During the quieter winter months in San Juan County, the Aztec Museum & Pioneer Village offers visitors a look into 19th-century Paris theaters and the early development of American modern dance.
As part of its Lunch & Learn series, the museum will host “Great Women of American Modern Dance,” a two-part multimedia lecture presented by dance historians and Aztec residents Stephanie Clemens and Michael Dutka.
Scheduled for Jan. 9 and 23, the presentations introduce influential artists who advanced theatrical lighting, performance style and women’s roles in the arts.
Joan Monninger, the museum's executive director, views the series as an important way to serve the public during the offseason.
“Museums are learning institutions and they're kind of cultural hubs in a community and that's really what we're actively trying to do at the Aztec Museum,” Monninger said. “By having these programs, especially in the off season, it's one more way to reach out into the community, bring in speakers that are here in our community who have expertise on things and then share that with the public.”
The series draws on Clemens and Dutka’s decades of experience in modern dance and performance documentation. They retired to Aztec from Oak Park, Illinois, around 2021.
Clemens, born in Hollywood to artist parents, trained at Juilliard and founded the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park, where she taught for 52 years. She also co-founded the Momenta Dance Company, which gained recognition for performing historical reconstructions and incorporating dancers with disabilities.
Dutka, originally a carpenter who ran a design studio for historic restorations, moved into dance production through his relationship with Clemens. According to a news release, his introduction to dance was cultivated by Clemens and her mentors, leading him to master lighting, audio and video and eventually direct a documentary on Loie Fuller.
Monninger said she was enthusiastic when Clemens and Dutka proposed the idea. “We have them in the community and they asked, 'How about we do this?' And I was just thrilled about it because that brings a whole kind of different and unusual expertise into the community,” she said.
The first lecture, Jan. 9, focuses on Loie Fuller, described as the “embodiment of Art Nouveau.”
Fuller rose from poverty in the Midwest to become the world’s most famous dancer by 1900, largely by reinventing stage lighting.
“At the time Loie Fuller came out in the late 1800s, you walked into a vaudeville house or into a theater or to the ballet and the house lights stayed up,” Dutka explained. “Loie got up on stage at one point of her career and said, 'OK, I've had enough of this. We're going to turn the lights out and I want people to look at me and only me.'”
Fuller held more patents for theatrical effects and lighting design than anyone in her generation. She used a glass floor to allow electricians to light her from beneath and employed chemically treated silks to catch the light.
“These were really hot instruments you could get burned on them and she would have up to 25 electricians working for her, holding on to these instruments, wearing asbestos gloves that wouldn't be allowed today,” Dutka said.
The presentation will highlight Fuller’s lasting influence, which Monninger said can still be seen in pop culture.
“She was the inspiration for Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' tour in that section because of the way she danced and the flowing,” Monninger said. “So, it's still relevant in many ways.”
The second lecture, Jan. 23, covers Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Clemens describes them as entrepreneurs who radically altered public perception of female performers before women could vote.
Monninger said early dance performances were not always viewed with respect, which led pioneers to challenge those perceptions. “These women wanted to raise the image of women through dance to something that was spiritual, powerful, elegant, refined and creative,” she said.
Clemens credits Duncan with liberating women from restrictive clothing. “If it weren't for Isadora Duncan, I wouldn't be sitting here without a corset,” she emphasized.
For Clemens, the connection is personal. Growing up in California, her babysitters were dancers in Ruth St. Denis’ company, giving her a direct link to primary sources she now studies.
A central theme of the lectures is the detective work required to reconstruct lost dances.
“It starts by finding out what the music is and taking the sheet music and pasting it up on the wall all around you and looking at photographs, pictures and statements about what was this and making them go on a timeline,” Clemens said.
Dutka added that for their work on Fuller, they relied on extensive archival research because the lineage had been broken.
“The key thing in any kind of reconstruction is to go back and try and find primary sources,” Dutka said. “We sat in New York Public Library looking for references that we could draw on.”
Although the topics go beyond the region, the presenters said they feel a strong connection to Aztec’s interest in history.
Monninger hopes the series sparks curiosity among attendees, encouraging them to find connections between global history and local reality.
“What was going on in New Mexico at the same time Loie Fuller was in Paris being painted by Vincent Van Gogh?” Monninger asked. “I just love seeing all of these different connections and they're there. Sometimes you just have to dig a little.”
Both lectures begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Aztec Museum & Pioneer Village. Admission is free, and attendees are encouraged to bring a brown-bag lunch.
“It's just a neat way to share knowledge with more people,” Monninger said. “We try to give people a reason to visit the museum and a reason to come back.”
If you go
WHAT: Great Women of American Modern Dance, as part of the Aztec Museum’s “Lunch & Learn” series.
WHEN: Loie Fuller – The Embodiment of Art Nouveau: Friday, Jan. 9 at 11:30 a.m.
Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis: Friday, Jan. 23 at 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Aztec’s WPA-era City Hall building, 125 N. Main Ave., Historic Downtown Aztec
INFORMATION: Joan Monninger, (317) 850-2841
