Ballerina in red degas ballerina

The dancers in Degas’s painting are clouded in a mist of tulle, but two striking heads of red hair seem to anchor the blurred forms moving in space.

Arms and legs curve and stretch, delicate white skirts toss and sway.

Ballerina in red degas ballerina

The white tutus depicted here are the practice dress worn by the younger dancers at the Paris Opéra in the late nineteenth century. They are a recurring feature in Degas’s many paintings of graceful and seemingly weightless dancers, whether in the rehearsal salon or on the stage.

Degas had access to all parts of the theatre at the Opéra, and this painting displays his detailed knowledge of a dancer’s training.

These young women are shown in class, in the moments between preparatory exercises at the barre and the real, demanding steps included in a stage performance. The dancer closest to us rests her foot on the bench to adjust the ribbons of her shoe.

Even in an ungainly