The Dancer (La Danseuse)

Loïe Fuller was born in the American West. Nothing in her background prepared this robust cowgirl to become the toast of the Parisian cabarets of La Belle Epoque, even less to dance on the stage of the Paris Opera. Then she invented the "Serpentine Dance." Hidden by yards of floating fabric, her arms extended by two wooden poles, as she moves beneath the stage lights; Loïe becomes a flower, a butterfly, flames, and each night crowds call out for more. This young, awkward woman lacking charm has found her place in this world. She will be "The Dancer." Even though physical effort might break her back, even though the stage lights might blind her. But her encounter with Isadora Duncan, a prodigious young dancer hungry for fame and glory, will precipitate the fall of this icon at the beginning of the twentieth century.