Lois Fuller

Lois Fuller has been in my best interest since her introduction the first day of class. I am completely under spell of her artistry and her technological advancement during that time period. She is a pioneer of light wonders, props, and choreography. I feel that Lois is responsible for turning dance from a kinetic to a visual art by manipulating her choreography and costumes to play off lighting and vice versa. She set the standard for future choreographers and I often wonder if the evolution of stage lighting would be different if it were not for her contributions.

This was brought to my attention after watching a film in forum about Alwin Nickolais and his accomplishments in the dance world. Like Lois, he also transformed dance into a splendidly visual art by using exaggerated props, advanced lighting, and projected images on to the stage. Actually, he took lighting and technology to the next level by projecting the light and images on the actual dancers themselves to give the stage a bigger dynamic.

Similar to Lois, Alwin Nickolais started from humble beginnings, but also had an itch for entertaining and the arts. He started his career as an organist accompanying silent films and soon became inspired to study dance. Shortly after he began to explore his own world, he began innovating new ideas for the stage. He also has been awarded for his accomplishments and contributions to technology, choreography, and set design many times over.

Alwin created a new world for visual arts. He manipulated costumes to reflect lights and images. His goals were to portray man as part of a total environment. He used objects as an extension of the body. Mirrors and certain materials (like spandex) were also used to play with the stage lights. Alwin sketched out ideas, designs, and colors to have the best outcome possible. Alwin was continuously in line with the latest technology.

Alwin focused more on becoming the movement and less about technique. He let the materials be the essential part of the dance and was focused with how one becomes the movement. Lois Fuller was also less concerned with technique. She learned how to play lights off of silk and use human motion to create images. She also became the movement and was part of the environment as a whole

image.

Merce