Cinema In Conversation: Obsessed With Light

About the Event

With an introduction and presentation from Matthew Cumbie, Visiting Assistant Professor of Performance, Theater, and Dance at Colby College.

Before Isadora Duncan, the "Mother of Modern Dance," there was Loïe Fuller. The American creator of modern dance, Fuller (1862–1928) invented a completely new kind of spectacle which combined dance, fabric, and movement. She also pioneered the ingenious use of electricity for the stage, even building a glass floor so that she could be lit from below—anyone who has been to a rock concert has seen a modern version of her lighting designs. Always struggling against a flood of imitators, Fuller was the first choreographer to attempt to copyright her dances and sued to protect her work as early as 1893. A meditation on light and the enduring obsession to create, Obsessed with Light explores the astonishing influence Fuller's work has on contemporary artists including artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift, Bill T. Jones, Shakira, and William Kentridge. In the process, the film uncovers commonalities that connect these creative luminaries to Fuller and to each other. "The breadth of archival imagery is outstanding...That alone makes the film a necessary watch for even those having a passing interest in dance, silent cinema, la Belle époque, lighting design, modern fashion and perhaps everything in between."- Manuel Betancourt, Variety.

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