The Dancing Class

Shown at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, Edgar Degas's 'The Ballet Class' depicts young ballerinas of the Paris Opéra receiving instruction from the veteran maestro Jules Perrot in a rehearsal room on the rue Le Peletier. Instead of the glamour of performance, Degas presents fatigue, distraction, and the disciplined labour that precedes the stage — a radically modern take on the ballet as a subject. The angled floor, cropped figures, and high viewpoint betray his study of photography and Japanese woodblock prints.

Exhibition Venue

Musée d'Orsay

Paris, France