Oct 15 2012
Dancing Lights
With no prior knowledge of dance and no real connection to what the very nice presenter was saying, I was simply lost in the strange life of Loie Fuller, an innovator of dance in her lifetime. I can only imagine what the first shows played by Fuller looked like with manned lights going on and off all around her and her dress becoming its own living entity. But it does seem somewhat easier with todays technological advances and the way theater works creating a stronger show for the audience to see. The videos seen did help capture some of the emotion and essence of the serpentine dance, but without truly knowing it, the whole thing just seemed pretty to me. If there was less of a history lesson and more a show, I would have been more immersed in this strange dance style. I just wanted to watch and enjoy Fuller at her best, the same way she wanted her audience to feel when they saw her shows.
Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Koloman_Moser_003.jpg
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one feeling a little lost. I do agree with what you are saying, “it seemed pretty.” The presentation would have done more justice if it was backed by a performance. However, I did appreciate the history lesson leading up to the videos of performances, otherwise, I think we would have been even more lost.
I also had no prior knowledge of dance! I’m glad others felt the same way. I agree that today’s technology makes new styles like Time Lapse Dancing a lot easier. I wish she would have actually demonstrated the dance live instead of showing us brief clips of it. I liked how she gave us facts about the dance and her background history so we would understand more about her, her organization, and dance. What do you think would have made the presentation more informative?
I just didn’t like the way she was lecturing. I felt like she could have done more, definitely an demonstration by her would have been great. I think just more focus on the dance rather then Loie Fuller’s life would have been more interesting for me. She did have an interesting life though don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t what I was expecting going in to a dance presentation.
I think you bring up a good point – although I enjoyed the presentation, the history of dance certainly isn’t for everyone. I’m sorry you didn’t connect to the speech. I agree with you, I would have liked to see more of her shows, to feel like someone in her audience. Maybe one day you can see one of her shows, or a similar show, and you will really enjoy that.
Showing over telling any time. I also wish that she had danced for us in the classroom, but is that too much to ask? Whatever, either way skirt dancing is pretty sick and I’m ready for it to make a major comeback. Who’s with me!
I definitely agree that the lecturing was slightly unnecessary…A quick 10 minute intro would have had the same effect. More videos demonstrating the dancing or even some actual dancing like Pessia suggested would’ve been more entertaining. I probably wouldn’t have slept through that…
Before I begin, I have to say I absolutely love the picture you chose. I think it goes really well with the content of your blog post. Appreciative, “pretty” and portraying how you, the audience, might have wanted to see. Anyways, I do agree it would have been easier for most of the audience to see the actual dance rather than being lectured for most of the time. However, I think the speaker did her best to give the essence of various aspects of Loie Fuller and her dance , especially after being immersed in a field for several years. We can always go see her performance but we don’t get to hear her speak about all the details right? I just thought it also could be one of her methods to bring in more audience. After all, they “have to” make their living out of the performances don’t they? (no offense intended)