Lighting Innovations

Fuller's use of phosphorescent salts was only a small part of her efforts to make her performances visually stimulating and impressive. Edison's invention of the incandescent lamp proved to be monumental for Fuller's pieces, as gas lighting had previously been the only option for theatrical lighting. Up to twenty electricians operated dozens of lamps, changing out multicolored gelatins in order to achieve the desired effect. Fuller painted gelatins
with multiple colors, instead of one solid tint, so
*Recreation of Fire Dance by Lindberg Slayter
Reconstructions, 2007


that the different shades could be seen in succession. For her piece Fire Dance (1895), she invented a glass pedestal that she lit from below as well (as well of instead of just from the sides or above, as was customary) to create the stunning effect of a fire growing and then dying. A technician beneath the pedestal operated lights and, again cued by Fuller's movements, switched out different colored gels to create red, blue, orange, and purple glows. Fuller also shrouded the rest of the stage in black to make the result even more dramatic. Other dancers of the time and the years following, such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, either danced in natural light or used theatrical lighting to imitate natural light, so Fuller's extensive use of showy lighting was entirely different.