NARRATOR:
When Edgar Degas first exhibited this sculpture in Paris in 1881, most critics and viewers were scandalized. They deplored the revolutionary display, in an art gallery, of a figure made of wax, textiles and even human hair. And they found his portrayal of a 14-year-old ballet dancer from the Paris Opera House to be uncomfortably realistic - exposing the grim realities of ballet, usually hidden behind the beauty of the dance costumes and music.  At the time, many young dancers with the Paris Opera came from working class families who were dependent on job opportunities in cultural centers where the well-off spent their time.

TARA HUTTON:
My name is Tara Hutton. As a professional ballerina, I am deeply familiar with her obvious fatigue.  Degas’s model, Marie van Goethem, looks simultaneously proud, obedient, and exhausted - such is the nature of ballet.  

I see pride. I also see melancholy.  I see a worn-down young woman in this position.  She has not only had the normal rigors of training as a ballet dancer, but she also had the financial responsibility to bring money home to her poor family, which was common in this era of ballet.

NARRATOR:
This young model posed for Degas as he made drawings, small studies, and finally this sculpture.

TARA HUTTON:
We are trained, as dancers, to create movement - we are not trained to hold poses for hours on end. The dancer is paused in a relaxed fourth position. Her hips and stomach are thrust forward. This is the look of dancer’s fatigue that you would see at the end of a long rehearsal.  

I do think Degas saw artists as individuals. I very much appreciate how his sculpture captures this vulnerable young dancer, who is facing the harsh realities of the vigor of the art and the toughness that was often unseen to the public eye. I think it's a very honest and real display of what a young woman at that time faced.