A metamorphosis of human and silk
A legend is reread once more
A pioneer of modern dance in Paris during the art nouveau movement, Loie Fuller (1862–1928) has been an inspiration to many artists. Her famous Serpentine Dance, in which she skillfully manipulated a silk costume that covered her entire body, stirred the imagination of audiences through dazzling transformations into a flame, butterfly, or flower, and took the world by storm.
Choreographer Ola Maciejewska responds to this legendary part of dance history left behind by Fuller. From diligent research and an archival practice using the body, she created Loie Fuller: Research in 2011, a solo performance that unfolds in close proximity to the audience. Maciejewska then transformed this into Bombyx Mori, a work performed by three dancers. Bombyx Mori proposes a new reading of the iconic Serpentine Dance by focusing on its materiality, gradually building in intensity and unfolding carefully and hypnotically. The body, materiality, and sound are woven together to create a dialogue with dance history that confronts the myth of the icon Fuller with her own paradoxes.
Maciejewska is a choreographer and dancer. Her approach to dance is interdisciplinary and based on meticulous research. Through working on convergences between dance and visual art she produces a critical reading of the history of dance through her work. Since 2013, she has developed a unique choreographic practice based on reinterpreting the iconic serpentine dances of Loïe Fuller in the 1890s. This series of works that focus on Fuller’s dance engage the viewer in a reflection on metamorphosis, synesthesia, and embodiment. Between 2016 and 2018, Maciejewska was associate artist at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen in Normandie. In 2020, she led research on the scenography of Rolf Borzik for the Pina Bausch Foundation’s archives. In 2022, she received a fellowship from the Watermill Center, founded by Robert Wilson. She also develops frameworks to share her research, notably at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD), École Nationale Supérieure d'Art et de Design de Limoges and Centre National de la Danse.
Concept and Choreography: Ola Maciejewska
Dancers: Ola Maciejewska alternating with Jean Lesca
Dance Construction Design: Jolanta Maciejewska
Production and Administration: Caroline Redy
Touring: Capucine Goin
Supported by Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan | Japan Arts Council, Fondation Franco-Japonaise Sasakawa
Under the auspices of Embassy of France in Japan / Institut français du Japon
Co-presented by Kyoto Experiment and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
[Loïe Fuller: Research], co-presented by Kyoto Experiment and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels in the frame of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in Kyoto and Saitama (10/4-11/16).