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Degas’ masterpiece The Dance Class shatters the traditional impression of ballet dancers and exposes the truth behind the curtains of the 19th-century Parisian stage. It gives an insight into the issues of class and the exploitation of women. 

The image of the female has been a popular theme in art since ancient times, with many works featuring women who are objectified by the male gaze. For example, the aesthetic of ‘sickly beauty’ imposed on women in ancient China’s patriarchal system, or Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Grande Odalisque, with its nude woman lying on soft silk fabric, is sexually suggestive and satisfies voyeuristic desires. In other words, these paintings dwell on the flawless surface beauty of women under the male gaze, obsessed with transforming them into beautiful but silent ornaments. Degas, the Impressionist master, was also obsessed with depicting women, especially classical ballerinas, a theme that continued throughout his life. Nevertheless, his works focus not on the surface of the perfect body figure but on the social phenomena behind it, giving a more profound meaning.

The Dance Class is an oil on canvas work (32 7/8 x 30 3/8 in. (83.5 x 77.2 cm)) painted by Edgar Degas in 1874, and is one of his most famous works featuring ballet dancers. The painting depicts a group of very young ballerinas training in the rehearsal room of the old Paris Opera House.

This relaxed painting is full of subtle irony. It is about much more than just a ballet lesson; it is about the ballerinas’ ruined lives. In the context of the history of the time, the popularity of ballet declined in the 1870s, and ballet became a vehicle for money and the sex trade. Most Parisian Opera dancers came from low-income families, and many began training at six, ending their studies, resulting in most of them being illiterate. From the age of ten, they worked six days a week, learning to dance, rehearsing, and performing like factory workers over and over again. By the time the little girls began to grow physically, their mature bodies were no longer suitable for ballet and were discarded by the theater. Ultimately, only a handful of girls could pass this brutal contest and earn a living to support their families. However, girls abandoned by their companies and lacking other skills faced sexual harassment or became prostitutes to survive. In contrast to the elegant swans to which ballerinas are now often compared, the nineteenth-century public contemptuously nicknamed them Les Petits Rats (Little Rats). The ballroom of the Paris Opera and Ballet was not only a social and rehearsal space but also a brothel for the upper classes.

Unlike other Impressionists who always focus on capturing luminous effects, Degas presents this scene with a touch of realism. Natural light streams into the rehearsal room, creating a peaceful atmosphere with warm-toned floors and gray-green walls that unite the space. The young ballerinas, dressed in soft white tutus, seem like ethereal beings in the outdoor light. However, the reality of the room is aged and dull, different from the spacious and clean dance studio that people imagine, which also presents a stark contrast between the ideal and the reality.

Degas captures the casual side of the dancers in The Dance Class. Their vibrant presence on stage contrasts sharply with their exhaustion during training. The ballet dancers are divided into three parts: front, middle, and back, each engaged in different activities. In the foreground, girls are arranging their dresses and waiting to practice; in the middle ground, girls are adjusting their poses in front of the mirror; in the background, a few girls are leaning against the wall, crossing their arms, or sitting casually on the floor. In the back seats, several mothers are watching their children practice. There are also many exciting character dynamics to be found in detail. For example, through the refraction of the mirror, we can see several girls chatting. We can imagine that out of sight of the scene, girls may be exhausted from training, wiping away sweat and rubbing their sore calves. Importantly, even though many of the girls in the frame are resting, they remain ‘toes pointed and legs turned out all the while’ (Jane R. Becker 2016), reflecting the grueling nature of the training.

In the center of the image, which we can also presume to be the center of the rehearsal room, a girl is practicing seriously, in contrast to the relaxed posture of the other dancers. Her head is slightly tilted, her arms are stretched to the widest extent possible, and one foot is on tiptoe, supporting the whole person. Her movements look elegant and dignified, but her whole body is tensed up to maintain the difficult posture. The white dress is wrapped around the girl’s soft skin, and the silky satin bow strangles her waist. Facing her is Jules Perrot, the famous ballet master and teacher, who is seriously scrutinizing the girl’s movements. The flexible young girls contrast with the white-haired old man on crutches. We can imagine the girls wearing white tutus in this painting standing around the classroom, surrounding the old man in the gray suit, creating a dichotomy.

