allegra fuller snyder
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville photographer, Howard Ash, was in the Fuller Dome on 10/22/21 to document these scenes from the dome’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Center Director Benjamin Lowder sharing a bit of the Dome’s history at the 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Choreographer, Nicole Thomas, performing a Katherine Dunham style tribute dance in honor of Allegra Fuller Snyder at the Fuller Dome 50th Anniversary.
10/22/21 gathering in honor of the Fuller Dome’s 50th Anniversary
Percussionists, Atum Jones (L) and Rodney Lindor (R) accompanied the dancers Yanvalou in the Fuller Dome.
Nicole Thomas leading her dance students in a Yanvalou in the Fuller Dome
Dance students from University High School performed a Katherine Dunham style dance at the Fuller Dome’s 50th Anniversary.
An exhibition celebrating the Fuller Dome’s history opened on 10/22/21 in honor of the dome’s 50th Anniversary.
Visitors got see examples from Buckminster Fuller’s personal library on view at the Fuller Dome’s 50th Anniversary exhibition.
Buckminster Fuller’s own globes, donated to the dome by the Fuller Estate, were on view in the Fuller Dome Gallery for the 50th Anniversary exhibition.
ALLEGRA FULLER SNYDER • August 28, 1927 - July 11, 2021
We are mourning the passing of Allegra Fuller Snyder. Her family shared with us that Allegra passed on Sunday, July 11th with the same ease and grace that she lived her life. Allegra was a dancer, UCLA professor, dance ethnologist, choreographer, and author. She shared her joy and enthusiasm for life through her love of dance. Allegra was the daughter of our building's designer Buckminster Fuller. We are forever grateful to the support and generosity she has shown to the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability over the years. Allegra’s support of the Center accounts in large part for our organizations vitality. Our prayers are with her children Jaime and Alexandra as well as the rest of her family as they navigate her passing.
The following memoriam was written by Allegra’s family upon her passing:
Allegra Snyder, professor emerita and former chair of the Department of Dance at UCLA, and a founder of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, died July 11 at her apartment in Stroudwater Lodge, Westbrook, Maine, at the age of 93. The daughter of R. Buckminster Fuller and Anne Hewlett Fuller, Allegra was born in Chicago. Her primary education was at the Dalton School in New York City, a learning experience that she cherished. On graduation day from Bennington College in 1951, Allegra married Robert Snyder, who had recently won the Academy Award Oscar for Best Feature Documentary in 1950 for his film on Michelangelo. Allegra attended the School of American Ballet and studied with Martha Graham during her years at Bennington.
After the birth of her two children, Alexandra Fuller Snyder and Jaime Lawrence Snyder, Allegra and Bob drove west to Los Angeles. With her children in school, Allegra enrolled at UCLA, earning a Master’s in Dance in 1967 and then joined the faculty there. She retired from UCLA in 1991. During her long career at UCLA, Allegra developed many curriculum innovations concerning dance, ethnography, culture, and art. In addition to serving as chair of the Dept. of Dance at UCLA, Allegra directed the World Arts and Cultures interdisciplinary program which became the Dept. of World Arts and Cultures/Dance in 1995. She researched and lectured widely around the world including a year in England on a Fulbright Grant and a year in Kerala, India, on a sabbatical.
She was long-active with the Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) and the National Endowment of Arts, dance division. Snyder was a visiting professor of performance studies at New York University from 1982-83 and was honorary visiting professor at the University of Surrey, Guildford, England from 1983-84. She also taught at CalArts and at Naropa Institute.
Following the death of her father, Buckminster Fuller, in 1983, Allegra took a significant role in determining a path to preserve her father’s work and to find ways to promote its relevance going forward. She was a passionate and articulate educator on the principles of her father’s work and encouraged many to think independently and follow their unique experience in life.
Allegra enjoyed and took a keen interest in the growth of her two grandchildren, Olivia Allegra May and Rowan Keith May, and of her two step grandchildren, Mira Kennedy and Elizabeth Demaray.Allegra’s husband, Robert Snyder, died in 2004. After 55 years in Southern California, Allegra packed up her bags and moved back home to NYC. She spent eight years living in Murray Hill fully engaged in New York dance and other arts, as well as reconnecting with life-long friends and family. Throughout her life she spent many summers in Penobscot Bay, Maine, on Bear Island, which will be her final resting place.
Buckminster Fuller’s daughter, Allegra Fuller Snyder attended the Inaugural Reception of the new Fuller Dome Gallery. This new exhibition space was made possible by a grant from the Meridian Society. It is located inside of the Fuller Dome on the SIUE campus. This inaugural exhibition created an opportunity to exhibit the Buckminster Fuller print portfolio, “Inventions, Twelve Around One.” Allegra had donated this portfolio of her father’s artwork to the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability in December of 2017 as way to recognize the good work being done by the Center to continue Bucky’s legacy.
Allegra Fuller Snyder and Benjamin Lowder
Ribbon cutting of the Fuller Dome Gallery Inauguration 11/9/18
The Center for Spirituality and Sustainability Board and staff members
The evening of the Fuller Dome Gallery Inauguration 11/9/18
Artist Kool Koor and Allegra Fuller Snyder
Allegra Fuller Snyder at the Fuller Dome Gallery
(L-R) Jasmine Aber, CEL Director, Allegra Fuller Snyder, Jason Deem and Bucky’s granddaughter Alexandra May
The evening of the Fuller Dome Gallery Inauguration 11/9/18
