The book Lighting Dance: A Study of Technical, Philosophical, and Psychological Shadows by Flaviana Xavier Antunes Sampaio was published by Routledge in 2021. Since then, it has been acquired by professionals in the performing arts, students, and the general public interested in discussions about shadow, darkness, and dance from various countries. In 2023, Lighting Dance was presented at the 16th Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, in Prague, Czech Republic, where it was one of nine books selected to compete for the award for best publication in performance design and scenography released between 2018 and 2022: Best Publication Award book introductions

Lighting Dance pioneers the discussion of the ability of lighting design to foreground shadow in dance performances.

Through a series of experiments integrating light, shadow, and improvised dance movement, it highlights and analyses what it advances as an innovative expression of shadow in dance as an alternative to more conventional approaches to lighting design. Different art forms, such as painting, film, and dance pieces from Loie Fuller, the Russell Maliphant Dance Company, Elevenplay, Pilobolus, and the Tao Dance Theater served to inspire and contextualise the study. From lighting to psychology, from reviews to academic books, shadows are examined as a symbolic and manipulative entity. The book also presents the dance solo Sombreiro, which was created to echo the experiments with light, shadow, and movement aligned to an interpretation of cultural shadow (Jung 1954, in Samuels, Shorter, and Plaut 1986; Casement 2006; Ramos 2004; Stein 2004; and others).

The historical development of lighting within dance practices is also outlined, providing a valuable resource for lighting designers, dance practitioners, and theatre goers interested in the visuality of dance performances.

Table of Contents

Forward by Jennifer Tipton;

Introduction;

Chapter 1: Without light there is no shadow;

Chapter 2: Shadowing dance;

Chapter 3: The behaviour of shadows in artforms;

Chapter 4: Theories of shadows and their possible applications in dance practice;

Chapter 5: Playing with shadows;

Chapter 6: Sombreiro, a shadowy dance performance;

Afterword;

Appendices;

The experiments

Lighting Dance: A Study of Technical, Philosophical, and Psychological Shadows. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2021, is available for purchase here: Lighting Dance: A Study of Technical, Philosophical, and Psychological Shadows