The Ballet Class

The painting you're looking at now is The Ballet Class by Edgar Degas.

Degas painted many ballerinas, and they were his favorite subject.

But rather than depicting ballerinas performing on stage, Degas was much more interested in portraying moments like this—their rehearsals and their lives behind the scenes.

Now, let's take a closer look.

The rehearsal has just ended, and the dancers have gathered around their instructor to hear his final remarks.

Do you see the elderly gentleman standing in the center with a cane?

He is the choreographer Jules Perrot.

At the time, he was one of the most famous choreographers in France, and in his younger years, he had also been a celebrated dancer.

He was also a friend of Edgar Degas.

The ballerinas gathered around him don't seem to be paying particularly close attention.

Each one is in a different, natural pose. Some are stretching, while others are sitting down and taking a break.

The different colors of the ribbons tied around the dancers' waists add a wonderful sense of life and movement to the painting.

Now, let's take a look at the space itself.

First, notice that Degas didn't paint the entire rehearsal studio.

Instead, he focused on just one side of the room where the dancers are gathered.

A ballet studio would have been quite spacious.

But rather than showing the whole room, Degas composed the scene as if he were standing in one spot, capturing a single moment with a camera.

That's why, if you look at the left and right edges of the painting, you'll notice that some figures and objects are unexpectedly cut off by the frame.

Do you see how the floorboards run diagonally across the room and gradually become narrower toward the distance?

These lines enhance the sense of depth and space within the studio.

There's another painting that's remarkably similar to this one.

It's titled The Dance Class, and it's on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The two look remarkably alike.

In the late nineteenth century, while Degas was preparing The Dance Class for exhibition, the painting you're looking at now was temporarily set aside. Fortunately, it was never lost and eventually found its way here.

Take your time enjoying the painting, and when you're ready, we'll move on to the next artwork.