The Dance Class

French Impressionist Edgar Degas’ most famous paintings are those of his ballerinas which make up over half of his total work.  Though Degas was considered an Impressionist he rejected the movement’s fondness for outdoor painting.  Instead he seemed to prefer painting in the dance studios and opera houses of the city.  Degas was focused on capturing natural poses and movements that were as spontaneous as a photograph. 

One of these works is The Dance Class.  The Dance Class was originally intended for the first Impressionist exhibition however it was not shown until the second Exhibition in 1876.  The painting was commissioned by singer and collector Jean-Baptiste Faure in 1872 and was delivered in 1874 following two years of sporadic work.  It now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

This ambitious masterpiece portrays some 24 different women including ballerinas and their mothers.  At the center of the painting is the famous European dancer and ballet master, Jules Perrot leaning on a staff.  Also central to the scene is one ballerina dancing while all the others seem to be milling about while waiting their turn.  In the upper right corner of the painting we see the mothers who have chaperoned their daughters during the class.  The scene is set in the old Paris Opera with a poster for Rossini’s ‘Guillaume Tell’ hanging on the wall next to the mirror which shows the reflection of a nearby window. 

During his time this was a somewhat outrageous painting.  It has the feel of being disorganized and unbalanced something of a snapshot.  Some of the women have faces that are obscured, a woman, who seems to be growing out of three other heads, has her fingers in her mouth apparently biting her nails, while the woman in the foreground seems to be adjusting her tutu, and another is adjusting her choker.  The women are portrayed in less than graceful ideals.  This is a painting that breaks from the traditional narrative painting with a very momentary unplanned feel, yet it was very well planned out and executed showing the thoroughness of Degas’ technical mastery. 

As viewers we have another insiders view of the setting and goings on yet the other characters in the scene can’t see us.  We have a view of the movement as well as the humdrum, unglamorous, daily life at the opera.