Interpretive Resource

Ballet at the Paris Opera, 1877
Pastel over monotype on cream laid paper
13 7/8 x 27 13/16 in. (352 x 706 mm)
Gift of Mary and Leigh Block, 1981.12

Ballet was Degas’s trademark, his signature theme, from the very beginning of his career. Dubbed "the painter of dancers," he devoted almost one-half of his total output to the subject, with his production steadily increasing so that, by the 1890s, it dominated all others, three to one. Although ballet was not a recent import -- the first state-supported ballet, the Academie Royal de Danse, was founded in France in 1661 --Degas depicts here a scene from the company’s official ballet school, the Paris Opera, in an utterly modern way. Using his characteristically cropped forms and odd vantage points, he effectively captures the immediacy of the scene. The view is from the orchestra pit, with the necks of the bass viols intruding into the dancers’ zone. While the central dancer, en pointe, appears to be performing, the random positioning of the corps de ballet, with the dancers’ free-flowing hair, suggests that they are only rehearsing. This combination of formal, choreographed poses with informal, offstage gestures is characteristic of many of Degas’s works of the ballet.

In this work, Degas creatively combines the monotype printmaking technique with the fragile medium of pastel. The monotype was rarely made at this time, and Degas was considered one of its finest practitioners, mastering the challenge of a very wide plate for this work. Described as "the powder of butterfly wings," pastel was the perfect medium to illustrate the onstage metamorphosis of spindly young dancers into illusions of beauty as perfect and short-lived as butterflies.

This evolution was, in reality, less graceful. Nearly always from the lower classes, apprentice dancers -- nicknamed "les rats de Paris" -- often began to dance at age seven or eight, studying long hours without pay. A contemporary review bluntly describes the "breaking in" of these young girls -- "giraffes who could not bend, elephants whose hinges refused to fold" - - who through grueling practice have their brief moments of glory before the stage lights until, too old to dance, they turned into "dressing room attendants, palm readers, or walkers on." As another writer declared: "Dancers are often compared with race horses; the advantage is entirely to the horses."

Classroom Suggestions
1. Unlike Four Studies of a Jockey in which the artist focused on four isolated subjects, Ballet at the Paris Opera combines several different subjects and activities simultaneously. Have students study the composition carefully and describe what they see. Is there a center, or focus, of attention? How has the artist differentiated the foreground from the middle- and backgrounds? What strategies did Degas employ to assist the viewer’s eye in moving around and through the composition?

2. In many of his works, Degas crops forms and approaches his subjects from unusual vantage points. Have students determine the vantage point of Ballet at the Paris Opera. Where is the viewer? What can the viewer observe and what is obscured from his or her vision? Imagine the viewer sitting with the orchestra, behind the bass viols; how would the vantage point change? Have students draw a scene (in the classroom or outside of school) from two different vantage points. Encourage them to select unusual angles that invite them to see the scene in new ways. Look at other works by Degas for inspiration.

3. Have students research the history of the ballet. What is the relationship between the premier dancer and the corps de ballet? What are the principal positions of classical ballet? When did male roles become significant? Has ballet training and performance changed since Degas’s time? What impact has ballet had on modern sports?