Loie Fuller (1862-1928) used swirling silks, multi-colored lights, and inspiration from nature in her routines. Her artistry helped inspire the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century.
Loie Fuller (1862-1928) used swirling silks, multi-colored lights, and inspiration from nature in her routines. Her artistry helped inspire the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century.
This month, we’re talking about muses–women who were drivers of creativity and inspiration. Once again, we’re proud to partner with Mercedes-Benz (whose famous namesake was inspired by a young muse named Mercedes). Tune in daily for stories of women whose lives inspired work that has shaped our culture.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
This month, we're talking about muses -- women who were drivers of creativity and inspiration.
You may not recognize today’s muse by name, but you’ve almost certainly seen her likeness in a museum or on a poster. This dancer used swirling silks, multi-colored lights, and inspiration from nature in her routines, and her artistry helped inspire the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century.
Please welcome Loie Fuller.
Marie Louise Fuller was born in Illinois in 1862. From the beginning, her life revolved around the stage. So much so that details of her life were often reimagined, to make a better story.
Loie claimed she made her onstage debut when she was two years old “because there was no babysitter in the dance hall.” As a teenager, she worked as a temperance lecturer, and learned how to captivate an audience.
Loie didn’t have formal dance training. But she didn’t let that slow her down – in fact, she embraced it. She moved to New York City and worked in vaudeville, burlesque, and circus shows.
In 1889, Loie arrived in London and worked at the Gaiety Theater. There, she met dancer and “Gaiety Girl” Kate Vaughan. Kate introduced Loie to skirt dances, which use voluminous skirts to exaggerate a dancer’s movements.
When Loie returned to the United States, she began experimenting with her own versions of skirt dances. She premiered the form in a production called “Quack, M.D.” in 1891. To make the dances even more dramatic, she added more and more cloth until the fabric covered her from her neck to the floor. She sewed wands into her costumes to help manipulate the hundreds of yards of fabric. Loie started gaining notoriety as a dancer for her “Serpentine Dance,” in which she waved her billowing garment while acting hypnotized, as if by a snake charmer.
In 1892, Loie arrived in Paris, a hub for artists and innovators at the time. She started performing at the Folies Bergère, a music hall popular for its vaudeville acts. Within a year, she was billed as the headliner. The venue was typically frequented by working class people, but Loie attracted a whole new group of upper class patrons as well. Workers and aristocrats alike were mesmerized by her artistry.
At the time, the art nouveau movement was sweeping through Europe. It celebrated natural forms, like the curves of plants and flowers. Loie’s dances, which also celebrated the natural world, embodied the era’s aesthetic.
With a flick of her flowing fabrics, Loie could be a butterfly in flight, a snake slithering through the grass, or a flame flickering against the night sky.
The painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced a series of about 60 lithographs inspired by her performances at the Folies Bergère. Sculptor Auguste Rodin commissioned a series of photographs of Loie so he could sculpt her. And filmmakers Auguste and Louis Lumière released a movie about her.
Loie’s big break came in 1900, at the Paris World’s Fair. Fifty million attendees milled about pavilions throughout the city and gaped at technological innovations, like the escalator and the diesel engine. Loie was the only female entertainer to have her own pavilion. She showcased her enchanting performances to a bigger audience than ever before.
In addition to performing onstage, Loie loved backstage production. She worked as a manager, producer, and a lighting designer. And she held a number of patents related to the science of lighting, including the use of glass plates, large lantern projects, and colored gelatins. Loie was often known in France as the “Fairy of Light,” and she was always coming up with new, unique ways to incorporate light and color into a performance.
She patented the idea of replacing part of a stage floor with glass. With this trick, she could use lights under the stage to make her costumes glow from below. Loie used this technique in “Fire Dance,” which also required 14 electricians for color changes.
After scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium, a radioactive element that emits a green glow, in 1898, Loie wrote to them. She wanted to know if it was possible to use radium in her performances. The Curies advised against it, saying it would be impractical and expensive. That didn’t stop Loie. Instead of a full onstage production, she arranged an intimate performance of “Radium Dance” in the Curies’ home.
Loie spent most of her life in Paris. She once said, “Well, I was born in America, but I was made in Paris.” She founded a school and a laboratory and was welcomed as a member to the French Astronomical Society. She also formed a company of 30 female dancers, known as her muses, who toured the United States from 1909 to 1910.
Loie was briefly married to Colonel William Hayes, nephew to President Rutherford B. Hayes. They never lived together, and their marriage ended when Loie sued him for bigamy. After that, she likely had a romantic relationship with Gabrielle Bloch, a Jewish-French banking heiress. The pair lived together for many years. Little is known about Loie’s personal life otherwise, and most images that remain of her are artistic renditions. Loie passed away in 1928.
All month, we’re highlighting muses. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!