Unlike many other dance events in which setting is background for choreography, Nikolais dancers are immediately involved in a visual matrix. The relationship of dance motion to the total environment is established largely through the use of light. A solo may be illuminated as a major protagonist in the dance event and then instantly be absorbed as a minor element in the matrix. A duet may be performed down center, but the concern with the total environment is always present.

Directly related to Nikolais’ treatment of the entire stage space are his view of man and his theory of decentralization. Alwin Nikolais sees man as a minute, though important, mechanism in the universe. Sometimes man has a major relationship to other elements; other times the relationship is a minor one in which he is obscured by the mechanistic workings of the universe. He is not dominant.