Loie Fuller facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Loie Fuller
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Fuller in 1900
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| Born |
Marie Louise Fuller
January 15, 1862 Hinsdale, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | January 1, 1928 (aged 65) Paris, France
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| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France |
| Other names | Louie Fuller |
| Occupation | Actress and dancer |
| Partner(s) | Gab Sorère (1898–1928) |
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928) was an American actress and dancer. She was a pioneer in both modern dance and new ways of using stage lighting.
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Loie Fuller's Early Career
Loie Fuller was born Marie Louise Fuller in Hinsdale, Illinois. She started her acting career as a child when she was just four years old. Later, she became a dancer in different shows like vaudeville and circus acts.
Fuller created her own style of dancing. She used natural movements and improvisation, which means making things up as she went along. She often danced with a long skirt, moving it in special ways. She also experimented with how light could shine on the fabric.
In 1891, Fuller combined her unique dance moves with silk costumes. She used multi-colored lights that she designed herself. This led to her famous Serpentine Dance. At first, it was hard for her to find someone to produce her show. But she finally got a chance to perform it between acts of a play. People loved it!
Becoming Famous in Europe
Soon after her success, other dancers started copying Loie Fuller's Serpentine Dance. To get serious artistic recognition, she moved to Europe in 1892. She was one of the first American modern dancers to become famous there.
Fuller was very popular in Paris, France. She decided to stay there and became a leader in the arts. She often performed at the Folies Bergère, a famous music hall. Her "Fire Dance" was one of her well-known acts. Fuller's work became a symbol of the Art Nouveau movement.
She kept changing her costumes and lighting. These became the most important parts of her performances. Her long skirts would hide her body, making the fabric and lights the main focus. A film from 1896 by Auguste and Louis Lumière shows a version of the Serpentine Dance. However, the dancer in the film is not Loie Fuller herself.
Fuller's new ideas caught the attention of many artists and scientists in France. These included famous people like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Marie Curie. Fuller also held many patents for her stage lighting inventions. These included special chemical compounds for colored lights and glowing costumes.
Protecting Her Dance
Loie Fuller tried to get a patent for her Serpentine Dance. She wanted to stop others from copying her choreography. She sent a description of her dance to the United States Copyright Office. However, a judge said she couldn't copyright it. This was because her dance didn't tell a story. At that time, dances were only protected if they were "dramatic." Fuller's dance was too abstract. This rule stayed in place until 1976, when dance works finally got copyright protection.
Fuller also supported other dancers, like Isadora Duncan. She helped Duncan start her career in Europe in 1902.
Loie Fuller's first stage name was "Louie." When she arrived in Paris, she got a new nickname, "Loïe." This name came from an old French word meaning "receptiveness" or "understanding."
Later Life and Legacy
Loie Fuller became good friends with Queen Marie of Romania. They wrote many letters to each other. Fuller even helped arrange a loan for Romania during World War I. Later, she helped found the Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington state. This museum has special exhibits about her career.
Fuller often returned to America to stage shows with her students, called the "Fullerets." But she spent her last years in Paris. She passed away from pneumonia on January 1, 1928, at age 65. She was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Continuing Influence
After Loie Fuller's death, her partner, Gab Sorère, continued her work. Sorère took legal action against dancers who wrongly used Fuller's name. She also produced films and shows to honor Fuller's amazing visual effects.
Today, there is a lot of new interest in Loie Fuller's work. Many books have been written about her life and influence. The philosopher Jacques Rancière wrote about her 1893 performances in Paris. He saw them as a perfect example of Art Nouveau.
In 2016, a movie called The Dancer was made about Loie Fuller's life. It starred Soko as Loie and Lily-Rose Depp as Isadora Duncan. A dancer named Jody Sperling choreographed the dances for the movie.
Fuller still inspires dancers today. Jody Sperling continues to create new works based on Fuller's style. Her dance company, Time Lapse Dance, uses Fuller's techniques. Another choreographer, Ann Cooper Albright, has also created works inspired by Fuller's lighting designs.
Even pop star Taylor Swift honored Loie Fuller. During her 2018 Reputation Tour, dancers recreated the "Serpentine Dance." In the concert film, Taylor dedicated this part of the show to Fuller.
In the 2019 film Radioactive, Loie Fuller (played by Drew Jacoby) is a friend of Marie Curie. The movie shows Curie imagining Fuller dancing in the green light of radium.
Written Works
Loie Fuller wrote her life story in a book called Quinze ans de ma vie (Fifteen Years of My Life). It was first published in French in 1908. She wrote it in English, and it was translated into French. A few years later, she wrote her memoirs again in English. This version was published in 1913.
Fuller was known for telling her stories in a very dramatic way. For example, there are seven different versions of how she got her first silk skirt! Besides writing about inventing the Serpentine Dance, she also wrote a lot about her ideas on modern dance and movement.
See also
- List of dancers
- Women in dance
Images for kids
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Portrait of Fuller by Frederick Glasier, 1902
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Table lamp: Dance of the Lily (Loie Fuller) - around 1901 by Raoul Larche
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Fuller at the Folies Bergère, poster by PAL (Jean de Paléologue)
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Fuller depicted by Koloman Moser (1901)
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Fuller painted by Toulouse-Lautrec
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Poster featuring Fuller at the Folies Bergères by Jules Chéret
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