Image: public domain, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Dance Class

Edgar Degas, 1874

Young ballerinas and their mothers wait while one dancer shows a pose for her exam. The old teacher leaning on a stick is Jules Perrot, a famous ballet master of the Paris Opera.

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Did you know?

The opera singer Jean-Baptiste Faure ordered this painting from Degas in 1873.
Look beside the mirror for a poster of Rossini's opera William Tell, a friendly nod to Faure.
The room is imagined in the old Paris Opera house, which had just burned down.
Look for the girl near the mirror who seems to be biting her nails as she waits her turn.
Degas moved figures while painting, so the dancers wind through the room like notes on a music staff.
A similar version of this scene hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

About the artist

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was born in Paris and spent nearly all his working life there.

Although he exhibited with the Impressionists, he preferred to call himself a realist; he is best known for his ballet dancers, in paintings, pastels and the sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.

He adored music and the theater, and as a season subscriber to the Paris Opera he could slip backstage to watch the dancers rehearse and rest.

Edgar Degas ›

Where it is today: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Museum page