ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on shadows that operate in such a way as to add volume, characterization, and a sense of dramatic anticipation to both objects and people. It also focuses on shadows that disorient recognition of the caster’s location, shape, and movement. The chapter looks at the expressive potential of shadow to disorient the recognition of dancers’ movement in the choreography 6 by Tao Dance Theater. The facial expression of Saint Thomas putting his finger into Jesus’s wound is highlighted through a play of shadows. This interplay of light and dark tones imparts a dramatic atmosphere at the same time as implying movement and three-dimensionality. Contemporaneous with Appia, Gordon Craig was a director-scenographer interested in the interplay of light and shadow. Craig’s practice was inspired by personal experiences of watching theatre performances. A notable feature of the dancers-witches was that their interactions with shadows created dynamic changes: small shadows approximately the size of the dancers contrasted with the bigger ones.