Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1981 - 7

Lighting
The Fire Dance

movement. This, however, was not feasible. It would have
been possible to mount ellipsoidal spotlights with templates
beneath the platform, but considering that the distance to the
costume could be as little as one foot, this would not be very
effective. I felt that the key to the image of the core of the fire
was a rapid yet random change of color and I decided that this
could best be accomplished by mounting three motorized
color wheels beneath the glass in the platform. Descriptions of
Fuller's lighting also included lights mounted in the wings and
above the stage. While I could not mount color wheels in each
of these positions I did have four separate color circuits
planned for each side of the stage and three circuits of downlight. Since these lights were controlled by a memory board (a
Strand Century Light Palletle), I could imitate the effect of a
color wheel if desired, as well as produce effects that may
have been impossible for Fuller.

by Michael Sicotte
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The descriptions of Lore Fuller's lighting effects pose more
questions than they answer. The scenic requirements, however, are very specific. "Heavy black chenille curtains are
hung all around the stage and a jet black carpet laid over the
entire floor, except over a glass plate which has been sunk in
a space about four feet by four cut in the center of the
stage.'" We know that someone operated two scenic projectors located ten feet beneath the stage floor. Their exact nature was never specified, but one observer noted, "The two
principle lights underneath the stage are of great power, and
they alone produce more effects than all of the sidelights put
together." Four additional lights were known to have been
used, located in the wings and operated by men standing on
ladders. These were outfitted with manually-operated color
wheels, described by one observer: "Revolving in front of
each of these lights is a round piece of pasteboard, from 12 to
16 inches in diameter with a border of gelatine disks of different colors. Some of these disks are solid, and others show a
combination of two, three, four, or more colors, and the men
work them rapidly and harmoniously."
Information about the patterns and colors projected from
beneath the stage, the colors used in the wings, and the synchronization of these lights would be crucial to a faithful reproduction. All of this information was unavailable. Fuller took
great pains to ensure that the secrets of her success remained secret. We were left to experiment and devise our own
imitation. Furthermore, I felt that changes in the expectations
of the audience, prevented us from presenting the piece in the
misty half-light described in contemporary accounts. With
these handicaps in mind we proceeded to examine possible
methods of staging the piece.
We first considered the scenic elements. The impression
we wished to convey was of the dancer suspended in a void.
The most effective method is undoubtedly Fuller's method:
surround the dancer with black. Black legs and borders and a
black back curtain were to be in place for the program, so that
much was easy, but the remainder turned out to be impossible. A portable dance floor covered the traps in the stage
floor, and we had neither the money nor the personnel to
place a black rug over the light-colored dance floor. We decided to perform the dance on a platform.
Many more possibilities were available for the lighting. The
lights beneath the dancer were the most important. Given time
and the energy of Lore Fuller, one could produce a mountain
of slides for projectors located beneath the stage, carefully
synchronizing each with every moment of the music and

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Redrawn sketch of Fuller's Skirt Dance.

* All quoted material in this piece was taken from p. 60 of Sally R. Sommer's article in TOR (see footnote 1 at the end of the introduction preceding
this article).

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1981