Lighting Dance

A Study of Technical, Philosophical, and Psychological Shadows

Flaviana Xavier Antunes Sampaio

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367219178
• eBook ISBN: 9781000627374
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Dance

Lighting Dance pioneers the discussion of the ability of lighting design to foreground shadow in dance performances.

Through a series of experiments integrating light, shadow, and improvised dance movement, it highlights and analyses what it advances as an innovative expression of shadow in dance as an alternative to more conventional approaches to lighting design. Different art forms, such as painting, film, and dance pieces from Loie Fuller, the Russell Maliphant Dance Company, Elevenplay, Pilobolus, and the Tao Dance Theater served to inspire and contextualise the study. From lighting to psychology, from reviews to academic books, shadows are examined as a symbolic and manipulative entity. The book also presents the dance solo Sombreiro, which was created to echo the experiments with light, shadow, and movement aligned to an interpretation of cultural shadow (Jung 1954, in Samuels, Shorter, and Plaut 1986; Casement 2006; Ramos 2004; Stein 2004; and others).

The historical development of lighting within dance practices is also outlined, providing a valuable resource for lighting designers, dance practitioners, and theatre goers interested in the visuality of dance performances.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Without light there is no shadow
• 2 Shadowing dance
• 3 The behaviour of shadows in artforms
• 4 Theories of shadows and their possible applications in dance practice
• 5 Playing with shadows
• 6 Sombreiro, a shadowy dance performance
• Afterword (closing remarks)
• Appendix 1: Additional information about the application of chiaroscuro in theatre practices
• Appendix 2: Additional information on Yemanjá festivity
• Appendix 3: Additional information about Maragojipe’s carnival
• Appendix 4: Additional information about underpaid Brazilian workers
• Appendix 5: Additional information about Gyula Csapó’s songs
• Appendix 6: A manual to work with light and shadow in dance practices
• The experiments
• Index