She was photographed by Edward Steichen, collaborated artistically with Auguste Rodin, Jules Cheret, Henri Toulouse-Latrec, and was personal friends with scientist Madame Marie Curie, and royalty such as Queen Marie of Romania.  She was a dancer extraordinaire, teacher, playwright,  inventor and holder of several patents, a member of the French Astronomical Society, an innovator of theatrical stage lighting, and one of the most influential artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, she was the legendary Loie Fuller(1862-1928).

      Born Marie Louise Fuller in the Chicago suburb of Fullersburg, Loie began a career as a professional child actress, later, she turned to dancing.   Loie was a self taught dancer who developed and incorporated improvisational routines into her dances, along with using silk costumes which were both reflective and translucent, and illuminated by multi-colored lighting of her own design to enhance movement and effect.

     She used dance, lighting and its effect on her costumes, and color, during her performances, to 'morph' and 'swirl' into different shapes, to appear on fire, to glow with the illusion of creating her own light.

     Loie became famous in America for her use of these techniques in her 'Serpentine Dance' in 1891.  Loie then made a European tour resulting in her remaining in France where she was very warmly received.   

     The perfection of these dance techniques culminated in her legendary 'Fire Dance', which turned Loie into an overnight sensation at the Follies Bergere-Paris in 1892.  Her innovative dance techniques 'wowed' audiences, and other dancers such as Isadora Duncan whom she introduced to the Parisian 'scene'.   Through her work at the Follies Bergere, Loie helped to develop acceptance for modern dance as an art form. 

      Loie performed regularly at the Follies Bergere and her legendary 'Fire Dance' was the embodiement of the Art Nouveau movement.   There's a renewed interest in the major contributions and innovations of Loie Fuller to modern dance, theatrical lighting, her inventions, and in how she inspired the other major artists contemporary with her time.

      I've included several illustraitons of Loie dancing at the Follies Bergere, the second illustration from the top is a painting of Loie by Henri Toulouse Latrec, also a copy of her Costume Patent U.S. patent #518347, and an image of Loie in her 'Serpentine Dance' costume.

      Copyrights for these images and illustraitions have expired, and they are in the public domain.
 

 Books:  'Loie Fuller - Goddess of Light'(1997)

             'Loie Fuller, Dansuese del la Belle Epoque'(1994)

              Loie Fuller memoir - 'Fifteen Years of a Dancers Life'(1913)