groundbreaking use of technology in her stagecraft, such as using projected images to paint colorful patterns of light onto her body. In Serpentine Dance, Refocused Fuller’s dance is reimagined and manipulated through the audience’s movement. The work explores relationships between experiencing, observing, and perceiving movement while also questioning the boundaries between freedom and control. Audience members are invited to take a spin on the Iris and watch the projected psychedelic swirling images of color and motion. The more one spins and the more out of control one becomes, the clearer and more in focus things will appear.
Artistic Design: Shannon Cuykendall
Physical Computing Design: Karen Cochrane
Mechanical Design: Jacob Freiberg
Musical Composition: Shannon Cuykendall
Musician: Rachel Bittner
Video: Création de la Serpentine (1908) film directed by Segundo de Chomón, featuring Loïe Fuller
Special Thanks to Malcolm Levy, Thecla Schiphorst, and Ethan Soutar-Rau
