Loie Fuller: Goddess of Light

Considered by many to be the first modern dancer, Loie Fuller (1862--1928) turned a chance encounter with shadows and light into a worldwide phenomenon. Fuller's use of voluminous folds of fabric and specialized lighting set the entertainment industry ablaze when she performed her ""Serpentine dance"" in 1892. Although born in Fullersburg, Ill., ""La Loie"" came to dominate the theatrical and social scene in Paris around the turn of the century, and was friends with such luminaries as Auguste Rodin, Marie and Pierre Curie, Anatole France, Sarah Bernhardt and Queen Marie of Romania. Fuller's interest soon extended to founding a dance troupe and sponsoring Art Nouveau exhibits. A young Isadora Duncan trained with Loie, though the two soon parted and became bitter rivals--as one critic said ""Isadora sculpts. Loie Fuller paints. It is useless to compare them."" Like Duncan, Fuller was far more popular in Europe than in the U.S., leading her to remark: ""I was born in America but I was made in Paris."" A master of deception (she was short and plump yet appeared tall and sylph-like while dancing), Fuller's off-stage life was as complex as her carefully choreographed performances. She was notoriously inept with finances, living well beyond her means and continually dependent on friends and associates to pay her enormous debts. Though largely forgotten, Fuller's contributions are given their due in this long overdue book by a husband-and-wife team--the author of Lincoln's Loyalists and a researcher and collector of Loie Fuller art, respectively. Entertaining, well written and painstakingly researched, Loie Fuller gives us a vivid rendering of an original, ephemeral talent. Photos not seen by PW. (May)