student. Degas first made a reddish-brown wax sculpture of
her in the nude. Then, aiming for a naturalistic effect, he dressed it in clothing made of real fabrics. When the wax sculpture was first exhibited, contemporaries were shocked by the unprecedented realism of the piece. But they were also moved by the work’s representation of the pain and stress of ballet training endured by a barely adolescent girl. After Degas’ death, his heirs decided to make bronze casts of the wax original.
to the dance classes as he was a friend of Jules Perrot, the famous ballet master. He observed the most spontaneous and natural movements of the dancers at various stages to create imaginary scenes which seemed true to life. The above painting, along with another which shares its title, is the most ambitious and remarkably complex representation of dancers by Edgar Degas. In it the artist masterfully depicts the confusion and various movements of the dancers as the lesson is coming to an end.