Fractal Memories was commissioned by Between the River Productions, LCC for the Loie Fuller documentary feature film Obsessed with Light, directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum (premiere Rome Film Fest, 2023). The work is a contemporary homage to Fuller, choreographed by Jody Sperling, that utilizes cutting-edge 21st century technologies to illuminate the entanglement of bodies through time. 

Both the choreography and the music, composed by Matthew Burtner, follow fractal patterning. An organizing principle of nature, fractals occur when similar shapes replicate at different sizes. In the dance such gestural actions as a shrug, a wave and a lunge expand, diminish and loop fractally. The music uses a fractal algorithm to mix five female voices into alluring polyrhythmic arias.

Sperling and dancers swirl in enormous Fuller-style costumes which amplify their movements and serve as dynamic screens. Live video feedback further replicates, fragments, and dematerializes their human forms, creating an infinite regression of so many vanishing “Loie Fullers.” Sperling collaborated with video artists Cari Ann Shim Sham and Joey Zaza on the intricately-woven projection effects. 

The culminating moment is a reimagining of Fuller’s famous Fire Dance, in which the dancer appeared to self-immolate. The original Fire Dance was conceived at the dawn of the fossil fuel age and, strikingly recontextualized by Sperling, has eerie resonance in our current combustible climate. Bessie Award winning lighting designer David Ferri provides fiery illumination.

Choreography: Jody Sperling
Music: Matthew Burtner
Dancers: Morgan Bontz, Jenny Campbell, Carly Cerasuolo, Anika Hunter, Maki Kitahara
Costumes: Mary Jo Mecca 
Lighting: David Ferri
Video Artist: Cari Ann Shim Sham
Magic Stacks: Joey Zaza
Dramaturge: Pele Bauch