The breath of forgotten dance re-emerges on stage through body and object

<Loie Fuller: Research> is a contemporary reinterpretation of the iconic <Serpentine Dance> by early 20th-century American dancer Loie Fuller. Loie Fuller used long silk fabrics and bamboo rods to embody movements found in nature, like fire and waves, combining the body, objects, lighting, and mechanical devices to create innovative performances. Her experiments blending special effects with dance are regarded as legendary in the history of modern dance.

Ola Maciejewska brings this legendary dance back to stage through physical experimentation and sculptural movement. <Loie Fuller: Research> is structured in two forms of practice. Inspired by the relationship between the sculptor (human) and the sculpture (non-human), the piece explores movement through an object known as the Dancing Dress. In doing so, it experiments with the human’s material agency and the autonomy of the object—not merely recreating the past, but visualizing the constantly emerging forms and movements produced through the encounter of body and material.

Traversing the boundaries between the visible and invisible, the material and immaterial, reality and imagination, the piece subtly reexamines what it means to be seen. Confronting the mythology and contradictions surrounding the icon Loie Fuller and the fading legacy of her time, Ola Maciejewska proposes a unique perspective on the history of choreography, its transmission, and its liberation, through her practice of archiving dance with the body.

<Loie Fuller: Research> invites the audience to reflect on dance from a new visual and sculptural perspective through the interplay created by the body, objects, and the passage of time.