Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T19:14:05.998Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Nikolais Dance Theatre's Uses of Light

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2021

Extract

Unlike many other dance events in which setting is background for choreography, Nikolais dancers are immediately involved in a visual matrix. The relationship of dance motion to the total environment is established largely through the use of light. A solo may be illuminated as a major protagonist in the dance event and then instantly be absorbed as a minor element in the matrix. A duet may be performed down center, but the concern with the total environment is always present.

Directly related to Nikolais’ treatment of the entire stage space are his view of man and his theory of decentralization. Alwin Nikolais sees man as a minute, though important, mechanism in the universe. Sometimes man has a major relationship to other elements; other times the relationship is a minor one in which he is obscured by the mechanistic workings of the universe. He is not dominant.

Type
Visual Performance
Copyright
Copyright © 1973 The Drama Review

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

The title page photograph, by Bob Propper, is from Somniloquy.