Loïe Fuller
Listen to ArtMuse’s Two Part Episode on the dancer, innovator, and visionary, Loïe Fuller. Loïe’s pioneering performances paved the way for the creation of modern dance, and inspired celebrated dancers such as Isadora Duncan and Josephine Baker.
Loïe’s enchanting performances caught the attention of some of the greatest artists of her time. Artists were utterly transfixed with Loïe’s impressive visual effects and expressive use of color. In fact, Loïe was often referred to as the Queen of Art Nouveau. More than seventy different artists captured her likeness across the mediums, making her one of the most frequently depicted women of her time.
Though Loïe was once the most famous woman in all of Paris, today she has largely fallen into obscurity, and her immense contributions to both modern dance and stage design have been unfairly written out of history. In this episode, we aim to honor Loïe’s important legacy as a pioneering performer, genius innovator, brilliant teacher, fierce defender of the arts, political advocate, and as a fearless woman who was unafraid to defy societal norms and unapologetically be herself.
This episode is produced by Kula Production Company.
REFERENCES
Current, Richard Nelson, and Marcia Ewing Current. Loie Fuller: Goddess of Light. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.
Garelick, Rhonda K. Electric Salome: Loie Fuller’s Performance of Modernism. Princeton University Press, 2009.
IMAGES
Isaiah West Taber, Loie Fuller Dancing,1897.
Buffalo Bill in 1911, who Loie toured with.
Gaiety Girls Poster
Loie Fuller in her “Serpentine” costume, ca. 1890s.
Loie Fuller at the Folies Bergère.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Miss Loie Fuller, 1893.
Jules Chéret, La Loie Fuller, 1893.
Jean de Paléologue, Loie Fuller, 1894.
Loie Fuller as Salome, 1895.
Poster advertising Loie Fuller’s “Fire Dance”.
Raoul François Larche, The Dancer, 1900.
Raoul-François Larche, Loie Fuller Table Lamp, 1896.
Samuel Joshua Beckett, Loie Fuller Dancing, 1900.
Samuel Joshua Beckett, Loie Fuller Dancing, 1900.
Eugène Druet, Loie Fuller, 1900.
Eugène Druet, Loie Fuller, 1900.
Clément Massier, Loie Fuller Dish, 1900.
Loie Fuller’s Pavillion at the 1900 Universal Exposition.
Gab Bloch, Loie’s life partner, circa 1913.
Isadora Duncan in 1900.
Auguste Rodin in 1891.
Loie with Rodin’s The Kiss, 1916.
Cover of Loie Fuller’s memoir, Fifteen Years of my Life, 1908.
Harry Ellis, Loie Fuller and her school of dance, 1914.
Alma Spreckels in 1904.
Queen Marie of Romania in 1920.
Jody Sperling performing Loie’s Serpentine Dance, 2024.
An ode to Loie Fuller in Taylor Swift’s Reputation Tour, 2018.
The Dancer, a biopic on Loie Fuller made in 2016.
