“They call me a painter of dancers,” Degas wrote. He really turned to this topic, and his early masterpiece “Rehearsal” allows you to appreciate all the uniqueness of the images created by him dancers.
Degas refuses the image of the ballet stars glittering in the lighted scene, and shows us the behind-the-scenes life of the Paris Opera theater, a dance class where young dancers rehearse under the guidance of an experienced master teacher.
The uniqueness of the theme – rehearsal – and the manner of writing give the picture a documentary, allowing the viewer to look into the secret life of the theater. As always, the composition of the picture is verified by Degas to the smallest detail. The central part of the space of the picture remains empty, – the figures of the rehearsals are collected in the upper left-hand corner, and to the right in the foreground we see two young ballerinas waiting for their turn, and the accompanying mother.
In this case, the figure of one of the dancers in the foreground turns out to be an unexpectedly cropped picture. The spiral staircase directs the viewer’s eyes zigzagging up, then down and up through the arms and legs of the dancers, creating a sense of movement and linking the entire composition.
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