The Dancing Class, c.1873

Edgar Degas was a 19th century French Impressionist painter mainly recognised for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas sought to capture fleeting moments in the flow of modern life and particuarly identified with the subject of dance. In 1874 Degas produced ‘The Dance Class’ an oil painting depicting ballerinas and their mothers waiting for a class to start conducted by Jules Perrot, a famous ballet master. The scene is set at the rehearsal room in the old Paris Opera which had recently burnt down.