Loïe Fuller film playing in Australian cinemas

Palace Films is now presenting Stéphanie Di Giusto’s spectacularly mounted screen biography La Danseuse (“The Dancer”) in cinemas nationwide. French singer/actress Soko and Lily-Rose Depp lead a star-studded cast in the film, which is inspired by the true story of Loïe Fuller and Isadora Duncan. These two rival pioneers of modern dance and theatrical performance lived in late 19th-century Paris and have become iconic figures in dance history.

The film, which was officially selected for the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival, shows Loïe Fuller (Soko) rising from obscure upbringings in the American Midwest to become the toast of the Belle Epoque cabarets in Paris. Hidden behind metres of silk, her arms extended by long wooden rods, Fuller reinvented her body on stage, enchanting her audiences with her revolutionary “Serpentine” dance.

Fuller, who has gone down in history as an artistic icon, had major art influencers that deeply admired her. Artists Toulouse-Lautrec, the Lumière Brothers and even Rodin were enticed and inspired by her. Yet she felt threatened by dancer Isadora Duncan (Depp), a beautiful, graceful prodigy eager for glory. The film unravels their dramatic relationship and the results of it.

La Danseuse can be seen in the following cities at these cinemas:

Melbourne

Balwyn – Palace Balwyn

Brighton – Palace Brighton Bay

Carlton – Cinema Nova

City – Kino Cinemas

Sth Yarra – Palace Cinema Como

Sydney

Cremorne – Hayden Orpheum

Leichhardt – Palace Norton Street

Paddington – Palace Chauvel

Roseville – Roseville Cinemas

Canberra

NewActon – Palace Electric

Brisbane

Fortitude Valley – Palace Centro

Graceville – Regal Twin

Paddington – Palace Barracks

Adelaide

Eastend – Palace Nova Cinemas

Hobart

Nth Hobart – State Cinema

Perth

*Previously screened at the 2017 Perth International Arts Festival and Alliance Française French Film Festival.

Visit these cinemas’ individual websites for show times or visit www.palacefilms.com.au/thedancer. See this film for yourself to learn why Rachael Mead reviewed that it was “simply breathtaking.”

Mead wrote for INDAILY, “Anyone fascinated by the Belle Époque, the history of dance, or stories of artists devoted to their creative vision will be swept away by this stunning recreation of the art and life of Loïe Fuller.”