The figures are arranged diagonally across the frame. The white dresses’ repetition helps build perspective and makes the image compact and coherent. The use of red throughout the space, the flower in the hair of the girl in the foreground, and the teacher’s scarf in the middle ground echo the shawl of one of the mothers in the background. The characters in the background are more disorganized, avoiding monotony. In a sense, this also breaks ballet’s stereotype of strict dance formations. Our eyes follow the characters individually as if on a tour around the rehearsal room. At the same time, the angle of the painting is evocative. Degas chose a diagonal point of view toward the corner of the room, leaving only a corner of the ceiling visible. We are like intruders entering this intimate behind-the-scenes space and standing in the corner as bystanders, or like one of the girls resting in the corner of the classroom.

The Dance Class, like other works of Degas’ on the same subject, is also a reflection of social failure, and Degas often uses more dramatic contrasts as metaphors. In L'Étoile (the star), for example, the wealthy stand in the shadows watching the dancers, like wild animals waiting to strike from the dark; chiaroscuro implies this dangerously unbalanced relationship. A similar contrast occurs in The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage, where the arrogant man in the black suit and the exhausted woman in the white dress are positioned in an antagonistic diagonal composition. Compared to the first two scenes on the stage, the girls in The Dance Class are more harmonious with their surroundings. Only the girls practice in soft, natural light, suggesting that they are more relaxed and probably feel more secure offstage. 

Although this painting looks relaxed and life-like, it can give off a faint sense of melancholy when viewed as a whole. There is a sense of poetry and freedom with the bright clear sky and floating white clouds refracted in the mirror, as well as the beautiful architecture of Paris, contrasting sentimentally with this group of young ballet dancers trapped in a classroom for training, like mice in a cage. Watching the little dancers standing in line waiting for their training, like a conveyor belt, we can imagine what awaits them when they take the stage in the near future. It is a scene that could be played out every day in the classrooms of Parisian theaters, a heartbreaking mix of misery and dashed hopes. 

Degas depicted harsh realities that revealed the hard life of dancers. Degas himself has been controversial. He is often criticized for being a misogynist in a misogynistic society and, to a large extent, an exploiter of ballet dancers as female models, using them as subjects for his work. While depicting all women, it has been claimed that Degas somehow offers an all-male perspective. Degas was not in denial about his misogyny, saying, “I have perhaps too often considered woman as an animal.” The Dance Class is no exception; Degas seems to be sitting in the corner of the classroom, secretly observing and documenting all of this, a voyeuristic look at the private side of women.

Overall, despite the fact that Degas’s motives for painting this picture are undoubtedly criticized by posterity, in a way, this painting is also evidence of the history of female exploitation. It provides a more comprehensive picture of the struggles faced by these young dancers, immortalizing their experiences on canvas for future generations to remember, rather than erasing them as mere forgotten figures in the theater. In this way, the painting becomes a powerful testimony to the resilience and fortitude of these young girls, who persisted in the face of adversity.

Citations and References 

• Bomford, David., and Edgar Degas. Degas. London: National Gallery, 1988. Print.
• Gordon, Robert, Edgar Degas, and Andrew. Forge. Degas. New York: H.N. Abrams,   1988. Print.
• Pazienza, Jennifer. “Edgar Degas--Misogynist, Voyeur or Feminist: What Do We Tell the Kids?” Canadian social studies 31.4 (1997): 181–. Print.
• Tenneriello, Susan. “Behind the Scenes: Art Work and the Laboring Body in the Dance Images of Degas.” Dance chronicle 38.1 (2015): 27–54. Web.
• Thurrowgood, David et al. “A Hidden Portrait by Edgar Degas.” Scientific reports 6.1 (2016): 29594–29594. Web.
• Piera Giovanna Tordella. “Degas. L’altro volto della danza.” CoSMO (Turin, Italy) 16 (2020): n. pag. Web.

Junhan Shen's critical essay won second prize in the 2024 Humanities & Sciences Undergraduate Writing Contest. Born in China and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Shen graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2024 with a major in Illustration. Her work explores personal and cultural identity, aiming to bridge cultural gaps and inspire reflections on the interconnectedness of identity, history, and the environment.